A chatty coat of arms? According to the French, it is. Known as arms parlant or ‘canting’ arms, these shorthand emblems of identification play a visual pun on the family surname. It is up to the observer to fill in the blanks.
Bees carved into a limestone coat of arms, atop a façade in Għarb, reveal the occupant’s family name to be Apap − ape is Italian for a bee.
The coat of arms of Lieutenant Colonel Count Charles A. Gauci, the new chief herald
Naturally, an olive tree features prominently in the coat of arms for the Testaferrata Olivier family and a pear tree for the de Piro coat of arms.