Sun and Fire Symbolism

Abstract

THERE is a phase of sun and fire symbolism in our very midst which seems hitherto to have received but little attention, viz. the presence of such symbols as crests or in the coats-of-arms of many of the oldest noble families and landed gentry of the British Isles. We find them in the greatest numbers in the armorial bearings of our Scottish families, and those belonging to the most northern counties of England; probably for the same reasons that they are most numerous on objects which have been found in the northern portions of Scandinavia, i.e. that the light and warmth of the sun were naturally prized in such districts, and also because they have there survived longer, owing to the isolated position of the inhabitants depriving them of free intercourse with the outer world.