Approved arms for the Tennessee Valley Scottish Society.

**Harold Cannon** · 5th November 13, 07:37 PM

Tonight the board of the Tennessee Valley Scottish Society voted to adopt their own coat of arms. To give you the meaning behind them and I will start at the top and go down:

--The crest is a golden lion holding the saltire and the Alabama state flag. The golden lion symbolizes strength and unity by holding together the two flags. He is seated in a wreath of cotton as this was the main source of income for this area in the past. All of this sits atop a wreath of blue and white called the torse. Blue and white are the livery colors as they are the first metal (white equals silver) and color of the coat of arms.

--The helm is a sallet helm that is usually issued to societies such as ours by Scotland.

--The mantling which is the drape of red and white fabric, was to keep the knights upper back and neck cool from the sun. It is done here in red and white as this was the old tradition but this can also be done in the blue and white. We chose the red and white to balance the colors of the display.

--The arms are full of meaning. You can see that there is the saltire and cross of Alabama's flag combined by a wavy division. This again shows Scotland and Alabama. The wavy division is to show the Tennessee river From where we get our name. In the top valley of the saltire you will see three stars. These can symbolize several things. The trinity, the three main sources of economy today (Redstone Arsenal, NASA, and Military Contractors), but it is also a nod to the state of Tennessee. The tree stars are surrounded by blue and then edged in white by the saltire just like the center circle of the Tennessee state flag. It again is a nod to our name as this part of the design is resting in the "valley of the saltire". In the base you see a red thistle inside the cross of the Alabama flag and this shows the bloody fight that both the Scottish Jacobites and Southern Rebels went through for what they believed in.

--The motto below was very fitting. It shows that we shall continue on.

**O'Searcaigh** · 5th November 13, 07:48 PM

Quite nice!

**Tim Little** · 5th November 13, 08:31 PM

Excellent!

**MacMillan of Rathdown** · 5th November 13, 08:37 PM

I am constantly amazed by Harold's talent. Well done!

**Thomas H** · 6th November 13, 03:58 AM

Great Job Harold !

**Harold Cannon** · 6th November 13, 10:36 AM

Thank you all! We are looking to have prints done up of the arms and have them for sale at some of our events. We are also looking to get a banner of arms done up to parade at our games as well as other events.

**Chas** · 6th November 13, 10:42 AM

How do you blazon them, Harold?

**Harold Cannon** · 6th November 13, 10:50 AM

I have the blazon at home somewhere buried in my computer. I will look for it tonight. I sure can't spit it off the top of my head. I am total useles when it comes to that. I can read them and draw from them but I sure can not write them. LOL!