The world of Westeros isn’t just known for its political intrigue and shocking betrayals. Beneath every flag that waves above castle walls lies a carefully chosen symbol that tells the story of a noble house. These aren’t random decorations or fancy designs – they’re powerful representations of family history, values, and ancient beliefs that have shaped the Seven Kingdoms for thousands of years.
From the frozen North to the sun-drenched deserts of Dorne, each great house has selected an animal or mythical creature that embodies their very essence. Some chose fearsome predators that strike terror into their enemies’ hearts, while others picked symbols that reflect their strategic advantages or natural surroundings. The fascinating part? These sigils often predict how these families would ultimately rise or fall in the deadly game of thrones.
The Direwolf of House Stark – Loyalty Beyond Death
House Stark’s direwolf represents loyalty and resilience, symbolizing the Stark family’s loyalty to their people, their endurance, and their resilience. The gray running direwolf symbol is an excellent choice for the family’s sigil, as not only is the direwolf the most famous creature of the North, but also the wolf is a very loyal, family-oriented animal. This connection between the Stark children and their direwolves wasn’t just symbolic – it was literally supernatural in some cases.
The Starks are represented by a grey direwolf against a white backdrop, perfect for a fanatically loyal family of the white, frozen North, as like wolves, the Starks do best in a pack and are fiercely protective of their territory. The tragic irony is that once the pack was scattered, individual members became vulnerable to their enemies. The Starks put their family members and their family’s honor first and foremost, just as a wolf pack always makes decisions that will benefit the entire group.
The Golden Lion of House Lannister – Pride and Power
House Lannister’s sigil is a golden lion on a crimson background, symbolizing their ambition and regal grandeur, with the lion’s fierce yet majestic presence representing the family’s pursuit of power, wealth, and influence. Lions are a powerful animal known for their ferocity, making them perfect representatives for the most feared family in Westeros.
What makes the Lannister choice particularly interesting is that no lion other than a metaphorical one has been spotted or referenced in the books, and judging from the biomes in Westeros, lions are bound to be indigenous to some location further South or perhaps they come from Essos. This means the Lannisters deliberately chose an exotic, powerful creature to represent their house. As a conservative and traditional house in Westeros, a golden lion fits them perfectly, and like lions, the Lannisters are also known for their cunning and calculated strategies.
The Three-Headed Dragon of House Targaryen – Fire Made Flesh
A three-headed dragon, set against a black background, the sigil of House Targaryen, portrays the house’s legacy and their connection to dragons and ancient Valyria, with their emblem going back to the days when House Targaryen ruled as dragonlords, and each head of the dragon represents Aegon the Conqueror and his two sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya. This wasn’t just about family history – it was a warning to all who would oppose them.
The three-headed dragon on their sigil has a prophetic significance, yet it’s also based in real Targaryen history, as after the nation of Valyria got destroyed in the mysterious Doom, Aegon Targaryen and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys flew to Westeros on three dragons named Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, using this terrifying airborne power to spearhead their conquest. It inspires fear and dread, with the blood-red of the dragons clearly symbolic of the destruction they may cause.
The Crowned Stag of House Baratheon – Strength and Royal Authority
A stag embodies the endurance and resilience of House Baratheon, rulers of the Stormlands, with the stag symbolizing Robert Baratheon’s claim to the Iron Throne and the power from his royal lineage. Stags also represent masculinity, strength, and cunning, with the basic understanding that the larger the antlers, the longer the animal has been alive and thriving, and House Baratheon’s stag has large, prominent alters, symbolizing the strength and longevity of the house.
The crown that adorns their stag wasn’t always part of their heraldry. The sigil of House Baratheon is a black stag on a golden field, and when Robert Baratheon became King of the Seven Kingdoms, a crown was added to the stag to indicate that they were the royal house. However, some sources suggest they always used a crowned stag, even before Robert’s rebellion, copying the design from House Durrandon when they conquered them.
The Leaping Trout of House Tully – Family Above All
House Tully of Riverrun is represented by a silver trout leaping over waves, with the trout depicting the house’s strategic location near the rivers and their association with water, reflecting their adaptability and strong family bonds as they navigate the changing political climate. The Tullys, like the Starks, are loyal and pride themselves on their family above all else, with the symbol of the trout not appearing to have much meaning apart from signifying their seat of Riverrun, which is right next to the Trident river.
