SAINT NICHOLAS IN HERALDRY

Arms showing Saint Nicholas of Myra. Often in heraldry he is not shown as a person, but three (golden) balls are being used.

Saint Nicholas also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day―St Nicholas Day and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos".

The three gold balls are based on a legend where the saint helps a father of three daughters who has lost everything and fears he will have to prostitute the girls. Nicholas comes surreptitiously to the man's window three nights in a row, and each night he tosses in a bag of gold.



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