Heraldic images pervaded early modern politics. In particular, the king's bearings embodied sovereignty and advanced dynastic claims. They became the stuff of legends, as well as the cause of fierce disputes. But when did heraldic adaptation occur? Why was a disrespectful treatment damaging to the political fabric? By comparing armorial appropriation in the French and Spanish monarchies, Steven Thiry challenges the dominant view of princely image control. Eagles, lilies and lions not only visualized political virtues and vices. Their visual and material dimension imbued them with an agency of their own. Matter(s) of State offers a new insight into the symbolic mindset of the political process. Mystical exaltation, subversive adaptation, and even violent 'heraldic' iconoclasm appear as significant means of debating and even questioning rule.