An Emblem is a pattern that is used to represent an idea. An emblem crystallizes in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, a virtue or a vice. An emblem is an object or a representation of an object. An emblem may be worn or otherwise used as identifying badge. In current American usage, police officers' badges refer specifically to their personal metal emblem — sometimes with a uniquely identifying number or name on it — while the woven emblems sewn on their uniforms identify all the members of a particular unit.
A national emblem symbolically represents a nation. Most national emblems originate in the natural world, (as animals, say, or birds), but any object may serve. National emblems may appear on such items as the national flag, coat of arms, or other patriotic materials. One should not confuse a formal national emblem with less formal symbols potentially associated with tourism or clichés, for example windmills in the Netherlands. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short) is, in European tradition, a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by him or her in a wide variety of ways. Coats of arms have their origins in the designs used by medieval knights to make their armour and shield stand out in battle or tournaments and enable quick recognition by allies or spectators. The designs were used to decorate clothing worn over the knight's armour, from which we derive the term coat of arms. In addition to being painted on the shield, elements of a knight's coat of arms were used to decorate the helmet crest, pavilion, and banners used by knights.

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