Can anyone tell me what these are called, and what they were used for?

[10bracken]

20 years ago I picked up 12 of these shields on crested poles from a country junk store. The shields are approx 6 inches wide, and 8 inches high, and are mounted on poles about 6-1/2 feet long. The shileld and pole are solid brass. The shields are engraved with Saints Names, infilled with black pitch or paint.

[*crikey*mate*]

I would guess something to do with Catholicism...

part of some ceremony maybe? All Saints Day?

some donated ornament to a Catholic Church?

what other saints names are there on the others, there may be some kind of connection we can discover on google.

Do you know if 12 is a "full set" cos 12 is a significant number in Catholicism..

[zelly888]

They are from colleges 

[*crikey*mate*]

might also be worth putting this in a few other ebay forums

Community Spirit, has a few people familiar with saints and all things Catholic and they might know what the poles (no doubt there is some fancy term) are actually called to make an image search easier,

Maybe the collectors boards?

[fred_fred_2004]

http://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/