{ "model": { "rank": 2487, "code": "thing-q14659", "model_id": "vr.tr.coat-of-arms", "name": "coat of arms", "purpose": "Let an agent explain coats of arms and heraldic rules, identify and blazon specific arms with sources, describe how arms are granted and used, and support heraldic research.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Information and virtual systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "INF", "domain": "INF.MED", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q14659/", "tier": 2, "score": 104, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "United States military beret flash", "Relief Hofleverancier", "guild sign", "cartouche", "Stubenschild", "Coat of arms of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario", "coats of arms of Brittany pays", "national coat of arms", "Coat of arms of Niue", "papal coat of arms", "provincial coat of arms", "Meistertafeln", "Heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire", "coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania", "crest of Vysokaje", "large coat of arms", "family coat of arms", "personal coat of arms", "attributed arms", "arms of alliance", "coat of arms of Carcaixent", "assumed arms", "student organization coat of arms", "coat of arms of a Dutch village", "territorial coat of arms", "county coat of arms", "Coat of arms of Ukrainiae", "coat of arms of Oschatz", "coat of arms of a dependent territory", "coat of arms of Chiapas", "arms of pretence", "coat of arms of Hohenlohe", "Wapen van Hohenzollern", "coat of arms of Leiningen", "arms of assumption", "escutcheon", "rhetorician blazon", "coat of arms of Grodno, Belarus", "coat of arms of the city of Rio de Janeiro", "Coats of arms of Samara" ], "aliasCount": 92, "merged": 93, "knownIn": 104, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q14659", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14659", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-12T01:03:12Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 2, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q14659", "registryId": "vr.tr.coat-of-arms", "name": "coat of arms", "version": "0.2.0-wave.2", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "INF.MED" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q14659/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.coat-of-arms", "name": "coat of arms", "purpose": "Let an agent explain coats of arms and heraldic rules, identify and blazon specific arms with sources, describe how arms are granted and used, and support heraldic research.", "definition": "A heraldic design on a shield, often with a crest, helm, supporters and motto, granted or assumed to identify a person, family, city, institution or state under rules of heraldry, and displayed on buildings, seals, flags, documents and objects, with related devices such as cartouches, guild signs and military insignia; coats of arms are regulated by heraldic authorities in some countries, recorded in armorials, and studied in heraldry and art history.", "what_it_is_for": "Heraldic identifying designs.", "affordances": [ "explain heraldic rules", "identify and blazon arms", "describe grants and use", "support research" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Heraldic rules", "Hereditary or institutional", "Blazon", "Regulated in some countries" ], "appearance": "A shield with coloured charges, often with crest, supporters and motto.", "visual_identification": [ "Shield-based heraldic design", "Blazoned in heraldic language", "A logo is not heraldic; a flag may carry arms" ], "physical_properties": [], "families_and_kinds": [ "personal and family arms", "civic arms of cities and regions", "national and state arms", "ecclesiastical and institutional arms", "related devices such as cartouches and guild signs" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "symbol", "why": "category" }, { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "flag or coat of arms", "why": "category" }, { "relation": "is related to", "target": "viscount", "why": "nobles bearing arms" }, { "relation": "is related to", "target": "motif", "why": "heraldic charges as motifs" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "Heraldic authority rules and grants", "Laws on use of national and civic arms", "Armorial and registration conventions" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Assuming arms belong to a surname", "Misuse of official arms", "Errors in blazon" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What coats of arms are.", "rationale": "Heraldry.", "layers": [ { "id": "elements", "name": "Elements", "description": "Elements and rules.", "findings": [ { "id": "elements-finding", "name": "Elements", "description": "Elements.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the shield, tinctures, charges, crest, helm, supporters and motto, and what rules govern their combination?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits a specific heraldic element?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "blazon", "name": "Blazon", "description": "Blazon.", "findings": [ { "id": "blazon-finding", "name": "Blazon", "description": "Blazon.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are arms described in blazon, and how is this blazon read or written?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Which entry fits heraldic terminology?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "identify", "name": "Identify", "description": "Identifying arms.", "rationale": "Practice.", "layers": [ { "id": "specific", "name": "Specific", "description": "A specific coat of arms.", "findings": [ { "id": "specific-finding", "name": "Specific", "description": "Specific arms.", "questions": [ { "text": "Whose arms are these, and what is their history, according to armorials and heraldic authorities?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the assumption that arms belong to a surname being avoided?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "civic", "name": "Civic", "description": "Civic and national arms.", "findings": [ { "id": "civic-finding", "name": "Civic", "description": "Civic arms.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the arms of this city, region or state, and what do their elements represent, according to official sources?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the place?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "use", "name": "Use", "description": "Grants and use.", "rationale": "Law.", "layers": [ { "id": "grants", "name": "Grants", "description": "Obtaining arms.", "findings": [ { "id": "grants-finding", "name": "Grants", "description": "Grants.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are arms granted or assumed in different countries, and which heraldic authorities exist?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits a specific authority?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rules", "name": "Rules", "description": "Rules on use.", "findings": [ { "id": "rules-finding", "name": "Rules", "description": "Rules.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which laws restrict the use of official arms, and how are arms used on documents, buildings and objects?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is legal advice needed from a professional?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "learn", "name": "Learn", "description": "History and teaching.", "rationale": "Education.", "layers": [ { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History of heraldry.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did coats of arms develop from medieval identification to modern civic and institutional heraldry?