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A Little Heraldic Levity

October 12, 2015, 4:00 am
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And some good advice, really.

There have been a lot of those "Keep Calm and ..." pictures floating about social media on the internet lately.  The other day I ran across this one, which I just couldn't resist sharing with you.


It's too bad I'm a herald and not an heraldic artist.  If I were, I think I'd have to buy one of these!

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October 15, 2015, 4:00 am
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The nice people (or person) behind the wappenwiki website have recently finished updating the site with drawings of all of the arms and banners on what is generally called the "Edward IV Roll."

This is a very long roll of the descent of Edward IV done on vellum and profusely illustrated, taking his ancestry all the way back to Adam and Eve and before them to God.

You can find high resolution images (in several sizes) of the various portions and discussion about the Edward IV Roll on-line at the website of the Free Library of Philadelphia at http://www.freelibrary.org/medieval/edward.htm

They even had a .jpg of the entire roll in a single image at 1/3 size linked from each page for the individual sections.


Anyway, as I was saying, wappenwiki has redrawings of all of the arms and banners from the Edward IV Roll, and they look to be well done.

Here, for example is the shield of Normandy, at reduced size (to fit into the limits of this blog space).


You can visit the page for yourself, and see larger sizes of the images by clicking on each one.  From the page that opens up with a larger image, you can get to an even larger vector image by clicking "Original" on that page.

Anyway, it's very well done, and I thought it too good not to share.  You can find the Edward IV Roll shields and banners on the wappenwiki page at http://wappenwiki.org/index.php/Edward_IV_Roll

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Another Bit of Heraldic Serendipity

October 19, 2015, 4:00 am
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We were off in the wilds of southern Nevada last week, visiting my mother and other family members.  (We don't often go to the "fun" Las Vegas; we're always visiting the dusty, dirty, hot, desert town where my family lives.  Though they take up the same general geographic space, the two are not the same city.  For a good illustration of this dichotomy, please see Jo Ann's post about this trip at http://appletonstudios.blogspot.com/2015_10_01_archive.html#5627573139829315829)

Anyway, she needed to make a quick stop at her credit union to pull out a little spending money, and wouldn't you know it?  They had some heraldry displayed about the place for some kind of promotion they were having there.  (I didn't pay much attention to the promotion itself; she's a member, but I'm not, so I'm not their target market.)

I didn't have my camera with me, but if you've got a smart phone, you've always got a camera with you, so here's some slightly fuzzy shots of the heraldry on display there:




Proof once more that you can find heraldry of one sort or another everywhere!

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NFL Logos Reimagined As Heraldry

October 22, 2015, 4:00 am
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Am I the only one who thinks that all of this Game of Thrones stuff may have gotten out of hand? Yes?  Well, okay, I'll stop being annoyed by it.

Anyway, someone has reimagined all of the NFL team logos as Game of Thrones heraldry.  Here's a sampling of what he's done.


You can see all of the logos of the NFL teams reimagined as Game of Thrones sigils on-line at https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/if-nfl-teams-were-game-of-thrones-houses-nfl-sigils-nfl-teams-as-game-of-thrones-houses

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Something I Just Have to Share!

October 26, 2015, 4:00 am
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It's always fun to have an heraldic artist do a depiction of one's coat of arms.  Plus, I always enjoy bragging on my friends.

Our (and I have to say "our"; I'm pretty sure he likes Jo Ann a bit more than me.  Not jealous, just a fact) friend Sunil Saigal, with whom we always enjoy getting together at the various International Congresses of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, is a very good heraldic artist, though his job doesn't always give him the time he'd like to devote to it, or any of his other hobbies for that matter.

Still, among other things, for his own pleasure he keeps a liber amicorum, literally a "book of friends," in which he draws their coat of arms and has them sign that page.  Then, as time allows and the inspiration strikes, he draws another copy of their arms for them.

I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago (the same day we were leaving for several days to visit my mother in Las Vegas, as it happened), I received a large envelope from him with a copy of my arms inside.


As I said, he's a very good heraldic artist.

The weekend after we got back from visiting my mother, I went off to one of the hobby and craft stores and purchased a picture frame and some mat board of an appropriate color.  (Yes, I have a mat cutter, and I'm not afraid to use it!)  So now his wonderful illustration of my coat of arms is up on the wall in my home office, and looking quite nice there, too!  (I may end up rearranging some of the heraldic items on the bookshelves below it for a better visual balance, but all in good time.)  The following are not the best photographs, having been taken with my cell phone, but should give you a good idea of this new splash of heraldic color on my office wall.




Thank you, Sunil!

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Another Cool Set of Redrawn Arms

October 29, 2015, 4:00 am
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The folks over at wappenwiki have finished and uploaded another set of redrawn coats of arms, this time from the Historia Anglorum by Mathew Paris.

As an example, here is Richard de Cornwall, Earl of Cornwall:


You can click on each coat of arms to see a larger image, and then there's a link from that image's page to the even larger original .svg file.

You might want to click on over there and take a look to see!  The link is: http://wappenwiki.org/index.php/Historia_Anglorum

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Check Out This New Heraldic Website!

November 2, 2015, 4:00 am
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A short time ago I'd seen an article on-line about a "new website launched with heraldic database" that contains a lot of Hungarian civic heraldry: national, county, and local; historic and modern.

The article (which you can find on the website of Hungary Today at http://hungarytoday.hu/news/hungarian-coat-arms-new-website-launched-heraldic-database-53181) also noted that this new website and heraldic database is in contention for "Website of the Year 2015," so you know that it got my attention.

I finally got a few spare minutes to go over and check it out, and it was well worth the time!  I'll be going back there on a regular basis, just to look around and see what I can find there.  It will probably take me a while; there does seem to be an awful lot there!  This is going to be fun, and I'm really looking forward to it.

If you'd like to see what I'm talking about, and what they've put up on-line, please go visit the website Magyar Címerek at https://magyarcimerek.hu// You'll be glad you did.

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I Just Can't Get Away From It

November 5, 2015, 4:00 am
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Heraldry, I mean.  It's everywhere I go, every place I look.

No, really!

I was back at work earlier this week after a week's "vacation." At lunch time, I went into the break room to grab a bite before heading back to my desk.  And there, right on the counter, between the coffee maker and the sink, you'll never guess what I found.

That's right, some more heraldry.


This is a mug with the arms of Ursuline Academy on it, just sitting out there as bold as brass (well, okay, plastic, but still ...)  My guess at a blazon would be: Argent a cross and on a chief gules seven mullets in a representation of the constellation Ursa Major argent.


I had to go on-line (where the above image comes from) to look them up, since all of my children are beyond the ages for which I might be looking for schools for them.  "Ursuline Academy of Dallas is an independent Catholic college preparatory school for young women in grades 9-12." And, I'm guessing, on of the attorneys at the law firm I work for has a daughter, or daughters, who attend there.  Hence my stumbling across heraldry while simply having lunch.

I know I've said it before, but it continues to be proven to me time and again: "You can find heraldry everywhere!"

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A New Heraldry Meme

November 9, 2015, 4:00 am
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Saw this new meme* the other day on Facebook, and felt that I just had to share.  Enjoy!


* Meme: "A
n element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation. A
humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users."

 

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Article About Oxford University Heraldry

November 12, 2015, 4:00 am
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I ran across an interesting article by John Tepper Marlin entitled "What's your blazon?" about the history of the coats of arms of Oxford University and a number of its constituent colleges.  Nicely illustrated, it's well worth a look by the heraldry enthusiast, particularly those with an interest in academic heraldry.

(This image is not from the article, but is an scan of an old postcard with the arms of the University and its colleges.)

You can find a .pdf of the article from Oxford Today at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5QuPgrWYYqRYTk5S09PbS1vak0/view

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Today, We Mourn With Paris

November 16, 2015, 4:00 am
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I do not have the words: Today we mourn for those who died, and we weep for the injured, in the City of Light, Paris.



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And Now For Something Completely Different

November 19, 2015, 4:00 am
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Or, more strictly speaking, Australia's coat of arms'supporters on their day off. This is what they look like when they're at work:



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Scottish Football and Heraldry, continued

November 23, 2015, 4:00 am
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There were a couple of stories over the weekend about the continuing conflict of the logos of a number of Scottish football ("soccer" in American English; Britain and the United States; "two countries divided by a common language" (attributed to both Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw)) and Scottish heraldic law as enforced by the Office of the Lord Lyon King of Arms.


Naturally, you get the folks who think that "the law is unnecessary," and others on the other side who state that "Scotland probably has the best heraldry in the world ... I think that it is something that is worth preserving."

Ayr United, which has received a letter from the Procurator Fiscal, the enforcement arm of the Court of the Lord Lyon, is looking for local help in designing a new logo that will not infringe on the national symbols of Scotland (as the current logo, with the white saltire on the blue field, plainly does).

More information about this ongoing controversy can be found at BBC Sports at http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34882922 , The Daily Record at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/ayr-united-face-having-ditch-6861133, and Who Ate All The Pies (and isn't that a great name for sports blog) at http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/kits/227915/ayr-united-may-have-to-completely-redesign-their-club-badge-after-falling-foul-of-350-year-old-heraldry-laws.html

Well, you know, just because a law is some 350 years old doesn't mean you can, or should, ignore it.

Though I have to admit, the fact that a fan of a rival football team turned Ayr United in to the Procurator Fiscal seems a bit petty. (It does make me wonder, of which team is that person a fan, and what does that team's logo look like?)

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Scottish Football and Heraldry, a Bit of Humor

November 26, 2015, 4:00 am
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Apropos of the recent articles about the controversy over Ayr United F.C. having to change its logo because of Scotland's heraldic laws, here's a cartoon from last April (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/airdrieonians-fans-launch-petition-bid-5524556) when the Airdrieonians F.C. were facing the same thing:


You know, under Scottish heraldic law, this could - in theory - happen! The Procurator Fiscal to Lyon Court has the authority to erase unwarranted arms, to "dash them furth of" stained glass windows, and to break unwarranted seals, or to seize movable goods and gear where unwarranted arms are found.

And that's how you enforce the laws of heraldry, by golly! At least in Scotland.

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One Man's Opinion About Heraldry

November 30, 2015, 4:00 am
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David Tang runs an op-ed advice column on The Financial Times, and a recent (November 27, 2015) column had the following, which lets us know pretty much what Mr. Tang thinks about heraldry and coats of arms:

I have recently been awarded an honour for political services. I am told I can now apply to the College of Arms for a coat of arms. The King of Arms says this must include allusions and references to my life and achievements. My entire career has been in mergers and acquisitions, some of which worked and others which didn't. What do you suggest?

In modern life, when will you use your coat of arms? On your signet ring? A bit Sloaney, don't you think? For a seal in wax? "Shurely shome mishtake"! When you are a banker turned politician, I should keep piano about your honour, as there is a presumption of greed among bankers and disingenuousness among politicians. You will more likely become a symbol of contempt than admiration. Besides, it costs £8,000 to register a new coat of arms. That in itself should be sufficient reason for someone who is proud of their honour not to spend such an exorbitant sum to flaunt it.

His views are clearly different from my own on the topic. but I thought it worth sharing with you just to get another point of view on the topic.

To read Mr. Tang's opinion on this, and other topics (for example, eating sandwiches in public), please feel free to drop by the website of The Financial Times at http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c5129816-8dff-11e5-8be4-3506bf20cc2b.html

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Say What?

December 3, 2015, 4:00 am
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I see a lot of stuff that demonstrates that while people may like heraldry, for any number of reasons, many of them don't really understand it. A recent example of this was sent to my email in-box recently, with a link to some heraldry-like art by an artist over on the Shutterstock website.

And because I'm always interested in such things, I clicked on the link went to take a look.


Not bad, really. Even the general description of the design didn't bother me much ("Heraldic royal coronet illustration, imperial striped decorative coat of arms"). But the part that really stuck out to me was part of the description of the blank motto scroll under the shield, which was described as, I kid you not, an "undulate festive ribbon."

I should probably get a nice soft pad to put on my desk, to help reduce the bruising when I do a faceplant and hit my head on the desk. Because while the bruising on my forehead may be "undulate," it really isn't very "festive."

Sigh.

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Heraldic Controversy in Cambridge, Massachusetts

December 7, 2015, 4:00 am
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In a recent article at the Boston Globe entitled “Harvard Law will scrutinize use of slaveholders' seal,” journalist Steve Annear covers the controversy which has arisen over the inclusion of a colonial coat of arms in the logo/coat of arms used by the Harvard University School of Law.


The arms of the Law School could be blazoned Azure three garbs or, a chief of Harvard (Gules on three open books argent garnished or the word VE-RI-TAS [Latin: Truth] sable).

This controversy arises in the wake of the decisions in some of our southern states to remove the Confederate battle flag from certain public venues because of its adoption and use by those opposing equal rights for blacks in this country in the 1960s and since.

The main portion of the shield - Azure three garbs or - are the arms of Isaac Royall, as found on a baptismal basin donated by him to St. Michael’s Church in Bristol, Rhode Island; on his bookplate; on a two-handled cup in the possession of the First [Congregational] Church of Medford, Massachusett; and on the tomb of Isaac Royall and his father, William Royall, in Dorchester, Massachusetts (Bolton’s American Armory, Charles Knowles Bolton, The F.W. Faxon Company, Boston, 1927, pp. 142-143). (Bolton’s work, which heraldic scholars have noted has many errors in it, is the only work in which I have found these arms.)

