Escudo de armas de la Familia Rothschild

 

La familia Rothschild es una dinastía europea de origen judeoalemán, algunos de cuyos integrantes fundaron bancos e instituciones financieras a finales del siglo XVIII y que acabó convirtiéndose, a partir del siglo XIX, en uno de los más influyentes linajes de banqueros y financieros del mundo.

A cinco hermanos de la rama austríaca de la familia se les otorgaron baronías hereditarias del Imperio de los Habsburgo por el emperador Francisco I de Austria en 1816. La rama británica de la familia fue elevada a la nobleza por la reina Victoria.

En 1743, Amschel Moses Bauer, orfebre de profesión, que completaba sus ingresos ejerciendo de cambista, abrió una tienda de monedas en el gueto judío de Fráncfort del Meno, en Alemania. Sobre la puerta de entrada de su casa, cuya planta baja quedaba reservada para el negocio y el resto para la familia, colgó un cartel en el que se representaba un águila romana en un escudo rojo. La tienda llegó a ser conocida como la tienda del «escudo rojo», en alemán Rothschild —Rot (rojo) y Schild (escudo)—; con el tiempo, esta palabra pasó a convertirse en su patronímico.

Escudo de armas de la familia Rothschild

La patente del primer escudo de armas de los Rothschild se concedió en 1817, la concesión de armas inglesa fue de 1818 y la Baronía de Austria se concedió por Decreto Imperial en 1822. El escudo de los Rothschild ha tenido ligeras variaciones a lo largo del tiempo e incluso tenía cuatro flechas en sus inicios. Sin embargo, pronto aparecieron las importantes cinco flechas representadas en el escudo, que representan a los cinco hermanos Rothschild que fueron dispersados por Europa por su padre Mayer Amschel Rothschild para hacer crecer los intereses bancarios familiares.

Debajo del escudo aparece el lema familiar:
Concordia, Integritas, Industria (Armonía, Integridad, Industria).

Patent for the first Rothschild coat of arms, 1817     

Source: https://www.rothschildarchive.org/family/the_rothschild_name_and_arms/the_rothschild_coat_of_arms

The title of nobility granted to the Rothschilds by Austria permitted the use of the 'von' in the name and stems from an Order in Council of Francis I of 21 October 1816.  The design submitted by the brothers for their Arms was accompanied by a letter of explanation in Salomon's hand. The proposed design included:

Escudo de armas concedido a los barones Rothschild por emperador Francisco I de Austria

First quarter, an eagle sable surcharged in dexter by a field gules (referring to the Imperial and Royal Austrian Coat of Arms); Second quarter, gules, a leopard passant proper (referring to the English Coat of Arms); Third quarter, a lion rampant (referring to the Hessian Electoral Coat of Arms); Fourth quarter, azure, an arm bearing five arrows (a symbol of the unity of the five brothers). In the centre of the coat a shield gules. Right hand supporter, a greyhound, a symbol of loyalty; left supporter, a stork, a symbol of piety and content. Crest: a coronet surmounted by the lion of Hesse. 

The Rothschilds asked for separate patents of nobility for each of the four brothers as they lived in different countries. The separate patents were granted, but the design was considered too grand.  The response to the application had a 'suitable' design attached to it, without the coronet, heraldic animals supporting the shield, or the lion and leopard.  Also, the arm grasped just four arrows.  A letter in the Archive from Amschel to Salomon and Nathan in November 1816 reads, ".....James and Carl received the nobility.  It is a pity that Nathan did not want it." 

English grant of arms, 1818

The grant to Nathan and his heirs, and also to his brothers and their heirs, refers to Nathan's brothers as 'de' Rothschild. It was accompanied by the following armorial design:

Azure, a lion passant guardant erminois grasping five arrows the pheons downwards, or, and for the crest on a wreath of the colours, out of a crown vallery gules a demi lion erminois holding between the paws five arrows as in the arms.

Champagne "Barons de Rothschild"_2012

Austrian Barony granted by Imperial Decree, 1822

The design for the arms was modified at this stage: the seven-pointed coronet was restored, the lion was granted, there were five arrows, the lion and unicorn as supporters, three helmets and a latin motto. The lion was an important concession as far as the brothers were concerned, and they felt that its inclusion in the English Arms was a triumph which helped in the negotiations with the Austrian Heralds.  The Barony was granted to the five brothers and their heirs and descendants of both sexes. The description of the Arms is as follows:

Arms: A pointed gold and blue quartered shield with a red central shield, in the middle of which is a right-facing shield; above right on a golden shield is a simple black eagle with open jaws, red outstretched tongue, wings spread, taken from the Arms; above left and below right in the two blue fields comes out of each edge of the shield a bare arm, the hands of which hold five white-feathered arrows with the points downwards; below left on a golden field is an upright natural Lion with open jaws, red outstretched tongue.

Crest: The shield is surmounted by a baronial crown, wound round with small pearls and decorated with five large pearls, topped with three crowns which are surrounded with, on the right, black and gold and on the left blue and silver covering, on top of noble "tournament-style" helmets; from the crown positioned above the visor of the helmet in the centre stands the eagle as described above, the helmets on the right and left are turned towards one another, from the crown on the right helmet floats a golden star between two alternately coloured gold and black buffalo horns, from the crown on the left helmet come three ostrich feathers, viz. two blue and one silver.

Supporters: In the foreground as supporters are, right, an upright golden lion with open jaws, red outstretched tongue, and holding the shield with the forepaws; left a silver unicorn, likewise supporting the arms with front feet.

Motto: Beneath the shield are written on a flowing red and white band the Latin words: 'Concordia, Integritas, Industria' (Harmony, Integrity, Industry).