User:Gcduerden/Sandbox

= HERALDRY =

Basic Heraldry
“HERALDRY - [definition from The Random House Dictionary of the English language, Unabridged Edition (1973)] n., pl. –ries. 1. the science of armorial bearings. 2. the art of blazoning armorial bearings, of setting the rights of person to bear arms or to use certain bearings, of tracing and recording genealogies, of recording honors, and of deciding questions of precedence. 3. the office or duty of a herald. 4. A coat of arms; armorial bearings. 5. a heraldic device, or a collection of such devices. 6. heraldic symbolism. 7. heraldic pomp and ceremony. . . . (HERALD+-RY)”

Heraldry is an ancient service, art and science which goes back at least to the middle ages. The exact date of the formation of ‘organized heraldry’ is unknown, but happened seemingly simultaneously in both European and Asian feudal systems. Germany seems to be the site of the first signet rings and seals. At about the same time heralds became part of European noble and royal courts, the Japanese developed a system of ‘Mons’ to visually identify ‘clans.’ Symbols used on shields identified individuals, military units and groups, etc. This practice goes back to the early days of Greece, Rome, Israel, Egypt, Mesopotemia, etc.

Heralds became the first military intelligence officers of the nobility and royal courts because they could identify the good-guys and the bad-guys in a battle – very useful when full armor with covered faces became the vogue. To make such identification and differencing of arms possible, rules were set up and the metals, colors, stains and furs used in designing the arms was established as well as a system to describe and draw arms, known as blazoning and hatching.

One form of heraldic bearing is called Ordinaries - these are various lines and geometric shapes used as charges (crosses, piles, etc.).

Actual charges for coats of arms fall into several categories: natural objects, animate charges, inanimate things, canting charges or “rebuses” (which form a pun on the name of the bearer) and a more recent addition, cartoon characters. Natural objects would be things like rocks, celestial objects – sun, moon, stars, constellations, comets, planets, etc. – and so on. Animate charges include but are not limited to the following: trees and parts of trees (leaves, limbs, chunks of wood, logs of various sizes, etc.), flowers (pedals, blossoms, leaves, etc.), plants, divine beings, human beings and parts of the human body, animals, birds, fish, insects, reptiles, monsters, ‘other creatures,’ etc. [Lions, dragons, tigers, bears, camels, goats, sheep, whales, narwhales, dolphins, butter-flies, spiders, scorpions, snakes, bats, eagles, swallows, hawks, flying fish, deer, elk, moose, fawn, unicorn, cyclopes, monitor, dinosaurs, and much more.] Inanimate things are generally viewed as conventional ancient charges: anchors, arrows, bows, bridges, castles, crowns, gloves, swords, ships, towers, wheels, machines, etc. There have also been several modern things used as charges; e.g., the DNA double-helix was used as the charge on the arms of the scientist who ‘discovered’ it; airplanes have been used as charges, in scenes on shields, and as supporters for arms, as have rockets. ‘Spaceships’ have only been used in the cartoon character category. Canting arms or “rebuses” would be: a) a man with the surname of Lucy, Geddy, or Pike using the fish known in heraldic terms as Luce or Lucy or Ged, which is the variety of fish known more commonly as a pike, for a charge on his shield; or b) John Shakespeare having a single large jousting lance on his shield. Cartoon characters are generally used in the military branch of heraldry and are the caricatures of animals, people or objects.

Heraldry can be used to identify individuals, their family members (this is called cadency), their property, and holdings as well as ‘houses,’ cities, corporations, societies, churches, states, nations, military units, businesses, agencies or about any other type of organizations. But the ‘family of coat of arms,’ with only a surname to identify it, are usually bogus.

When heraldic seals were used, anciently, they were similar to an individual’s signature on documents or a brand on livestock or property of a certain individual. Today if you assume or use another person’s identity or signature you will be arrested and charged with crimes of identity theft, forgery or worse. That is a crime!

But, so is assuming another person’s identity by using their coat of arms without it being properly differenced and granted to you by a properly empowered office. Just because some ‘businessman’ takes advantage of someone’s ill-informed, misinformed nature, or their lack of knowledge (aka: ignorance) just for the sake of turning a profit or making money, with no intent of even trying or caring to do good; well this is usually called being a fraud, a thieve, or con-man, and a criminal.

