The Scottish Wars of Independence were an ongoing series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Heraldic Knights displayed Heraldry began with the use of  the use of inherited coats of arms and other symbols to show personal identity and family lineage, began on the mid-12th century CE battlefield as an easy means to identify medieval royalty and princes who were otherwise unrecognisable beneath their armour. By the 13th century CE, the practice had spread to nobles and knights who began to take pride in bearing the colours and arms of their family predecessors. Shields and tunics were particularly good places to display such symbols as lions, eagles, crosses, and geometric forms. As more and more knights employed coats of arms so they had to become more sophisticated to differentiate them, and the use of heraldry even spread to institutions such as universities, guilds, and towns.

The wars were part of a great crisis for the Scots and the period when Scotland as a country defined its unique place in the history of the British Isles.

Thirteen years later, in 1327, Edward’s son, Edward III renounced all claims to the Scottish kingdom and Scotland finally stood alone and proud... at least for a few hundred years.