Heraldry and Your Coat of Arms
Greg
I'm introducing my new blog: http://theluminarypress.blogspot.com/
The above entitled feature article is quite applicable to this forum
and it is hoped that those shopping for information will find this
artcle, and the blog quite useful.
Heraldry and Your Coat of Arms
This article is intended to be a primer on what a coat of arms is,
your connection, if any, to it and how the word ‘heraldry’ ties into
the history and study of both. What you can expect from heraldry in
your travels is a fascinating study that begins, realistically with
Indo-European warriors of the Bronze Age. This attention to battle
dress can be traced up to the practice as we know it in the modern
world beginning with the first Crusade of 1096, though very early
design patterns cannot be considered armory, but rather an inspiration
for heraldry. What you cannot expect in your travels through heraldry
is to be steered in the right direction by all those you come in
contact with. The aim of this paper is to begin to give you a sense of
direction.
The idea of a coat of arms describes a picture made up of either one
or multiple elements painted on to a shield which when first used by
the Romans and later the Celts, were statements of grandeur made by a
warrior upon his opponent. These images also gave an army’s infantry a
sense of connection and kinship.
With the coming of the first crusade, the images and banners carried
from Europe to the Holy Land were painted with Christian crosses to
illustrate the mission and the zeal to see it through. At about the
time of 1118, the Knights Templar rose on the heels of the first
successful crusade and the crimson crucifix became their mark. Red
crosses were painted on their surcoats (over coats) worn over their
chainmail (hence the phrase, "coat of Arms") and appeared on shields
and banners. These later banners also included black and white
beauseants which were carried by Templar cavalry into battle. The
popularity of this type of warrior communication caught on very
quickly in Europe and became a trend in about 1150 or so. It spread
very quickly and its first use became to identify a military leader,
who also possessed very large pennants of the same design, and
although shrouded in armor, his men knew where to find him on the
battlefield, and of course so did his enemies. Heraldry fastly became
a way of noting, through recording, who was present to fulfill his
feudal duty and who was not. It was also considered very honorable to
be recorded in such a roll as shown in the 14th century Scottish
Balliol Roll, considered the first of its kind in Scotland, following
the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.
During the opening years of its popularity sovereigns and their noble
lines laid claim to heraldic devices, but there was not any regulation
or official recording therefore people all over the continent and the
Isles merely ‘assumed’ arms for themselves. Only later did the king’s
‘herald’ receive the duties of keeping an official record. The 13th
century French herald Gelre, is one of the most notable to hold that
office. Currently many countries who practice heraldry have governing
offices and the novice is well advised to seek his or her education
from organizations surrounding them.
If you have an interest in pursuing a coat of arms or ‘achievement’
for yourself, the best place to start is to examine the current
heraldic practices of the country from which you originate. Heraldry
is as much cultural as it is dynamic. I would suggest Robert Gayre’s
The Nature of Arms, Oliver and Boyd, 1961. An excellent work that
provides information on what heraldry is, how different countries uses
it, and how people from commoners to royalty have used arms – in
history as well as today.
This paper is not going to detail too much as that is not the purpose.
I will say that the idea of picking up a "Name History and Family Coat
of Arms" from a surname research company is to be avoided at all
costs; you’re just throwing your money away. These companies are in
effect boiller-rooms that have a habit of showing up at cultural
events with large booths and fancy flags or attractive web sites to
attract the money of the novice. The arms depicted in these"
certificates" are taken from various volume publications, such as
Burke’s Peerage, Kelly’s, The British Herald etc that can be found in
libraries. These arms depicted are of grants made usually by
petitioners in the 18th and 19th centuries and will most often have
nothing to do with you or your particular line. These companies also –
actually assign surname variants that often have no connection
whatever to the original grantee, therefore if you have a common name
you will find a myriad of designs and grantees. If you are not
genealogically inclined, it can be a very expensive process to
determine which grantee you (may be) connected to if at all. If your
family is from the Isles, the best way for you receive arms is to
‘matriculate’ (receive a grant in the name of your direct ancestor
using his arms) through The Lord Lyon King of Arms, or in England
through The College of Arms. One of the most common ways is to
‘petition’ for a new grant of arms and these make excellent
genealogical markers for your generation. Scotland has the strictest
laws of arms in the world and arms are not treated casually.
Beware of grants of arms from Ireland!
