The Heraldic Services and Support Division is in charge of project management, research, library maintenance, some policy maintenance and website administration, said Petra Casipit, chief.

The library is home to 7,000 bound volumes of manuscripts dating as far back as the 11th century, mostly genealogies and heraldic reference works called "ordinaries".

On Aug. 17, 2005, The Institute of Heraldry granted the 49th Missile Defense Battalion their own Distinctive Unit Insignia, or DUI, and coat of arms.

Heraldry was once used to tell armies apart on the battlefield. Today's modern re-enactments of medieval battles follow a rich European tradition — with a twist.

Royal lineage, of course, was paramount. Those who've forgotten who was who can refer to a crib sheet of the monarchs thoughtfully provided by the library. Heraldry and genealogy loom large in a ...