As tinctures, Portuguese heraldry uses the two metals ( Or [gold] and Argent [silver]), the five traditional colours (Gules [red], Azure [blue], Purpure [purple], Sable [black], and Vert [green]) and the furs (ermine, vair and their variations).

However, some new armorial achievements, granted in the 19th century, broke with the heraldry rules in including unconventional tinctures like azul celeste (sky blue) and carmesim (crimson).

However, probably by an heraldic error, it is so represented in some coats of arms, like those of the municipality of Santiago do Cacém (in which the white of the fallen Moor's clothing and the knight's horse is distinguished from the argent of the distant castle) and in those of the Logistical and Administrative Command of the Portuguese Air Force.

The armillary sphere was so common in this period that it came to be considered not only as a royal personal badge but as a symbol of the country and of its overseas empire, with its use continuing even after the death of King Manuel I.

The main currently accepted theory is that the present coat of arms of Portugal was precisely originated in one of these variations, used by the future Afonso III while he was merely the brother of King Sancho II.

In the 19th century, during the period of Constitutional Monarchy, the peers of the Kingdom and the counselors of State had the right to bear a coat of arms including a black mantle with ermine facing issuing from the coronet.

In the second version, used in the national colors of military units, the armillary sphere is surrounded by two branches of laurel, tied in the base with a white scroll with Camões' verse "Esta é a ditosa Pátria minha amada" (This is my beloved blissful Homeland).

The appeal was answered by Afonso Dornellas, an heraldic specialist and member of the Portuguese Association of Archaeologists, who presented a proposal for coat of arms, flag and seal designs for the Marinha Grande municipality.

On 14 April 1930, the Ministry of the Interior, through its Directorate General of Political and Civil Administration, issued a circular letter defining the heraldic standards to be used in the coat of arms, flags and seals of all municipalities.

In most cases, the reform kept the basic design of the original coat of arms, occasionally with a mere adjustment of the tinctures and charges in order to fully comply with the heraldic rules.

53/1991 of 7 August 1991, the Portuguese municipalities, freguesias, cities and towns had the right to bear three types of standardized heraldic symbols: the coat of arms, the flag and the seal.

Before that, however, a heraldic charge identifying Azores (a flying goshawk (açor) or with a quina in its claws) was already in use, inserted in the chief of the coats of arms of many municipalities of the Region.

Although an Army heraldic coronet was established, this was rarely used, with the coat of arms usually represented in a similar way to personal heraldry, with the shield topped by a helm and this by a crest.

The Air Force implemented its own heraldic regulation in 1985, based on the Army standards but with the unit's coat of arms always represented topped with an aeronautical coronet.

The coat of arms of the Army is gules, a lion rampant or holding an ancient sword argent with a handle or, the crest of the achievement being the figure of the shield.

The complete achievement of arms of a body is represented by the shield, helmet, torse, mantling and crest, scroll with motto and, optionally orders, supporters, compartment and a war cry.

The coat of arms of the Air Force itself is field azur with a spread eagle or beaked and membered gules, an aeronautical coronet and under the shield a scroll with the motto Ex mero motu (from the mere motion).

The aeronautical or Air Force's coronet is a variation on an astral crown, in which the pairs of wings alternate with crosses of Christ (traditional emblem of Portuguese military aviation).

Exceptionally and if authorized by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, coats of arms can also be granted to other bodies not listed above whose commanding officers have the rank of major or above.

The standards are square banners (1 m × 1 m) with a field resulting from a geometric combination of quarterlies and gyronnies, over which a cross or a saltire may lap up, with the shield of the body in the center, surrounded by a scroll bearing either its designation or motto.

The coat of arms of the external intelligence service (SIED) is Gules, an armillary sphere Or, a helm Argent, the crest an owl Or and a scroll with the motto Adivinhar Perigos, e Evitallos (To foresee dangers and avoid them).

Each coat of arms would have a field with the particular heraldic achievement of each colony and a common bordure or charged with four quinas alternating with four crosses of the Order of Christ.

Some of the designs for the particular heraldic achievements proposed for the colonies in 1932 were also used in this model of coats of arms, being placed in the II division of the field of the shields.

Most of the rest of the standards were followed, including the use of the round bottom shield and the mural crowns with a number of towers identifying the rank of the municipal seat.

After the implantation of the republic, some misericórdias opted by less "monarchic" achievement, eliminating the royal crown and instead placing the two shields in courtesy over the armillary sphere of the present Portuguese coat of arms.

The charges included in this model of coat of arms are more heterogeneous than in the old one, although some of them, such as the shrimping net (heraldic badge of Queen Eleanor, founder of the misericórdias), are frequently repeated.

Bernard Guedes also established the model for the heraldic flags, which have a white field with a saltire azur (taken from the crest of the family coat of arms of Friar Miguel Contreiras, the mythical creator of the misericórdias), a bordure in the main color of the coat of arms, with the cantons in the main metal charged with the abbreviation "MIZA" in the I and IV and with diverse charges in the II and III.

The model created for the coats of arms of the corporations (in the narrow sense) that represented the large branches of industry was different and consisted in a heater shield topped by an helmet, torse, mantling and crest.

The 1991 law regulating the Portuguese municipal heraldry also defined a model for the corporate coat of arms to be borne by the legal persons of administrative public interest.

Besides the officers of arms proper, the heraldic authority of the Crown also included the Scrivener of the Nobility (Escrivão da Nobreza) and the High Armorer (Armeiro-mor).