Editing Moors (section)

==In heraldry==
{{Main|Maure}}
[[File:Escudo d'Aragón.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|left|Coat of arms of [[Aragon]] with Moors' heads.]]
[[File:Canynges arms on the tomb of William II Canynges and Joan Burton, St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, UK - 20101015.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|right|Arms of the wealthy Bristol merchant and shipper [[William II Canynges]] (d.1474), as depicted on his canopied tomb in [[St Mary Redcliffe]] Church, showing the ''couped'' heads of three Moors wreathed at the temples]]

Moors—or more frequently their heads, often crowned—appear with some frequency in medieval European [[heraldry]], though less so since the Middle Ages. The term ascribed to them in [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] ''[[blazon]]'' (the language of [[English heraldry]]) is ''maure'', though they are also sometimes called ''moore'', ''blackmoor'', ''[[Blackamoor (decorative arts)|blackamoor]]'' or ''negro''.<ref name=JParker>{{cite web | title=Man | work= A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry | last=Parker | first=James | url=http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/Jpglossm.htm#Man | access-date=2012-01-23}}</ref> [[Maure]]s appear in European heraldry from at least as early as the 13th century,<ref name=VAM>{{cite web | title=Africans in medieval & Renaissance art: the Moor's head | url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/africans-in-medieval-and-renaissance-art-moors-head/ | publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum | access-date=2012-01-23| date=2011-01-13 }}</ref> and some have been attested as early as the 11th century in [[Italy]],<ref name=VAM /> where they have persisted in the local [[heraldry]] and [[vexillology]] well into modern times in [[Corsica]] and [[Sardinia]].

Armigers bearing moors or moors' heads may have adopted them for any of several reasons, to include symbolizing military victories in the [[Crusades]], as a pun on the bearer's name in the [[canting arms]] of Morese, Negri, Saraceni, etc., or in the case of [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], possibly to demonstrate the reach of his empire.<ref name=VAM /> The [[Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI|arms of Pope Benedict XVI]] feature a moor's head, crowned and collared red, in reference to the arms of [[Freising (district)|Freising, Germany]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/stemma-benedict-xvi_en.html |author=Mons. Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo |title=Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI |publisher=The Holy See |access-date=2013-01-25}}</ref>  In the case of Corsica and Sardinia, the blindfolded moors' heads in the four quarters have long been said to represent the four Moorish emirs who were defeated by [[Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona]] in the 11th century, the four moors' heads around a cross having been adopted to the arms of Aragon around 1281–1387, and Corsica and Sardinia having come under the dominion of the king of Aragon in 1297.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fr-co.html |last=Sache |first=Ivan |date=2009-06-14 |title=Corsica (France, Traditional province) |publisher=Flags of the World |access-date=2013-01-25}}</ref> In Corsica, the blindfolds were lifted to the brow in the 18th century as a way of expressing the island's newfound independence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vaguelyinteresting.co.uk/?tag=flag-of-sardinia |last=Curry |first=Ian |date=2012-03-18 |title=Blindfolded Moors – The Flags of Corsica and Sardinia |publisher=Vaguely Interesting |access-date=2013-01-25}}</ref>

The use of Moors (and particularly their heads) as a heraldic symbol has been deprecated in modern [[North America]].<ref>In his July 15, 2005 blog article [https://archive.today/20120708120756/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_13_132/ai_n27858944/ "Is that a Moor's head?"], Mathew N. Schmalz refers to a discussion on the American Heraldry Society's website where at least one participant described the moor's head as a "potentially explosive image".</ref>  For example, the College of Arms of the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] urges applicants to use them delicately to avoid causing offence.<ref>{{cite web | title=Part IX: Offensive Armory | work=Rules for Submissions of the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. | url=http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/rfs.html#9 | date=2008-04-02 | access-date=2012-01-23}}</ref>