1341 gathering of prince-electors from the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire. The use of heraldry as a means to identify geographical entities is a centuries-old tradition, preceding flags.

This template facilitates the use of heraldry as a means to simply and orderly illustrate armigers (e.g. countries, regions, cities, persons or organisations) in lists. The omission of all elements of achievement save the quintessential escutcheon is a conventional heraldic practice that provides a meaningful degree of uniformity, and ensures the distinctiveness of the motifs even at low resolutions (20 pixels is the default width).

I.e. e.g. {{Coat of arms|Belgium}} produces instead of more elaborate variants such as , or .

*{{Coat of arms|Australia}}
*{{Coat of arms|Austria}}
*{{Coat of arms|ಕೆನಡಾ}}
*{{Coat of arms|Holy Roman Empire}}
*{{Coat of arms|Kingdom of France|text=none}}
*{{Coat of arms|Paris|text=''[[Fluctuat nec mergitur]]''}}
*{{Coat of arms|United Kingdom|size=45px}}
*{{Coat of arms|United States}}

Would produce:

Field name Required Description Default value Special value
size no The size of the arms. Include the denomination "px". 20px N/A
link no Where one is directed by clicking on the arms The initial value written {{Coat of arms|X}} N/A
text no The piece of text appearing on the right-hand side of the arms. The initial value written {{Coat of arms|X}} "none" gives no text whatsoever