The first part of the book (Heraldry and History) deals with the causes of heraldry and the essence of this phenomenon, the history of the aristocratic class, heraldic sources. The concept of "identification code" is investigated in the second part (Science of Blazon). In the third part (World of Heraldry), the author analyzes four subcodes: color, geometric, symbolic and gradation code according to a hierarchical principle; each is illustrated by an exhaustive number of iconographic examples. In total, more than 5,000 images are presented: these are mainly strictly systematized noble family coats of arms, as well as coats of arms of cities and states. The fourth part (Heraldry in history) is devoted to the study of various trends in heraldry, the study of the reasons for their origin and development, inextricably linked with the history of influential and noble European houses. Until recently, the methodology of the 19th century was used in herbology, while two historical disciplines that arose in the 20th century - anthropology and ethology - were simply not taken into account, although today it is impossible to seriously engage in heraldry without turning to these disciplines. Otherwise, it will remain a historical curiosity, mothballed by archival rarity, an elegant "thing in itself."