Barbarossa
Kaiser Rotbart
Coats of arms themselves appear to have come into use in the 12th century as a way for knights, being covered entirely in armor, to identify one another. However, they quickly evolved into a method of creating “shared myths” in which peoples could quickly identify and bond with one another.
This time period, coincidentally, corresponds to when the Wittelsbach Dynasty started ruling Bavaria. The origin of this was when Emperor Frederick I of the Schwäbisch Haus Hohenstaufen, popularly known as Barbarossa (Kaiser Rotbart), appointed Otto I von Wittelsbach (similarly known as der Rotkopf) as Duke of Bavaria. Soon after, in 1214, his son Louis I was granted Die Pfalz, integrating it into Bavaria. Early coats of arms reflect this union with shields displaying the Bayerischer Weiß-Blau alongside the Pfälzischer Löwe.