Coat of arms. This is the translation of the Slovak "erb", which seems strange, because there isn't a coat but a shield (štít), and there aren't any arms (neither ramená nor zbrane) but colored designs and symbols covering the shield. These "arms" are short for armorial bearings, meaning the designs borne (carried or worn) on a suit of armor (and shield) by a medieval knight, and if he was wearing chain-mail (krúžkové brnenie), then on a white textile coat (plášť) over it, like during the Crusades to the Holy Land in the 11th-13th centuries, where it was very hot.

The design and colors of a knight's coat of arms would help others recognize him with his helmet on, so they were meant for individual personal identification, composed of symbols representing a person's family background. This is why it was so special when Košice (not an individual but a city) was granted a coat of arms in 1369.