Post Your Granted, Assumed or Desired Arms

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Nicely done, and well thought out. If only all of my clients had been so thoughtful...

Out of professional curiosity, who was the painter?

[JSFMACLJR]

Going with the title of the thread, these are my arms, assumed 11 June 2007 (a 50th birthday present to myself):



Blazon

Arms: Azure a fess wavy cotised between three Celtic crosses formee alisee and a castle of two towers Argent.
Crest: A demi-priest vested in alb proper (white) with a chasuble Azure bearing a Luther Rose proper.
Motto: Induite Vos Arma Dei (Put on the whole armor of God)
Badge: Upon a Celtic cross formee alisee Azure a Luther Rose proper.

Design Rationale

There are two different meanings to the devices on the shield. First, various branches of the armiger's family arrived in America during the 18th and 19th centuries from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, hence the use of a variation of the Celtic cross. They settled in and around the Kiskiminetas River Valley of Pennsylvania, and the armiger himself grew up along the Kiskiminetas, hence the fess wavy cotised. The name "Henry" is Germanic in origin and means "Home Ruler"; the name "William" is also Germanic and means "Resolute Guardian" or "Determined Protector"; hence, the armiger's choice of a castle in base. The crosses are three in number representing the armiger, his ancestors, and his descendents (past, present, and future).

The second set of meanings behind the devices on the shield derive from the fact that the armiger is a Lutheran pastor. The three crosses represent Jesus Christ, "the same yesterday, today, and forever." The fess wavy cotised is a reminder that one enters the Family of God, the Church, through the waters of Holy Baptism. The castle is an homage to Martin Luther's most famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."

Additionally, the armiger's crest and badge reflect the fact that he is an ordained minister of the Church of Jesus Christ within the Lutheran tradition.

Well done, Mr. Henry!
I have a question though: is it common for Lutheran ministers to have crests, or is the crest for use by your lay heirs?

[werewolves]

Great to see so many folks from the AHS here

My assumed arms done in the style of the Codex Manesse for fun. Link to the registration in my signature.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Well done, Mr. Henry!
I have a question though: is it common for Lutheran ministers to have crests, or is the crest for use by your lay heirs?

There is nothing unusual about members of the clergy having crests, regardless of their denomination. Likewise, when arms are granted (or assumed) it is traditional that the crest be depicted on top of a helmet, which may be shown on top of the shield, or placed elsewhere on the letters patent if that is the request of the client. Likewise, should the client request that the helmet be omitted from both the exemplification and text of the letters patent then the crest, resting upon a wreath of the appropriate colours, would be depicted either above the shield, or somewhere in the margins of the document.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Great to see so many folks from the AHS here

My assumed arms done in the style of the Codex Manesse for fun. Link to the registration in my signature.

Cool... and nicely painted.

[piperdbh]

Speaking of heraldry, I recently discovered (through one of the online sites trying to sell me stuff) that my family's arms are "Gules; a tree or growing out of the base or." and the crest is a "beech tree ppr." No compartments, no fesses, no nothing else; just a red shield with a gold tree growing from gold ground. If I were to want to use these arms as my own, would I have to get written permission from whomever is the "Chief of the name", and, if there is no Chief, are the arms fair game for any and every yahoo who happens to have the same last name as me?

[Cygnus]

Piperdbh,

In almost all cases, there is no such thing as a family coat of arms. The purpose of coat armour was to identify the wearer on the battlefield when a helmet would obscure his face. Because families tended to go into battle together (even on opposing sides), it wouldn't make much sense for them all to carry identical shields, wear identical "coats", or bear identical crests.

Some nations or areas within them have, for various reasons, ceased to grant, record, or protect individual coats of arms. In some cases, coats of arms in these places have become "family" coats of arms because there was no longer an authority to officially grant or determine appropriate differences for the individuals that made up such families.

Because Scotland still has an heraldic authority, it would not be appropriate to use Scottish "family arms" so often hawked by tourist shops. These arms, in most cases, are the arms of the clan's chief and are his personal property. Even if nobody is officially recognized as the chief, that could very well change in the future as "missing" heirs come out of the woodwork.

The chief's arms are, generally, actually more simple than those of other armigers because those relatives of his in the clan will bear arms that have been differenced to distinguish them from the chief. Since the 19th century, a codified system of coloured borders, changes to dividing lines, and symbols has been used in Scottish heraldry to show these differences, though other methods had been used prior to this.

The arms that you describe, though I don't recognize them, sound simple enough to be the arms of the chief of your family name. If you're interested in your own arms you have two options - if your surname is Scottish and you can prove a familial connection of this name to a native of Scotland, you can petition a grant of arms from the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland who will work with you to difference them appropriately. If you cannot prove a genealogical link along that line to Scotland, you can use the chiefly arms as a basis for your own and, if you choose to do so, register them with another heraldic society or office (the American College of Heraldry, the Bureau of Heraldry of South Africa, etc.).

I hope that made at least some sense!

[FatherWilliam57]

MoR: Thank you! It was an interesting design process. I, like most novices, began with a "lucky charms" approach, but was quickly educated by the members of the AHS. (If anyone is interested in the development of this achievement from start to finish, you can check out this thread at the Amercian Heraldry Society website: http://www.americanheraldry.org/foru...ead.php?t=2797
The heraldic artist for this particular emblazonment was Mr. Barrie Burr of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

JSFMACLJR: MoR is quite correct concerning the crest and helmet. Since I am a Navy vet, I couldn't exactly go the "pacifist clergy" route, so I do indeed use a helmet in my achievement. As far as the symbolism of my crest, it is my intent that my three children will each inherit my shield and motto...it will then be up to them to each adopt a crest and badge of their own. (My "Americanized" version of differencing.)

WEREWOLVES: You really should show them a picture of your arms in tattoo form!

[FatherWilliam57]

Cygnus is dead-on with his post. In simpler terms: Simply having the same last name as someone else does not necessarily entitle that person to adopt and use the other person's arms. In most cases it must be proven that there is a direct line of descent from the original armiger to the potential armiger before it would be appropriate for a descendant bearing the same surname to use those same arms as his or her own. Without showing any evidence of descent from the original armiger, or obtaining their explicit permission, it would be dishonest, disrespectful, and misleading for someone to use the original person’s arms as their own. Instead, the person who wants arms of his or her own should design new arms to represent himself and his descendants. There are many organizations that Americans can use to assist them in this process.

[Bugbear]

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