Ślepowron is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the fifteenth century, the descendants of the Ślepowron family began to use names taken from their lands. This led to many different surnames being created within one family. The Ślepowron coat of arms is unique in Polish heraldry, in that it is the only coat of arms which is indicative a common origin of individual families, that is, the de Ślepowron, or Korwin, family. Wawrzęta Korwin de Ślepowron is the oldest known ancestor of the family, although the family's oral traditions claim that they descend from Marcus Valerius Corvus, a Roman general. Blazon A black raven with its wings somewhat extended for flight, is facing to the right of the shield. It stands atop a cross. The cross is on the shoulders of a horseshoe which stands erect with its heels at the bottom. The raven holds a gold ring in its beak. The shield is blue and the horseshoe silver. On a crowned helmet stands a raven similar to the one in the shield. History Adding the Horseshoe to the Raven Baroque writers agree on a rather romantic version of how this clan shield was acquired in its present form: When a handsome knight from one of the Korwin families had the good fortune to marry a beautiful daughter of the Pobog clan, he redesigned the arms by adding to The Horseshoe and cross of his bride's coat of arms to his own ancestral Raven with A Ring. The Ślepowron coat of arms are seen as an earlier version of the Korwin coat of arms, which many families decided to adopt as a more 'fashionable' crest. Origin of the name Ślepowron The name Ślepowron is said to be taken from the village of Ślepowrony near Płońsk, Mazowsze, which belonged to the then-established Korwin-Piotrowski family. This village (according to the important work "Herbów Rycerstwa Polskiego", by Bartosz Paprocki) was to be kept by the knight Wawrzęta de Ślepowrony, at the service of Fr. Konrad Mazowiecki. Motto “Kości spròchniałe powstańcie z mogiły, Przywdziejcie ducha i ciało i siły' - Woronicz (found in Herbarz Polski, Hipolit Stupnicki) Origin of the Raven The Raven symbol itself is much older, and for its origin there are many legends whose veracity is often doubtful. These are nearly the same for Slepowron and Korwin