PERSONAL ARMS
CREATING A PERSONAL COAT OF ARMS
PERSONAL ARMS
CREATING A PERSONAL COAT OF ARMS
PERSONAL ARMS
A Semi-Brief Introduction
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It is often stated that heraldry in its early stages had strong military associations, and that its original purpose was the identification of knights in armor on the battlefield. A man in armor was very hard to recognize. William the Conqueror, for instance, was forced to remove his helmet in the thick of the battle of Hastings in order to identify himself to his followers who thought
In the Middle Ages the herald, often a tournament official, had to recognize men by their shields; thus he became an authority on personal and family insignia. As earlier functions of the herald grew obsolete, his chief duties became the devising, inscribing, and granting of armorial bearings. The use of personal and family insignia is ancient (it is mentioned
tournaments which drew together knights from many countries caused heraldry to flourish in Western Europe and the Muslim world. The practice of embroidering family emblems on the surcoat, or tabard, worn over chain mail in the 13th century accounts for the term “coat of arms.” In the United States the seals and insignia of colleges, cities, and the like are examples of the
he had been killed. Victorian heraldic theorists claimed that a man’s arms came to be painted on his shield so that he could be recognized by his followers in battle, and that such a mark of identification became essential after the development of the closed helmet which completely concealed a man’s face.
by Homer), but heraldry proper is a feudal institution developed by noblemen using personal insignia on seals and shields that came to be transmitted to their families. It is thought to have originated in the late 12th century, and to have been prevalent in Germany,France, Spain, and Italy, and imported into England by the Normans. The crusades and
persistence of the heraldic tradition. This guide is meant to be a sort of “crash course”, this not the entirety of heraldry, it is just the surface.
COAT OF ARMS
DEO
DAT
US
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Building My Personal Arms
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Instead of using a piece of parchment or leather, I am going to be using something a bit more common today; a T-shirt.
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The first thing you will need to start building any coat of arms, is a proper shield. The shield is the foundation of a Coat of Arms.
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Although the shape and form of shields and other objects on which arms are displayed are of interest in identifying the country of origin or date of a particular representation of arms, they have no additional significance. The question of the shield is a question of an artistic license, and various forms have been favored in different countries and centuries.
Research has shown that the shields found in heraldry simply identify the styles of the time in which the Coat of Arms was commissioned, thus it is a purely esthetic choice for you to make. You can choose from one of the many shields found here, or you can make your own.
As you can see there are many types of shields. I picked an escutcheon shield because I think the shape is nice and it was used in Europe around the fifteenth century, which is when records of my family first appeared.
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step one:
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picking and placing a shield
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The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one section. Many coats of arms consist simply of a division of the field into two contrasting sections. Quartering in heraldry is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield by dividing the shield into equal parts and placing different coats of arms in each division. Typically, a quartering consists of a division into four equal parts, two above and two below. The larger the number of quarterings, the smaller the space available for each coat of arms, so that most families entitled to many quarterings make a selection of those they ordinarily use.
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This was how my family’s Coat of Arms was originally setup, so I thought it would be nice to reconstruct.
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step two:
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dividing your shield
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Another noteworthy feature of heraldry is the simplicity of the coloring. The so-called primary, red, yellow, and blue, were most in use, but white and black are nearly as common. Of the secondary colors, green, oddly enough, is comparatively rare, as is purple; while orange was not used at all in medieval times, apparently because no stable pigment for it was known. Of these tinctures, five were reckoned as colors: red, blue, black, green, and purple. Yellow was usually represented, as might be expected, by gold, and white similarly by silver, both were accordingly reckoned as metals. Because this is not the fifteenth century, we can use just about any color imaginable in our modern heraldic design. These colors should not be arbitrary, the colors on your shield should represent you as an individual.
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Blue represents truth and loyalty.
Purple represents royal majesty, sovereignty, and justice.
Black represents constancy.
Gold r epresents generosity and elevation of the mind.
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step three:
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picking colors that represent you
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In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the helmet was an essential component of a knight’s equipment and was invariably used in seals and other forms of heraldic display throughout Europe. The helm of the sovereign (king, queen, etc.) is golden, stands facing the viewer (affronté) and has six or seven bars, also of gold. Children of the sovereign (Princes of the Blood Royal) use the same helm on their coat of arms. The rest of the high nobles (dukes, marquess, earl/count, viscount) use a helm of silver that is in profile (facing dexter or the viewer’s left) and decorated in gold. This helm uses five or six bars (of gold). Baronets and knights use a helm of steel, decorated in silver and standing affronté. This helm is not barred and has the visor raised.
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Finally, non-nobles or burghers (esquires & gentlemen) use helms of steel, are placed in profile (facing dexter or the viewer’s left) and have their visor closed. Each helm is different and represents the technology of the era (all roughly from the thirteenth to sixteenth century). After the seventeenth century armor was, for the most part, abandoned and the helm on the arms became a purely artistic choice. Because knights, barons and kings (in their original forms) do not exist today, you can clearly choose any helm, medieval or not, to be displayed on the top of your shield. There are five types of helmets: Melee Helms, Barrier Helms, Closed Barrel Helms, Armets, Sallets
I chose to use a sallet helm primarily because of the time period it was used in (fifteenth century) but also because of it’s French origin.
