Pubs, or public houses licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, have always carried an external sign to indicate their purpose. Traditionally, a bush was placed outside the door. In a village or town boasting more than one such establishment, a further sign, usually pictorial in those days of widespread illiteracy, distinguished between them.In the early days, the most common picture available would be the local landowner's coat of arms, possibly on a shield. This accounts for the many "[insert your local VIP family name] Arms" around the country. Some prefered to display only the heraldic beasts linked to the local family - the Earls of Warwick famously had a bear and ragged staff which appeared on hostelries on their lands.
Loyal publicans might choose instead a royal heraldic device. There are hundreds of "Red Lion" pubs in honour of the English king. Some had personal devices too. A "White Hart" was in honour of Richard II; "The Sun" would be for Edward IV, while any "White Boar" was in honour of Richard III - many of these were hastily painted over, and converted into "Blue Boar"s after the Battle of Bosworth! The new King Henry VII was celebrated by the many "Rose and Crown" houses displaying a crowned Tudor rose. "The Royal Oak" was not a heraldic device; this name commemorates the day that King Charles II hid in an Oak tree to escape capture by Roundhead soldiers searching for him after the Battle of Worcester.
Some pub signs then moved on to display portraits of kings - "The King's Head" "King William" "The George" - or famous personages, like "The Marquess of Granby" or "The Lord Nelson".
Pubs in towns might become the prefered drinking place of different trades or craftsmen, and the name might reflect that "The Bricklayers' Arms", "The Jolly Sailors" or "The Farmers' Arms". Or else local industries might be refered to more obliquely - "The Ship", "The Fleece" or "The Wheatsheaf". A "Turk's Head" was not usually a reference to a crusading past, but more mundanely the proximity of a windmill!
To find out more about pub signs, check out the Inn Signs Society website.
