Heraldry was a system that arose in the 11th and 12th centuries as response to the difficulty knights faced in distinguishing friend from foe on the field of battle, as they were all dressed in armor that covered their faces. To remedy this, knights began to paint unique combinations of colors, shapes, and animals on their shields and surcoats (a cloth garment worn over the armor) which became known as their "coats of arms". In most countries, coats of arms were historically granted to individuals, and not to entire families or surnames. In other instances, particularly in German-speaking countries, the grant was sometimes extended to the brothers (and cousins) of the individual. Primogeniture was the practice of passing down a coat of arms through the legitimate male line, typically to a father's eldest son. As this process repeated over the centuries, coats of arms became erroneously called "family crests".