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "teach", "name": "Teach", "description": "Teaching.", "findings": [ { "id": "teach-finding", "name": "Teach", "description": "Teaching.", "questions": [ { "text": "How can heraldry be taught with blazon exercises?", "kind": "action" }, { "text": "Which misconceptions arise?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should each notable coat of arms be a separate entry?", "How should armorials be linked?", "How should heraldic authorities be linked?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "work, medium or creative form", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a coat of arms, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain coats of arms and heraldic rules, identify and blazon specific arms with sources, describe how arms are granted and used, and support heraldic research.", "characteristics": { "substance": "information", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "read and interpreted", "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: United States military beret flash, Relief Hofleverancier, guild sign, cartouche, Stubenschild, Coat of arms of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, coats of arms of Brittany pays, national coat of arms, Coat of arms of Niue, papal coat of arms, provincial coat of arms, Meistertafeln.", "93 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 104 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a coat of arms, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "content that has to be carried by something else", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "read it and act on what it says", "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "What is seen is a copy or a performance, not the work. Recognising the work means recognising the content through whatever is carrying it." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "United States military beret flash", "Relief Hofleverancier", "guild sign", "cartouche", "Stubenschild", "Coat of arms of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario", "coats of arms of Brittany pays", "national coat of arms", "Coat of arms of Niue", "papal coat of arms", "provincial coat of arms", "Meistertafeln" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 104 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 93 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one coat of arms from another, and a coat of arms from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a coat of arms sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a coat of arms from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a coat of arms passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a coat of arms between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a coat of arms, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a coat of arms is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "content-and-access", "name": "Content, encoding and access", "description": "What a coat of arms says, how it is encoded and who may read it.", "rationale": "An informational thing carries content that can be copied, versioned and withheld, none of which its physical carrier explains.", "layers": [ { "id": "content-and-encoding", "name": "Content and encoding", "description": "The content itself, its format and its language.", "findings": [ { "id": "content-and-format", "name": "Content, format and language", "description": "What a coat of arms contains and in what form it is held.", "questions": [ { "id": "content-and-format-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the content of a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the content of a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "content-and-format-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the content of a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "access-and-rights", "name": "Access, rights and retention", "description": "Who may read, copy or change it, and for how long it is kept.", "findings": [ { "id": "access-rules", "name": "Access rules and retention", "description": "The permissions attached to a coat of arms and the period it survives.", "questions": [ { "id": "access-rules-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes access to a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about access to a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "access-rules-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once access to a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "work-and-manifestation", "name": "Work, version and copy", "description": "Which level of coat of arms a statement is about.", "rationale": "The work, the edition, the file and the copy in hand are four things; rights and content attach to different ones.", "layers": [ { "id": "levels", "name": "Levels of the thing", "description": "Work, expression, manifestation and item, in plain terms.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs at each level", "description": "Which facts hold for the work and which only for one copy.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "For coat of arms, which facts belong to the work itself, which to a version, and which to a single copy?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifier exists at each level, and which one is being cited?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "versions", "name": "Versions, editions and variants", "description": "How versions differ and which is canonical to whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "version-record", "name": "Versions and canonicity", "description": "Differences that matter and who calls one authoritative.", "questions": [ { "id": "version-record-q01", "text": "Which versions or editions of coat of arms exist, and how do they differ substantively?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "version-record-q02", "text": "Who treats which version as authoritative, and for what purpose?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "authorship-and-rights", "name": "Authorship, rights and permitted use", "description": "Who made coat of arms and what may be done with it.", "rationale": "Rights are jurisdictional, time-limited and attached to a level, and an agent that ignores that will copy what it may not.", "layers": [ { "id": "authorship", "name": "Authorship and contribution", "description": "Who contributed what, and in what capacity.", "findings": [ { "id": "contribution-record", "name": "Contributors and roles", "description": "The people and bodies behind it, with their roles.", "questions": [ { "id": "contribution-record-q01", "text": "Who authored or contributed to coat of arms, in what roles, and how is that attested?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "contribution-record-q02", "text": "Where authorship is disputed or anonymous, what is recorded instead?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rights", "name": "Rights and permissions", "description": "Which rights subsist, where, until when, and what they permit.", "findings": [ { "id": "rights-record", "name": "Rights, term and permitted acts", "description": "The regime in force and what it allows.", "questions": [ { "id": "rights-record-q01", "text": "What rights subsist in coat of arms, in which jurisdictions, and until when?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "rights-record-q02", "text": "Which acts are permitted without further permission, and which must an agent refuse?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a coat of arms came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a coat of arms and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a coat of arms is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a coat of arms, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a coat of arms, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a coat of arms is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }