by restaurants to indicate heart-healthy nutrient content claim (e.g., "low in cholesterol"). A copyrighted "heart-check" symbol to indicate heart-healthy food was introduced by the American Heart Association in 1995. Heraldry The earliest heart-shaped charges in heraldry appear in the 12th century; the hearts in the coat of arms of Denmark go back to the royal banner of the kings of Denmark, in turn based on a seal used as early as the 1190s. However, while the charges are clearly heart-shaped, they did not depict hearts in origin, or symbolize any idea related to love. Instead, they are assumed to have depicted the leaves of the water-lily. Early heraldic heart-shaped charges depicting the leaves of water-lilies are found in various other designs related to territories close to rivers or a coastline (e.g. Flags of Frisia). Inverted heart symbols have been used in heraldry as stylized testicles (coglioni in Italian) as in the canting arms of the Colleoni family of Milan. A seal attributed to William, Lord of Douglas (of 1333) shows a heart shape, identified as the heart of Robert the Bruce. The authenticity of this seal is "very questionable", i.e. it could possibly date to the late 14th or even the 15th century. Heraldic charges actually representing hearts became more common in the early modern period, with the Sacred Heart depicted in ecclesiastical heraldry, and hearts representing love appearing in bourgeois coats of arms. Hearts also later became popular elements in municipal coats of arms. Botanical symbolism There has been some conjecture regarding the link between the traditional heart symbol and images of the fruit of silphium, a (probably) extinct plant known to classical antiquity and belonging to the genus Ferula, used as a condiment and medicine, (the medicinal properties including contraceptive and abortifacient activity, linking the plant to sexuality and love). Silver coins from the ancient Libya of the 6th to 5th centuries BC bear images strongly reminiscent of the heart symbol, sometimes accompanied by images of the silphium plant. The related Ferula species asafoetida - which was actually used as an inferior substitute for silphium - is regarded as an aphrodisiac in Tibet and India, suggesting yet a third amatory association relating to silphium. Encoding A common emoticon for the heart is <3. In Unicode several heart symbols are available in text format: And from the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs and Supplemental Symbols and Pictographs ranges associated with