blazon: my first crack

[Domenico Cervasi]

I'm starting to write the blazon for my personal coat-of-arms. I'm not employed by a government or religious institution, but am self-employed. And I'm not a merchant as I sell no merchandise, but provide a service to the public.

I'm considering all this because, to start, I don't know what elements of the blazon to exclude. I suppose heraldic traditions, old and new, where I live in the United States and where my ancestors are from in Sicily may provide some guidance. I'm writing here because I don't trust businesses selling armorials online. The samples they depict are very elaborate and generally have militant themes.

I want my arms to be meaningful to me personally. It's not so important for them to be extravagant.

[Tim Powys-Lybbe]

On 28 Mar at 16:30, Domenico Cervasi <3gull...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm starting to write the blazon for my personal coat-of-arms. I'm not
> employed by a government or religious institution, but am
> self-employed. And I'm not a merchant as I sell no merchandise, but
> provide a service to the public.
>
> I'm considering all this because, to start, I don't know what elements
> of the blazon to exclude.

Everything can be excluded except, perhaps, the shield tincture. So I
don't know what you are talking of.

> I suppose heraldic traditions, old and new, where I live in the United
> States and where my ancestors are from in Sicily may provide some
> guidance.

Some of the traditions are dreadful. Bad traditions are bad
taskmasters.

> I'm writing here because I don't trust businesses selling
> armorials online.

Touching a raw nerve? Without much fear of contradiction I would guess
that all participants in this group do not trust the online vendors or
even their predecessors, the mall vendors.

> The samples they depict are very elaborate and generally have militant
> themes.

Have you looked at Francois Velde's site <http://www.heraldica.org> or
Brian Timms' <http://www.briantimms.fr>? Much better.

>
> I want my arms to be meaningful to me personally. It's not so
> important for them to be extravagant.

Never heard of extravagance as a feature of heraldry. Obviously you
should create some arms which are attractive to you. The other thing to
remember is not to duplicate anyone else's arms as they are supposed to
be unique graphical identifiers. Though I suspect duplication only
applies to whatever heraldic province you live in; people in different
countries can have the same arms and yet still be, countrywise, unique.

Let us know what you come up with.

--
Tim Powys-Lybbe t...@powys.org
for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/

[Domenico Cervasi]

Thank you for clearing things up. I didn't intend any insult concerning extravagance. A better word is presumptuous. Some of what I've read suggests that compartments, types of helms, supporters are reserved for the ennobled. I'm not certain if I'm breaking some code by including them. By doing so am I presuming affiliation with nobility?

[Martin Goldstraw]

My advice would be to take your time and read a few books first. The
greater your understanding of armory the more chance you will have of
achieving a satisfactory design you can live with (and if you're
lucky, future descendants can live with). I seem to remember that Von
Volborth wrote a piece on how to successfully design a coat of arms
but I can't for the moment find it ( I would in any-case recommend his
book The Art of Heraldry which takes one through the elements of coat
of arms). Whatever you do, keep it simple and bear in mind that the
purpose of a shield was to facilitate easy identification at a
distance or to seal a document with a clear and easily identifiable
seal.

If in doubt, do as you are doing now ... ask.

Regards,
Martin

[Martin Goldstraw]

I found a (rather poor) scan I took of the page in question. Apologies
to the author!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b264/Whitecairns/design_zps8b94e5d3.jpg

Martin

[Domenico Cervasi]

Thank you Martin. I think this is very sound advice.