Infante Manuel of Castile, ratios

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a hand Carnation, embowed, vambraced and winged Or, holding a sword point upwards Argent, hilted Or; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules. Crest: An open royal crown.

Coat of arms of the Infante Manuel of Castile, 1234–1283, 7^th son of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. This coat of arms has been delineated with proportions by me.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Hand, Arm, Vambraced, Embowed, Winged, Sword, Point upwards, Hilted, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Ratio, Outlined, Outlined in sable and Ogee.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Manuel of Castile, Infante.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a hand Carnation, embowed, vambraced and winged Or, holding a sword point upwards Argent, hilted Or; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules. Crest: An open royal crown.

Arms interpreted by me, in flat tinctures, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a texturized finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Manuel of Castile, 1234–1283, 7^th son of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. This coat of arms has been emblazoned by me with plain colors and metals.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Hand, Arm, Vambraced, Embowed, Winged, Sword, Point upwards, Hilted, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Plain tincture and Ogee.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Manuel of Castile, Infante.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a hand Carnation, embowed, vambraced and winged Or, holding a sword point upwards Argent, hilted Or; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules. Crest: An open royal crown.

Coat of arms emblazoned by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Manuel of Castile, 1234–1283, 7^th son of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. This coat of arms has been emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Hand, Arm, Vambraced, Embowed, Winged, Sword, Point upwards, Hilted, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Manuel of Castile, Infante.

Or, an eagle displayed Sable.

Escudo de oro, un águila de sable.

Coat of arms painted by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finishing.

Coat of arms of the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235, baptized as Elisabeth, wife of King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199–1252. The eagle Sable on an Or field is a distinctive symbol of the Holy Roman Empire. This coat of arms has been emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Or, Sable, One and Eagle.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Beatrice of Swabia.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules; a bordure compony of sixteen sections: eight Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable, eight Or, an eagle displayed Sable.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules; una bordura componada de dieciseis compones: ocho de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable, ocho de oro, un águila de sable.

Coat of arms emblazoned by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee outer contour and with a freehand finishing.

Coat of arms of the Infanta Berenguela of Castile, 1228–1279, 5^th daughter of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. There are discrepancies regarding the year of her death, with sources suggesting either 1279 or 1288. She bore her father's arms with a bordure compony featuring the arms of Castile and those of her mother, from Swabia. [Menéndez Pidal de Navascués, F.; 1982; page 104 and illustration between pages 112 and 113] writes «We know of a seal of this infanta that displays in the field the royal quarterly, surrounded like a bordure by 4 castles and 4 eagles, alternating», and in the illustration he depicts the bordure with 8 castles and 8 eagles, which is the version I have interpreted. I am particularly fond of compony arms, and this one is, to me, among the most beautiful and quintessentially Castilian.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Sixteen, Eight, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Bordure, Compony and Eagle.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Berenguela of Castile, Infanta.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules; a bordure compony of sixteen sections: eight Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable, eight Or, an eagle displayed Sable. Crest: An open royal crown.

Arms emblazoned by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a metal beaten finish.

Coat of arms of the Infanta Berenguela of Castile, 1228–1279, 5^th daughter of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. The coat of arms of Infanta Berenguela of Castile, besides being beautiful, has always seemed to me the epitome of the Castilian arms: quartered, bearing Leon and Castile, and surrounded by a bordure compony with castles. This coat of arms has been emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Sixteen, Eight, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Bordure, Compony, Eagle, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Metal beaten.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Berenguela of Castile, Infanta.

The question is: «Does Spain have a heraldic badge similar to how the British Isles have heraldic badges? I’ve found nothing so far for Spain except the Yoke and Arrows from the Catholic Monarchs»

Spain does not have badges, national insignias, equivalent to the badges of the British Isles, and this is not an absence or a gap, but rather the result of a different historical tradition.

In England and in the Anglo-British world, the badge developed as a personal and later territorial symbol, detached from the full coat of arms and easily reproducible. In the Hispanic Monarchy, by contrast, symbolic weight almost always rested on the coat of arms and on standards, not on simplified badges.

