The Visconti family crest depicted a great serpent swallowing a child. The image was terrifying, nowhere near as elegant as Florence's pansy.
But if one spotted the Visconti coat of arms on Milan's streets, every carriage on the road would have to weigh its options: move aside or continue blocking the path of that Visconti family carriage. A competent coachman was sometimes also a heraldry expert, allowing him to "reasonably avoid" trouble without consulting the master behind him.
Napoleon in Italy used a carriage drawn by eight horses for the same reason. He was the only person in all Italy who could use eight horses. Now Georgiana was to be added to that list. Her carriage was drawn by eight thoroughbreds, making it easily recognizable even without a crest featuring a bull.
That was feudalism: counts gave way to dukes, dukes gave way to marquises, but sometimes one encountered a viscount meeting another viscount.
There was a legend in Britain that when two knights met by chance, both placed their hands on their sword hilts. Since most people were right-handed, knights began keeping to the left.
Yet not all European countries shared that custom. Keeping to the right signified peace, and around the eighteenth century, the "hand-in-coat" salute became fashionable, with one's right hand slipped inside one's coat. That made drawing a sword even less likely.
However, Pope Boniface VIII declared in 1300 that all pilgrims traveling to Rome had to keep to the left. For a time, most European countries traveled on the left. Even after most European countries abolished the rule, some Italian cities retained it.
A tourist city like Milan drew visitors from all over the world. In the past, why should an English lord yield to a French count? Lords on the Grand Tour often had