Isaac Royall left in his will land for Harvard College to sell and establish the first law professorship in his name. However, he was a slaveowner, and further, “Royall's father ‘treated his slaves with extreme cruelty, including burning 77 people to death,’ according to a statement from the law school.” Hence the controversy, and following a call from students, Martha Minow, dean of the law school, formed a special committee to study, discuss, and make recommendations about the use of the arms to represent the school.

You can learn more about this controversy (on the one hand, it would disassociate the school from the history of slavery in this country; on the other hand, would it be sanitizing the past rather than confronting it?) on the website of the Boston Globe at http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/12/01/harvard-law-school-forms-committee-examine-use-crest-tied-slave-ownership/1JR7OwiLIsPc3BxRUiH6yH/story.html?event=event25

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An Unusual Heraldic Find

December 10, 2015, 4:00 am
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One of the my "guilty pleasures" in looking at/for coats of arms is the occasional find of another coat of attributed arms; a coat of arms designed and representing an individual, real or mythological, who lived some time before the introduction of heraldry in the 12th Century.

There are the ones you find in any number of old books, of course: King Arthur and the rest of the Nine Worthies; the three magi (below, from the Wernigeroder Wappenbuch); Jesus; and even Satan.


I even have a subfolder on my computer labeled "Attributed Arms" in which I place images of such arms that I run across, just so I can go back to them periodically without having to hunt them down in all the armorials, etc. from which I originally found them.

I was going back through another old source on-line which wasn't even primarily about heraldry; the Speculum humanae salvationis, Hs-2505, an old manuscript of illustrated stories from the Bible that I ran across on the website of the Darmstadt University Library.

While not specifically heraldic, a number of the illustrations included coats of arms to identify some of the figures they contained. The one that most attracted my attention was this one:


From the story of David and Goliath, we have the arms of the giant Goliath of Gath.

It came as a complete surprise to me; I'd not seen attributed arms for Goliath before.  And what a great, and simple, coat of arms it is, too! Very much Germanic in style, with the crest on the helmet matching the charges on the shield. Goliath of Gath! Who knew?

If you are interested in seeing this old manuscript, you can find it on the website of the Darmstadt University Library at http://tudigit.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/show/Hs-2505?sid=4e2a9d709bd960c47873f761448f19f8

Take a look and see what other rare attributed arms you can find!

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A Proposal for a Replacement Coat of Arms in Australia

December 14, 2015, 4:00 am
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We've covered the topic of the coat of arms, and some of the folks who think that they ought to be changed, of the Australian Capital Territory and the City of Canberra (which the ACT has simply used to represent itself, despite the arms having been granted to the Federal Capital Commissioners for the City of Canberra), several times previously in this blog.  (See our posts of September 6, 2012; April 4, 2013; and August 8 and 26, 2013.)

Well, they're at it again.

The complaint is that there's really nothing Australian about the coat of arms. With which argument, frankly, I have to agree. See what I mean?


I recently ran across an article in The Canberra Times which highlighted a proposed new coat of arms for the ACT and Canberra (though why they think the two should bear the same arms I do not know) which is just chock-full of Australian imagery.


I do wish they hadn't made the background black; it makes the black swan supporters very hard to identify.

This proposed coat of arms also reminds me a bit of the "arms" of the State of New York here in the U.S.


But that, I suppose, should be neither here nor there.  (No, really!  It shouldn't be here, and it shouldn't be there. But then, I don't care for much of the "landscape heraldry" that passes for state symbols here in the U.S. Maybe that's just me, though. Others may like their heraldry that way.)

But I digress.

In addition to the gang-gang cockatoo on the arms, the designer, Steven Squires, has filled the shield and crest and other external additaments with lots of local meaning. And it's certainly not as bad as some of the heraldry that I've seen some people come up with. Still and all, though, I'm not sure that it's all that fortuitous a design. Yes, it is more "Australian," but no, it's not that great a piece of heraldry.

Still you can find out all about it (and its meanings) in the article by Ian Warden entitled "Gang-gang: Republican design imagines new ACT coat of arms" on the website of The Canberra Times at http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-life/ganggang-republican-design-imagines-new-act-coat-of-arms-20151209-gljzlw.html

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Apropos of the Season

December 17, 2015, 4:00 am
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Appropriate to the season, and another fine example of attributed arms (which are on my mind right now owing to running across the arms of Goliath as I discussed in my post of December 10), here is a portrait and the attributed arms of St. Nicholas.


Ermine a chief quarterly or and gules.
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