The trout may not be the most fearsome of creatures, but the Tullys are most certainly adept at slipping downstream and swimming away like the slippery fish they are, and traditionally, fish symbolize military prowess, fortitude, and faith, which are all solid Tully values. Their motto “Family, Duty, Honor” perfectly complements their fish symbol – like schools of fish, they’re stronger when swimming together.
The Golden Kraken of House Greyjoy – Terror from the Deep
Unlike the rest of Martin’s sigils, the Greyjoy kraken is actually not a very traditional choice, as the kraken itself is a legendary Norwegian sea monster capable of taking down whole ships, likely inspired by the real world giant squid. The kraken symbol couldn’t be more fitting for House Greyjoy, as the kraken is a mythological sea creature from Norse mythology that is known for terrorizing seafaring ships and taking town whole vessels in one fell swoop, and the Greyjoys are unbeatable – like the kraken – when met on the open sea, but like this mythological sea creature they do not stand up against foes on land.
The Greyjoys are powerful forces of the ocean with long, grasping arms, forever reaching for more power… but they’re pretty darn useless when it comes to doing anything on land. This limitation would prove fatal for members like Theon Greyjoy. The Kraken is a mighty and ancient beast in its own right, but it’s also a mythological creature that hasn’t been seen as much because of the vastness of the ocean, and it’s a sigil that shows the house is dangerous but is held back because it also admits that attack is essentially rare.
The Soaring Falcon of House Arryn – As High as Honor
The vigilant House Arryn, rulers of the Vale, is accurately represented by a sky-blue falcon soaring against a white moon on a sky-blue field, with the bird reflecting the house’s mastery of the skies and their strategic advantage of controlling the Eyrie, a fortress located high in the mountains, and their sigil presenting an elegant house, always prepared to protect their domain. House Arryn is above it all both figuratively and literally, with their sigil being the high-flying falcon: a classic heraldic symbol representing someone in eager pursuit of lofty goals.
Probably one of the most symbolic logo designs of all of the GoT houses, House Arryn’s blue and white sigil is fitting for both the characters and the location of the Eyrie, as eagle’s nests are known as eyries; these large nests reside in high places such as on cliff, atop mountains, and nestled within great trees, and eagles tend not to stray from their high perches, which is exactly what the characters of House Arryn do throughout the series. Their isolation made them safe, but also largely irrelevant to the game of thrones.
The Black Bear of House Mormont – Here We Stand
The sigil of House Mormont is a bear surrounded by white with green borders, and on the simplest level this is a reference to their ancestral home, Bear Island, but on a deeper level, it embodies the ferocity, loyalty, and warrior spirit within House Mormont. House Mormont is a proud family that has a long history and was once a mighty predator in the North, with the bear reflecting that strength and linking well with members such as Jeor Mormont, who was nicknamed the Old Bear, and the young Lyanna.
Although the force she can offer is small, she claims that each of her warriors are worth ten mainlanders (evocative of House Mormont’s sigil animal; a bear), and considering how badass Northern soldiers have generally been portrayed when fighting larger southern forces, this is quite the Badass Boast. House Stark is always protected by House Mormont, since they pledge allegiance to them and only them, and they also signify bravery, rough exteriors and making the best of limited resources, pride, and loyalty.
Conclusion
The animal symbols of Game of Thrones houses weren’t just decorative choices – they were prophecies written in heraldry. The sigils’ role is more than a fashion statement, they hold unique qualities and a connection to the Seven Kingdoms, and between the story, epic battles, and both beloved and despised characters, the House Sigils stand as emblems that embody the essence of each noble family in Westeros, serving as a reminder of what’s at the core of each house, their pride, history, and values. The direwolves scattered when their pack was broken. The lions roared until they faced dragons. The roses bloomed beautifully until wildfire consumed them.
These sigils told us exactly who would survive the game of thrones and who would perish. The houses that understood their animal nature – like the adaptable fish of House Tully or the resilient bears of House Mormont – found ways to endure. Those who forgot their true nature or became too proud, like the soaring falcon that flew too close to danger, ultimately fell. In Westeros, your sigil doesn’t just represent who you are – it reveals your fate.
Hi, I’m Andrew, and I come from India. Experienced content specialist with a passion for writing. My forte includes health and wellness, Travel, Animals, and Nature. A nature nomad, I am obsessed with mountains and love high-altitude trekking. I have been on several Himalayan treks in India including the Everest Base Camp in Nepal, a profound experience.
