Amural crown (Latin:corona muralis) is acrown or headpiece representingcity walls,towers, orfortresses. Inclassical antiquity, it was an emblem oftutelary deities who watched over a city, and among theRomans amilitary decoration. Later the mural crown developed into a symbol of Europeanheraldry, mostly for cities and towns, and in the 19th and 20th centuries was used in some republican heraldry.
Early appearances of the mural crown occur in theAchaemenid Empire, where they resemble crenelations on Mesopotamian and Persian buildings.
InHellenistic culture, a mural crown identifiedtutelary deities such as the goddessTyche, the embodiment of the fortunes of a city. The high cylindricalpolos ofRheawas rendered as a mural crown forCybele in Hellenistic times, as patron of a city.[1] The Graeco-Roman goddessRoma's attributes onGreek coinage usually include her mural crown, signifying Rome's status as a loyal protector ofHellenic city-states.[2]
The mural crown became anancient Roman military decoration. Thecorona muralis (Latin for "walled crown") was a golden crown, or a circle of gold intended to resemble abattlement, bestowed upon the soldier who first climbed the wall of a besieged city or fortress to successfully place the standard (flag) of the attacking army upon it.[3][4] The Roman mural crown was made of gold, and decorated with turrets,[5] as is the heraldic version. As it was among the highest order of military decorations, it was not awarded to a claimant until after a strict investigation.[6] Therostrata mural crown, composed of therostra indicative of captured ships, was assigned as naval prize to the first in a boarding party, similar to thenaval crown.
The Roman military decoration was subsequently employed in Europeanheraldry, where the term denoted acrown modeled after the walls of a castle, which may be tincturedor (gold),argent (silver),gules (red), orproper (i.e. stone-coloured). In 19th-century Germany, mural crowns (Mauerkronen) came to be adopted for the arms of cities, with increasingly specific details: "Residential (i.e. having aroyal residence) cities and capital towns usually bear aMauerkrone with five towers, large towns one with four towers, smaller towns one with three", observedArthur Charles Fox-Davies, inA Complete Guide to Heraldry, adding "Strict regulations in the matter do not yet exist" and warning that the usage was not British.[7]
Mural crowns were used, rather than royal crowns, formedieval and modern Italiancomuni. A mural-crowned lady,Italia Turrita, personifies Italy. In Italy,comuni and some provinces and military corps have mural crowns on their coats of arms: gold with five towers for cities, and silver with nine-towered for others. The coat of arms of theSecond Spanish Republic had a mural crown.
In the early 20th centuryPortugal established strict rules for its municipal heraldry, in which each coat of arms contains a mural crown, with three silver towers signifying a village or an urban parish, four silver towers representing a town, five silver towers standing for a city and five gold towers for a capital city. The Portuguese rules are also applied to most municipal coats of arms of Brazil and some other members of theCommunity of Portuguese Language Countries.
Romanian municipal coats of arms contain a mural crown, with one or three towers for villages and communes, five and seven towers for towns and municipalities.
The eagle on thecoat of arms of Austria wears a mural crown to signify its status as a republic. This is in contrast to the royal crowns that adorned thedouble-headed eagle (and the imperial crown positioned above it) in thecoat of arms of Austria-Hungary until their defeat inWorld War I. The mural-crowned eagle was abandoned under theclerico-fascistFederal State of Austria from 1934, but was reinstated inAllied-occupied Austria followingWorld War II and remains in place to this day.
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| Mural crowns ofFrench heraldry: 1. Capital2. Department Capital3.Commune | Mural crowns of Portuguese heraldry: 1. Village or urban parish2. Town3. City4. Capital | Mural crowns of Romanian heraldry: 1. Village2. Town3. City4. Capital | |
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| Mural crowns of Brazil: 1. Village2. Town3. City4. Capital | Modern elaborations of mural crowns ofCatalan heraldry | Mural crown of an Italian City | Mural crown of an ItalianComune |
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