Visual pun


A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images, often based on a rebus.
Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in cartoons such as Lost Consonants or The Far Side as well as in Dutch gable stones. For instance the "Batenburg" stone shown here, puns on the words baten and burg which together make up the name of a village near Nijmegen. European heraldry contains the technique of canting arms, which can be considered punning.

Visual puns in Heraldry

Visual puns on the bearer's name are used extensively as forms of heraldic expression, they are called canting arms. They have been used for centuries across Europe and have even been used recently by members of the British Royal Family, such as on the arms of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and of Princess Beatrice of York. The arms of U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower are also canting.

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