lion was always a popular in western culture going all the way back to Hercules. Using the heraldic insignia of a dominant power was a way, and still is a way, to show loyalty to that power. Not using that insignia is a way to show independence. The Netherlands, as territories bordering on the Holy Roman Empire with its Roman eagle and France with its Fleur-de-lis, had many examples of this. The lion was so heavily used in the Netherlands for various provinces and families (see Leo Belgicus) that it became the national arms of the Dutch Republic, its successor states the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Blue, because of its nearness to purple, which in the northern climes tended to fade (red was the other choice), was also a popular color for those with royal aspirations. The billets could have been anything from blocks of wood to abstractions of the reinforcements holding the shield together. The fact that these were arms were very similar to those of the counts of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) did not seem to cause too much confusion. It also held with one of the basic tenants of heraldry, that arms could not be repeated within a kingdom, but Nassau was considered to be in the Kingdom of Germany, while Franche-Comté was in the kingdom of Burgundy (see also Scrope v Grosvenor). Coats of arms of sovereignty also show the territories that the dynasty claims to rule over. The principle ones are depicted below, i.e. The Principality of Orange, which gave them their major title and claim to equal status with all the other sovereign rulers of the world, Prince of Orange. Then, The Lordship of Chalons and Arlay, a large set of lands in the Franche-Comté The County of Geneva And in Germany, County of Katzenelnbogen a large set of lands near the County of Nassau The County of Dietz, also near the County of Nassau County of Meurs, bordering on the northeastern Netherlands Finally, in the Netherlands, the real base of their wealth and power: County of Vianden, in the southern Netherlands along the river Meuse. Marquisate of Vlissingen (Flushing) and KampenVeere, which sat along the mouth of the Rhine and the trade routes across the North Sea and the world beyond. County of Buren, also long the delta of the Rhine, but further inland. In most of the estates in the more populous provinces of