That said, if we accept badges in a functional sense, as a simple symbol that immediately refers to Spain, then the following can be stated:

• Indeed, the yoke and the arrows is a very characteristic symbol. It originates with the Catholic Monarchs and is derived from a crossed use of the initials of their names: the yoke with the Y of Ysabel (a contemporary spelling), and the arrows ~ «Flechas» with the F of Fernando. It is also commonly interpreted as symbolizing strength (the yoke) and unity (the bundle of arrows). The Gordian knot and the yoke are associated with Ferdinand; the Yoke uses the Y of Ysabel, his wife, and the arrows ~ «Flechas» are the symbol of Ysabel, using the F of her husband Ferdinand. It is a badge based on crossed symbolism.
• Ferdinand the Catholic also used the symbol of the Gordian knot cut with a sword, derived from the legend of Alexander the Great. This emblem is sometimes represented alongside the yoke and the arrows, although it was less widely used and less central, and it does not refer to Spain as strongly as the previous symbols.
• Later, Philip the Handsome, who was married to our Queen Joanna of Castile, daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, introduced the Cross of Burgundy into the Spanish monarchy. It was used on military flags, for example by the Tercios. The Cross of Burgundy refers to Spain more clearly than the Gordian knot, but less so than the yoke and the arrows.
• Following the chronological order, we can consider the two Pillars of Hercules with their motto «Plus Ultra», introduced by the grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, Emperor Charles. These two separate columns serve as the supporters of the coat of arms of Spain, and when they are joined and linked by the scroll bearing the motto «Plus Ultra», they appear, for example, in decorations and on the coins known as «Reales de a Ocho» ~ «Spanish Dollars», which circulated across the globe and became the world monetary standard, functioning as the planet’s reserve currency during their period of predominance, occupying the position later held by the pound sterling and today by the United States dollar. These columns, interlaced with a scroll bearing the motto «Plus Ultra», immediately evoke Spain, and would be the most generally accepted badge.
• Finally, outside the royal and historical sphere, any badge featuring a black fighting bull ~ «toro bravo» in a defiant or noble stance will immediately refer to Spain for whoever sees it.

Other possibilities that come to mind are the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Cross of Santiago, both associated with their respective orders of chivalry, which could also function as a badge ~ «insignia». If one had to choose between them, I would undoubtedly choose the Cross of Santiago.

In summary:

• Formally, Spain does not have a badge ~ «insignia» in the British sense.
• Historically, it did have clear dynastic insignias, such as the yoke and the arrows of the Catholic Monarchs, but today they are scarcely usable.
• Functionally, I believe that the Pillars of Hercules, with or without crowns, entirely in silver, as I personally prefer, or with silver shafts and gold bases and capitals, preferably with water at the base to enhance the symbolism of the motto and linked by a scroll bearing that motto, are the best possible answer.
• At present, a newly created insignia incorporating a fighting bull refers to Spain, from anywhere in the world, in an almost unbeatable way.

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Categories: Inquiry, Badge, Column, Scroll and Motto.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple-towered Or, port and windows Azure, and masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a cross flory Purpure.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de plata, una cruz flordelisada de púrpura.

Coat of arms emblazoned by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with an ogee external shape and with a freehand finish.

Coat of arms of the Infante Henry of Castile, 1230–1303, 6^th offspring of the King Ferdinand III of Castile, 1199-1252, and the Queen Beatrice of Swabia, 1205–1235. He bore his father's arms, replacing the lion Purpure of the Kingdom of León with a cross flory Purpure, likely due to his close association with the Order of Calatrava, whose emblem is a cross flory Gules. However, he retained the metal Argent field in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters and the lion's purpure color, suggesting this was more of a conceptual change than a quartering by alliance with the Order of Calatrava.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, Argent, Purpure, One, Quarterly, Castle, Triple-towered, Port and windows, Masoned, Cross flory and Cross couped.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Ogee and Freehand.

Classification: Personal, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Interpreted, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Henry of Castile, Infante.

Continue with: Philip of Castile, Infante.