Usurping another’s name, heritage and lineage by using a coat of arms which is not yours also seems to disregard your own proper family tree, heritage and lineage is a BIG mistake, whoever does it.

'''YOUR family tree and coat of arms are YOUR birthright ….   DISCOVER THEM !!'''

(To learn more: there are pages on Asian, European, Tribal and U.S. Heraldry; perhaps even suggest bibliography will be included, later)

Asian Heraldry
OVERVIEW

As mentioned above, a form of organized symbolism to denote clans and groups appeared in the mid-13th Century in Asia, about the same time herald became part of European noble and royal courts. These symbols were worn on flags on the back of soldiers, in the case of the Japanese ‘Mon,’ who wore a form of wooden or bamboo armor and rode horses or walked into battle, among other things.

Japan - In Japan the ‘Mon’ system was developed to be able to tell which clan or group the soldiers belonged to or were fighting with/for. The chrysanthemum ‘Mon’ was saved for the sole use of the Emperor. Veneration of the sun is another area common to many people, east and west, north and south. Japan’s Tenno clan laid claim to descent from the sun. Stylized forms of this symbol are also as common, although eastern Asian nations have found strict graphic forms for representing the sun, which are given specific names. The Japanese ‘rising sun’ is completely red without rays and is perfectly true to nature.

China - China also venerates the sun in symbolism - now only found in the arms and flag of Taiwan - is fully risen, alluding to the twelve hours with “blue sky and white sun.”

European Heraldry
British [Scottish / Irish / Canadian] - Today, the Royal College of Arms, in London, England, is the pre-eminent heraldic authority in the world. It has been in continual existence for well-over 500 years - established in 1483/4 by Richard III. The last time the Court of Chivalry sat to adjudicate a case of heraldic justice was 1964, but achievements of arms are issued annually and the heraldic history is still being written by this College of Arms. With the Lyon King of Arms (for Scotland) and Ulster King of Arms (for Ireland) the Heraldic Empire of Great Britain is secure and on-going. Even Canada uses the Royal College for matters heraldic. The College is overseen by the Earl Marshall of England and the Queen of England (Queen Elizabeth II, who rules in a Constitutional Monarchy).

Danish - Several European countries have Constitutional Monarchies, such as Denmark (which is ruled by Queen Margretha II since 1972 – born in 1940, she celebrated her 70th birthday in 2010 and her Ruby Jubilee in 2012). Almost all still have heralds and an office of heraldry, or such, as part of their staff or part of some governmental agency. Modern heralds are more protocol officers and event planners than used in the ambassadorial or military intelligence (battle) or even tournament (sports announcer) modes of ancient times. An estimated 80% of Danish private coats of arms are burgher arms - burgher arms are coats of arms borne by persons of the burgher (merchant or peasant) social class of continental Europe (usually called bourgeois in English) since the Middle Ages. By definition, this term is alien to Gallo-British tradition of heraldry but is used in many German-Nordic traditions. Although the term ‘burgher arms’ refers to the bourgeoisie, it is often extended also to arms of the Protestant clergy and even to arms of peasants. In most European countries, the use of armorial bearings is restricted to a particular social class, e.g. the use of supporters in Great Britain, tinctures in Portugal or coronets in Sweden. In other countries, every individual, family and community has been free to adopt arms and use it as they please, provided they have not wrongfully assumed the arms of another. Use of coats of arms by burghers and artisans began during the 13th century and in the 14th century some peasants took to using arms. The arms of burghers bore a far wider variety of charges than the arms of nobility like everyday objects, in particular, tools and rune-like marks - also known as 'house marks' which are not met in arms of nobility. Most widespread burgher heraldry was and still is in Switzerland and in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands only a small percentage of the existing arms belong to the nobility. Regulation of heraldic matters falls to the National Heraldic Consultant, an officer under the Danish National Archive, for approval of municipal arms and ensuring official coats of arms adhere to the rules of heraldry. He has no jurisdiction over private arms. Danish heraldry falls in the German-Nordic tradition of hereditary use of arms (with no cadency marks and rules as the Gallo-British tradition holds).