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step four
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decide on a helm based on time and country
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In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of a shield. This may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ordinary) or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces while other charges are called meubles. The division of charges into “ordinaries”, “subordinaries” and other categories is a relatively modern practice that has been deprecated, and these terms much pejorated, in the writings of Fox-Davies and other heraldry authors. The particular significance or meaning of a charge may be indicated in the blazon, but this practice is also deprecated.
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For charges, every conceivable creature and inanimate thing was drawn upon: birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, insects, and parts of them such as heads, limbs, tails, feet and wings; trees, flowers, fruits, and leaves; the sun, mood, and stars; castles, buckles, shells, chaplets, sheaves, sleeves, crosses, crowns, fleurs-de-lis, horse-shoes, etc. The choice of the devices in a shield seems often to have been quite arbitrary, the chief care being to see that one man’s arms differed in some way from another’s; but the selection was often made, where possible, so as to pun upon the bearer’s name.
When picking charges, think about the things that you have always loved. There are endless possibilities when it comes to picking, literally any symbol or object can be a charge. When you have the object, or objects, decide if you need it as a whole or if you could use parts of the symbol to display on your shield, (i.e. Lion’s head, human arm, eagle’s wing or talon, etc.) There is literally an endless amount of charges and combinations. If you are interested in examples you should check out the 659 pages of; A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry by James Parker
D My charge choices: The “D” symbol represents my last name “Dudney”, and the ships set sail symbolizes hope.
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step five
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use symbols that describe you as charges
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A crest, as its name implies, was originally a feathered plume on the head of a bird. Such a plume or brush of feathers, as it was called, was fixed as an ornament in the top of a helm, and thus formed a crest of its wearer. Other devices came into use later, and in time became associated with individuals; and eventually, like arms, they were looked upon as hereditary. The earliest heraldic crests were apparently painted on metal fans, and usually repeated the coat of arms painted on the shield, a practice which was later abandoned. Originally, the crest was often “continued into the mantling”, but today the crest normally stands
Crest with Wreath
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within a wreath of cloth, called a torse. Objects frequently borne as crests include animals, especially lions, normally showing only the fore half; human figures, likewise often from the waist up; hands or arms holding weapons; bird’s wings. In Germany and nearby countries, the crest often repeats the liveries in the form of a tall hat, a fan of plumes in alternating tinctures, or a pair of curving horns. The horns may have a hole in the tip to hold a cluster of plumes or flowers. In most cases crests, like charges, were meant to describe the individual, but were generally arbitrary. In other cases, the crest described the individual’s origin.
Crest with Coronet (Crown)
Generally, the base of the crest sits within a decorative “wreath” or “coronet” that sit atop the helm. The wreath was the most commonly used “crest-holder”, but in certain countries a coronet (crown or hat) could be used in place of the wreath. There are different types of coronets based on military rank and community status. Closed crowns, for exaple, where stricktly displayed by royalty. If you choose a wreath, you should consider the colors in it. There are usually two repeated colors in the wreath which should match the main colors in the shield. If you choose to use a coronet, you can pick from any crown or hat.
Crest with Closed Coronet (Crown)
D Originally, my family’s Coat of Arms does not have a crest so I took the liberty to attach a symbol that I have always loved, an anchor. Anchors are found throughout the world on naval and commercial and coats of arms and is sometimes used to symbolize hope or a fresh start.
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step six
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pick another symbol for your crest, then decide if you want a wreat or a coronet for the base
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Supporters are figures, usually beasts, chimerical creatures or of human form, placed on either side the shield to ‘support’ it, though there are some examples of single supporters placed behind the shield Animal supporters are by default as close to rampant as possible if the nature of the supporter allows it. Human supporters can also be allegorical figures, or, more rarely, specifically named individuals. Supporters were only granted to distinguished men (i.e. Barrons, lords, knights, etc.) and in some countries could not be used by heirs. Unlike other elements in a coat of arms, supporters have no practical origin and cannot be traced with any certainty before the fifteenth century. Your supporters can be anything you wish. They can relate to your crest, your charges or nothing at all.
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D Along with a crest, my family Coat of Arms does not have anything supporting our shield. I picked a demi-goat to symbolize wisdom.
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step seven
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determine what animal, monster, or human you would like to support your shield
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Motto (Italian for pledge) is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. It seems likely that many early mottoes were used, perhaps in abbreviated form, as cris-de-gerre (war cries), to rally troops in the field of battle. It was a kind of catch phrase of the person or family In English mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will. In Scottish heraldry mottoes can only be changed by re-articulation, with the Lord Lyon King of arms. A canting motto is one that contains a play on words. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is
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Festina lente, punningly interpreted as, on-slow (“make haste slowly�). Mottoes may be in any language. In the past Latin and French were favored over English. Your motto should be something that inspires you! It should be your catch-phrase, or something that you think describes you. This should not be more than five or so words. Take time to experiment and translate your motto into Latin, French or any other language that pertains to you.
The scroll that contains the motto is found at the bottom, top or either side of the coat of arms. The type of scroll found within a coat of arms is purely an artistic choice. The size of the scroll is generally determined by the motto it contains.
D DEO
DAT
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Through researching for this book I found out that my last name, Dudney, comes from a French phrase, Dieu Donne, which means given by God. The translation from French to Latin is; Deo Datus.
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step eight
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pick a motto, translate it, then pick a scroll based on the length
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