heraldist F. P. Almeida Langhans, the Office of Corporate Heraldry was established as the official heraldic authority for those bodies. Almeida Langhans created a specific model for the coats of arms of corporative bodies that consisted of an oval shield entirely encircled by a cartouche (designed as a scroll) bearing the designation of the body. The charges used in these coats of arms were often the tools used in the crafts that the body represented and the images of the patron Saints of those crafts. An unconventional type of charges, also often included in the field of the shields, were complete achievements of arms (including its external elements), especially those of the municipalities where the corporative bodies were located. The model created for the coats of arms of the corporations (in the narrow sense) that represented the large branches of industry was different and consisted in a heater shield topped by an helmet, torse, mantling and crest. Within the scope of corporate heraldry, Almeida Langhans was also responsible for the creation of a model of coat of arms for the corps of volunteer firefighters. This consisted in the Phoenix issuing from the flames and holding two crossed axes, charged with the municipal coat of arms of the city or town where the corps was located. This model of coat of arms is still today used by almost all the corps of volunteer firefighters of the country. The use of heraldic insignia was not traditional among Portuguese universities and other educational institutions. As insignia, these usually preferred the use of variants of their seals, usually with allegoric and non-heraldic designs. However, since the 1970s, a number of universities and polytechnic institutes have adopted coats of arms as their insignia. The 1991 law regulating the Portuguese municipal heraldry also defined a model for the corporate coat of arms to be borne by the legal persons of administrative public interest. These would be represented in a round-bottom shield, with a civic crown and a scroll with the name of the institution; however, this model of coat of arms was apparently never granted to any institution. Heraldic authorities King of Arms During the period of the Monarchy (until 1910), the heraldic authorities of the Kingdom were the officers of arms and the Nobility Register Office. The Portuguese Monarchs had officers of arms at their service since the 14th century or earlier. The first known