Coat of arms of the Balș family of Moldavian boyars. This is the seven-rays variant, which is consistent with the oldest depictions, and which the Balșes claimed as the arms of the Lords of Baux (from whom they also claimed descent). Other variants have eight or six rays. Source images and commentary in Sorin Iftimi, "Heraldica Palatului Sturdza de la Miclauseni, jud. Iași", pp. 82–88; see also Cătălina Opaschi, "O alianță matrimonială franco–moldavă, Ecaterina Balș, baroană de Thorenc", in Muzeul Național, Vol. XV, 2003, pp. 141–149.
Own work
Dahn