Although Ireland has a history of armory, the Anglo-Irish relations as
many know, have been extremely volatile from the 12th century and
heraldry was always seen as a practice of the hand of English
feudalism. Although one may find many great Irish names that were
granted arms, these greats were acknowledged vassals of the English
crown: this was a method of survival for the Irish chiefs,
particularly in Ulster. However, heraldic practice in Ireland was
always a function of the English crown even after the Irish Revolution
of 1922 when the Republic took charge of the new Eireland. Ulster of
course has it’s own definitive history who’s office of arms is still
overseen by England. Irish heraldry and its designs historically are
distinctly Irish, featuring Gaelic imagery and Latin mottos (as does
Scottish Highland heraldry), but the current Office of the Chief
Herald of Ireland only started in 1943 and was assigned to up Dr.
Edward MacLysaght who was ‘styled’ chief genealogical officer. The
Chief Herald’s office however has always been under the purview of the
National library of Ireland and has never exercised its own authority
or been sanctioned by the government proper. You will therefore pay
over $5,000 for a grant (the funds of which go to the library) that is
in effect not legally recognized. This news has been the topic of
controversy and debate amongst heraldic enthusiasts for some time and
a surprise to those who have spent good deals of money in pursuit of
Irish recognition.
There is currently legislation pending to ameliorate this issue,
however it is reported that this legislation may never pass as the
Irish voting population has no desire or interest in it, but see it
rather as something foreigners do to satisfy themselves.
Finally one should be very wary of titles for sale, because a fancy
coat of arms is usually used as a come-on to separate a fool from his
or her money. This market, although legal in some European countries,
ranges from literally ‘one square foot of land’ and some obscure right
to called a "Lord", to the quasi-real practice of purchasing a
Scottish barony for up to $200,000 or more, and receiving nothing
other than piece of paper naming you as a grantee, and by law - no
land, no office, no purpose under the sun. But you will be enticed to
petition the Lord Lyon for a coat of arms with the promise of a
mountain of paperwork and fees totaling some $5,000. Your ‘baronial’
coat of arms however will not depict anything that can readily
identify you as a baron; and this is by order of the Lord Lyon
himself.
This decision came with quite a controversy involving parliamentary
censure, legal claims, appeals to the Court of Sessions, submissions
of falsified court documents all by a small but contumacious group of
individuals from both within and outside of Scotland who are members
of The Heraldry Society of Scotland and sit in positions of its
governing board as well as running its own, allegedly open online
forum where 'barons' congregate. These things have The Heraldry
Society of Scotland in a compromising position relative to their
support of this group’s actions in the face of documentation, both
legal and otherwise as well as photographic. This controversy will be
presented in a coming article. Suffice it to say here that if you are
interested in pursuing a coat of arms either for yourself or a larger
genealogical project, again, you are well advised to do your homework.
***All sources are listed in the blog article
Edward Stewart
> Hello,
>
> I'm introducing my new blog:http://theluminarypress.blogspot.com/
Greg - luminary! Now there's an oxymoron.
(For the benefit of Greg - Luminary: A person who is an inspiration
to others or who has achieved eminence in a specific field. )
Guffaw.
Edward
Greg
I know what the word means Edward. So you liked the article! Great!
Greg
I like Redwood City myself Edward, nice little town.
Edward Stewart
My dear Greg,
It would be stretching it to say that I liked the article; perhaps we
should content ourselves with me just saying that I have indeed read
your blog, that having done so I felt it kinder on you not to provide
literary criticism and that having read what you have written thus far
I have no intention of adding your blog to my favourites list or ever
visiting it again!
Yours ever obligingly,
Edward
Greg
>
> - Show quoted text -
Again, you can't refute the information. That's what matters :)
Success is often measured by one's enemies.
Turenne
however impressed with your musical taste (with only one or two
exceptions).
Richard L
Greg
Reserve judgement? Why? are you waiting to see what everyobody else
does?
C'mon - be a man - decide something for yourself - don't be like
Stephen Plowman...
Get it now? :) nudge, nugde....
<chuckle>
Turenne
>Reserve judgement? Why? are you waiting to see what everyobody (sic) else
>does?
I was trying to be polite. As far as I am aware, a blog consists of
more than one article, that's why I said I'd reserve judgement.
You might do well to ask someone to check your copy before posting.
Your English is....er.....eccentric.
Richard
Greg
Keep those cards and letters coming.
Greg
And BTW, one usually loook at an entire home page to see what's on it.
johnadams
As a lurker, I have been sick of this synthetic cowboy ranting on
about rubber indians all the time. If he has something more
constructive than this to offer on his blog I might read it. I read
this stuff to learn about heraldry, not about one guy's chip on his
shoulder.