Dutch (Netherlands) - Dutch heraldry is concerned, primarily, with heraldic matters in the country of the Netherlands, or the Low-Lands of Europe. It is characterized by a simple and sober style reminiscent of medieval arms, strong use of ordinaries, etc. Coats of arms in the Netherlands are not controlled by an official heraldic system. Anyone can develop and use a coat of arms, if they wished to do so, provided they did not usurp another’s arms, and this right was historically enshrined in Roman Dutch law. Many merchant families had coats of arms (known as burgher arms) even though they were not members of the nobility. Dutch civic heraldry is regulated the High Council of Nobility, which grants the arms of provinces, municipalities, water boards, Roman Catholic dioceses and Roman Catholic basilicas. Generally, the high Council pursues a policy of stylistic simplicity, as decreed by Interior Ministry guidelines in 1977 – regional historical and genealogical societies were known to have been involved drawing up these initial designs. Generally the High Council disapproves of quartering of existing arms and has a policy of excluding figures of saints on shields. The King of the Netherlands is William 1st, and works under a Constitutional Monarchy.

France - French heraldry is unique in Europe for several reasons. Regulated personal heraldry has gone and today the law recognizes both assumed and inherited arms – considering them to be legally equivalent to a visual representation of a name, and given the same protections. There is no central registry of arms and it is up to the individual to prove the longest right to the blazon of arms to be successful in court. But civic heraldry, on the other hand, remains a visible part of daily life. The language of heraldry is Norman French and it’s history exists going back to the 11th Century, but it does not have a national coat of arms. France has, instead, an emblem produced in 1953 at a request for a national coat of arms by the United Nations, but it does not follow the technical rules of heraldry and is associated with the Ancien Regime. In addition, one of the significant floral charges of heraldry has very close ties to France; the fleur-de-lys (translated as ‘lilly flower’ – a stylized design of an iris or lily). The fleur-de-lys is depicted on the British arms for the ancient claim of portions of France by the English crown … and is used on multiple civic arms to denote their country ( Paris, Lyon, Alsace, Brittany, Lorraine, Pays de la Loire, Centre, Rhone-Aples, Ile-de-France, etc.). German – German heraldic style stands in contrast to Gallo-British, Latin and Eastern heraldry and strongly influenced the styles and customs of heraldry in the Nordic countries, which developed comparatively late. Germanic heraldic tradition is noted for its scant use of heraldic furs, multiple crests, inseparabililty of the crest, and repetition of charges in the shield and the crest. Instead of Norman-French, the language of heraldry in Germany is German: tinctures are schwarz (black), rot (red), gold or gleb, silber (silver), grun (green), purpur (purple); furs are hermelin (ermine), grauwerk (vair), kursch (fur proper), buntfeh (vairy); and this follows through with ordinaries, etc. One of the earliest examples of heraldry originated in Germany with the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, who erected an imperial (single headed) eagle at his palace after his coronation in the year 800 C.E., establishing the eagle as the enduring symbol of the empire and Germany for several subsequent centuries, right up until today, since the imperial eagle (one of the oldest state symbols in Europe, originating with ancient Rome) is on the flag of Germany – black eagle with red beak and claws – tracing it’s roots back to Charlemagne. Germany was one of the early sources of signet rings and seals (German: siegel), used extensively in the later Middle Ages, and was instrumental in spreading heraldry to the various institutions of feudal Europe, especially to the Nordic countries. One expert (Carl-Alexander von Volborth) says: “the custom of the warrior-caste of using their [heraldic] arms on seals made this kind of pictorial identification fashionable and led to the adoption of arms by anybody using a seal.” Noble women began using armorial seals in the 12th Century and then heraldry spread to the burgher class in the 13th Century; even some peasants used arms in the 14th Century. Two of the most common animal charges in heraldry bear special political significance in medieval Germany. Ottfried Neubecker (in his 1979 Guide to Heraldry [Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill]) states: “heraldic antagonism … makes the eagle the symbol of imperial power and the lion the symbol of royal sovereignty.”

Italian (Ecclesiastic)

Norwegian

Russian (Czarist and pre-Rev.)

Spanish  (Sp. Off. of Heraldry)

Swedish

Swiss (International Heraldric Society)

Tribal Heraldry -  category

Central Am. Indigenous

Jewish (Biblical) Heraldry

No. Am. First Nations/Nat. Am.

Pacific Island

So. Am. Indigenous

US Heraldry - Sub category

Augustan Society

American College of Arms

College of Heraldry

New Eng. Hist.&amp; Gen. Society's Comm. on Heraldry