The special coat of arms of the de Medici family

During our stay in Florence (Firenze) in Italy we saw the coat of arms of the
de Medici family regularly.

The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that
first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici
during the first half of the 15th century. 

The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered
gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the
largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise
to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens
rather than monarchs until the 16th century. However they had the official
title Grand Duke from 1569.

However in this post we will not talk about the family members, but about their
interesting and beautiful coat of arms, which you will see almost everywhere in
Florence.

The blazon of the de' Medici family is a golden shield with five red balls,
and a blue one decorated with three golden lilies.

At the beginning the "balls" in the emblem were eleven, they became nine
with Giovanni di Bicci, then eight with Cosimo il Vecchio, Pater Patriae. 

His son Piero the Gouty reduced again the number to seven, one of which
became blue with the three golden lilies of the kings of France, a privilege
granted by King Louis XI in 1465. 

Source picture: Wikipedia

Eventually the final number of six was reached with Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The reason for these change in numbers remains quite a mystery.

There are different possible reasons for this look of the coat of arms of the
de' Medici family.

One of the meanings could be the origin of the family. They where pharmacists 
before mighty bankers. So, the red balls would represent the pills that
pharmacists prepared in their workshops, generally red in color to distinguish
them from other products.

Another theory is that the read balls, where first orange and they where like
the oranges which grow in the beautiful gardens of the family.

The fruits would represent the trading (history) of the family. Especially the trade
in the East.

For me, it is nice to know the meaning of the famous coat of arms of the
de' Medici family.

However the blazon also is very interesting: Or, five balls in orle gules.
With these words, I finish the post and wish you a fantastic week!

The pictures of the coat of arms were made by me in Florence in June 2024.
The picture of King Louis XI of France is from Wikipedia