The charge was often more than a geometric ordinary. A wide variety of animals were favored for coats of arms. The lion was the most favored, especially for royalty. It was not native to Europe, and it was only seen alive in royal menageries or depicted in traditional bestiary books. As a result, most medieval heraldic lions did not look much like real lions. Very similar beasts might be called tigers or leopards. The chief artistic difference was that lions had to be standing up, called rampant. In French heraldry, any lion standing on four feet was a leopard, even if other nations still called it a lion.
A lion rampant was standing on its back legs with its front paws in the air, claws outstretched and mouth open. A lion passant was shown walking, a lion statant was standing, a lion sejant was seated, and a lion couchant was lying down, with his head up. They could be gardant, looking forward, or regardant, looking back toward their tails. Artists took liberties with animals to give them variety. The lion passant might have two tails or two heads.
Animals that took part in aristocratic hunts were the next most popular heraldic animals, and they had the advantage of not implying royalty. When a family’s surname or estate sounded like an animal, it was often incorporated into the arms, such as bears for Barnard. Wolves, boars, bears, and stags were the most popular heraldic quarries. Horses and dogs also figured in arms. Bulls, not hunted but viewed as noble and strong, could be used. Like lions, all these animals could be posed standing, sitting, or walking and could look forward or back. Heraldic painters could differentiate each coat of arms, making it unique in an increasingly crowded field of registered designs.
Some birds were common figures as charges. Eagles were by far the favorite choice. They could be in different positions, but most were shown with the belly toward the viewer, wings spread and head turned to one side. This view was called displayed. Some eagles had two heads. The only other birds that figured in medieval heraldry were the mythical phoenix, shown on its fiery nest, the falcon, and the raven.
Monsters were equally popular. There were monsters borrowed from classical mythology, such as the dragon, the centaur, and the unicorn. Dragons and unicorns were the most popular heraldic monsters, and dragons appeared on some English and Welsh battle flags. Other monsters were combinations of animals. Griffins had a lion’s body, an eagle’s wings, and a head of an eagle but with a lion’s ears. Their back feet were lion’s paws, and their front feet had eagle’s claws. Some other hybrids were the invention of artists. Lions could have wings, or they could have a back half like a fish—literally a sea lion. Wings were particularly popular; there were winged stags, goats, and bulls, as well as Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek mythology.