Greg
Actually, the last time you came in on this subject, you supported the
Rubber Indians. You're not really a lurker, your more like a strafer.
Turenne
> > > > You might do well to ask someone to check your copy before posting.
> > > > Your English is....er.....eccentric.
GMcG:
>>>>And BTW, one usually loook at an entire home page to see what's on it.
Quod erat demonstrandum!
Richard L
Joseph McMillan
>
> Actually, the last time you came in on this subject, you supported the
> Rubber Indians. You're not really a lurker, your more like a strafer.
Would someone please tell me what a rubber Indian is? The only
definition I can find online is "The name given to tall, slender,
black and white traffic pylons often found in construction zones or
near intersections on country roads." Apart from their potential use
as charges in a coat of arms, what do these pylons have to do with
heraldry?
Joseph McMillan
Turenne
Joseph McMillan wrote:
>Would someone please tell me what a rubber Indian is?
Also, what in this context is a synthetic cowboy?
Richard L (confused Englishman)
Nick B II
A fake American?
As in synthetic cowboy/cowboyess?
I got no clue about the rubber indian.
Nick
Greg
But you can't refute the informaton. That's the best part.
Greg
It's obvious Richard that you have to be led around by the hand to
understand anything. You quite often say the dumbest things and
demonstrate an inability for any analysis or cognitiion.
Greg
Right: this from an aleged intellectual. Tell me Joe, why can't you
strafe me on the American Heraldry website? Afraid you'll give
yourself away? Afraid you'll look like you've been pretending all
along?
Worse yet - are you afraid of the fact that you agree with me, like
everybody else does on this subject?
Remember Joey, you can't refute my articles or the facts with respect
to the HSS and their Rubber Indians either. So what your engaging in
here really just reflects a cowardice in your charachter.
Joseph McMillan
>
>
> Worse yet - are you afraid of the fact that you agree with me, like
> everybody else does on this subject?
On what subject? Rubber Indians? How can I either agree or disagree
if you won't tell me what they are?
>
> Remember Joey, you can't refute my articles or the facts with respect
> to the HSS and their Rubber Indians either. So what your engaging in
> here really just reflects a cowardice in your charachter.
Greg, calling me a coward for not engaging with you on the subject of
heraldry is like calling Lebron James a coward for not agreeing to a
dunking contest with a 5'6" heckler, or Evander Holyfield for not
punching out an obnoxious drunk in a bar.
Joseph McMillan
Greg
Joe, they're Rubber Indians because of their necessity to have
feathers and act like chiefs: they are a sort of tribe that cabal.
Coming in and making strafing remarks as you do is really an act of
cowardice and shows a charahter flaw, one that interestingly does not
show up on the American Heraldry site becuase of your need to protect
yourself as an alledged scholar over there.
Agree? Why, you agree whole heartedly with my assessition of the
cabal at the Heraldry Society of Scotland. You've said so before and
I've got the posts to prove it.
We diagree on the notion you have of American Heraldry, but that is a
non-issue for me now and aside from that I really can't think of
anything that we really disagree on. You are however of the sort,
represented here and on the HSS forum, that consistantly group-badgers
me and makes sport of people with differing opinions and that is a
sign of a great weakness.
Turenne
>It's obvious Richard that you have to be led around by the hand to
>understand anything. You quite often say the dumbest things and
>demonstrate an inability for any analysis or cognitiion.
OK Greg; lets have a look at the following sentence and see which one
of us is dumb.....
> >And BTW, one usually loook at an entire home page to see what's on it.
I can see one auxiliary verb missing and a fascinating spelling
mistake.
And:
>demonstrate an inability for any analysis or cognitiion.
Another spelling mistake!
The words glass houses and stones come to mind...
RL
Greg
Richard you're a just a ridiculous person with nothing to say.
Nick B II
Uhh...
You get flamed, I can't prove that you didn't deserve every word of
it, and you think that's a good thing?
Why?
Nick
Greg
>
> - Show quoted text -
I don't know what you mean by flamed. If you're referring to the
smart alecks who can contribute nothing other than personal insults
and, like yourself, cannot refute any of the information in my
articles - yes that's a good thing.
These people have very poor self images as it is, but as is always the
case with these guys, they focus more on personal rather than
substantive material becuase it suits some sort of cruel need within
each one of them to pick on someone. It's no reflection on me I can
asure you of that. There behavior simply reflects their character
defects.
Therefore, the choice is yours to make wth respect to interaction.