The Defendant by G.K. Chesterton

The modern view of heraldry is pretty accurately represented by the / words of the famous barrister who, after cross-examining for some time a / venerable dignitary of Heralds' College, summed up his results in the / remark that 'the silly old man didn't even understand his own silly old / trade.'

Heraldry properly so called was, of course, a wholly limited and / aristocratic thing, but the remark needs a kind of qualification not / commonly realized. In a sense there was a plebeian heraldry, since every / shop was, like every castle, distinguished not by a name, but a sign. / The whole system dates from a time when picture-writing still really / ruled the world. In those days few could read or write; they signed / their names with a pictorial symbol, a cross -- and a cross is a great / improvement on most men's names.