Previously the king tried to introduce the French system of rank helmets but these rules were largely ignored even in royal patents. The open helmet was previously associated with nobility but it is also found on burgher arms as well as there are examples of noble arms with closed helmets. Although it is perfectly legitimate for a burgher family to use an open helmet, as a rule of thumb noble families use open helmets while burgher families used closed ones. Burgher arms follow the same rules as noble arms.