Designing a New Coat of Arms

 
QuiQuog
 
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QuiQuog
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22 August 2014 17:22
 

It’s uncanny!

 
QuiQuog
 
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QuiQuog
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22 August 2014 17:37
 

In David Pope’s original design thread, the last design had Or, sable, argent, gules and azure. I really like the way those colors went together and was playing with them a bit today. What do you think about per chief dancetty sable and or, a pale counterchanged? Depending on the number of points and size of the pale it creates a W in the center. Then add some charges for color splash. Actually, the more I look at it, the more it looks like something from the Flintstones. Back to the drawing board. Literally.

 
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22 August 2014 17:58
 

Barry bendy or and gules, a pale sable?

Barry bendy argent and azure, a pale sable?

Per bend enhanced ermine and gules, at honor point a roundel or?

Maybe I need a break.

 
arriano
 
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arriano
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25 August 2014 17:11
 

QuiQuog;102512 wrote:

What do you think about per chief dancetty sable and or, a pale counterchanged? Depending on the number of points and size of the pale it creates a W in the center. Then add some charges for color splash. Actually, the more I look at it, the more it looks like something from the Flintstones. Back to the drawing board. Literally.


Per chief? I think it should be Or, a chief dancetty Sable, overall a pale counterchanged

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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04 September 2014 13:42
 

How about three piles, two in chief & one in base, each charged with something appropriate?  e.g. on each a rook? (either the bird, or an heraldic chess rook)

the basic design, which while not really common isn’t rare either, will give you the suggestion of "W" & IMO is a quite nice pattern.  Your choice of colors, perhaps guided by the color of whatever charge you place on the piles.  If it’s a rook (the bird) then maybe sable, three piles, two in chief and one issuing in base Or [or Argent if you prefer] each charged with a rook of the first; or if a chess rook, you can use whatever colors you want.  (Actually you could have the rook (bird) any color, but usually they’re black.)

 

IIRC an earlier note in this thread noted that "wig" is a wedge of some sort in one or another of the Germanic languages so the Piles are also more or less canting, especiallt with what looks like an Old English pre-Norman) surname..

 

EDIT: Also, on re-reading this thread, noted that your "rooks" idea was really a pair of rooks (a clever rebus!) - so maybe only charge the two piles in chief with rooks (either variety).  You could then either leave the third pile in base plain, or throw in something more personal to you or your immediate family (maybe a reference to your mother’s or a grand-mother’s family) which more distant cousins could if they wish, either drop or substitute something more relevant to their branch of the family.

 

Another approach might be a single pile issuing from the base between two flaunches - again, a sort of "W" with curved sides, and if you wanted to include two rooks (either sort) there is space in chief or better, on the flaunches.

 

More additional info - I did find a spelling variant for Wiggins in Black’s Surnames of Scotland - I’m not at home now but will post what I found if SKS doesn’t (please!) beat me to the punch.  It was a short entry, referring to two brothers in IIRC the southern part of the country - a land transaction or something of that sort?

Personally I prefer the first suggestion above, but then they wouldn’t be my arms so who cares!

 
QuiQuog
 
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07 September 2014 00:16
 

I’ve actually seen a few arms for W names that have the 3 pile design in suggestion of an initial. I dismissed them because I didn’t care for the look of it. But I do think it’s worth revisiting now to experiment with pile shapes and sizes, as well as filling them with charges.

I really would like canting arms that recall my name directly. I just wish there were a way to do it without a wig. Like if there were an animal called the Western Wiggit Moth, or the Wigged Mouse.

 
Benjamin Thornton
 
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07 September 2014 21:45
 

QuiQuog;102613 wrote:

I really would like canting arms that recall my name directly. I just wish there were a way to do it without a wig. Like if there were an animal called the Western Wiggit Moth, or the Wigged Mouse.


I suppose an earwig isn’t quite what you’re looking for.

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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08 September 2014 23:40
 

I had the same thought. It works on two levels, cause they give me the wiggins.

 
 
QuiQuog
 
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10 September 2014 15:27
 

Michael F. McCartney;102578 wrote:

How about three piles, two in chief & one in base, each charged with something appropriate?  e.g. on each a rook? (either the bird, or an heraldic chess rook)

the basic design, which while not really common isn’t rare either, will give you the suggestion of "W" & IMO is a quite nice pattern.  Your choice of colors, perhaps guided by the color of whatever charge you place on the piles.  If it’s a rook (the bird) then maybe sable, three piles, two in chief and one issuing in base Or [or Argent if you prefer] each charged with a rook of the first; or if a chess rook, you can use whatever colors you want.  (Actually you could have the rook (bird) any color, but usually they’re black.)

 

IIRC an earlier note in this thread noted that "wig" is a wedge of some sort in one or another of the Germanic languages so the Piles are also more or less canting, especiallt with what looks like an Old English pre-Norman) surname..

 

EDIT: Also, on re-reading this thread, noted that your "rooks" idea was really a pair of rooks (a clever rebus!) - so maybe only charge the two piles in chief with rooks (either variety).  You could then either leave the third pile in base plain, or throw in something more personal to you or your immediate family (maybe a reference to your mother’s or a grand-mother’s family) which more distant cousins could if they wish, either drop or substitute something more relevant to their branch of the family.

 

Another approach might be a single pile issuing from the base between two flaunches - again, a sort of "W" with curved sides, and if you wanted to include two rooks (either sort) there is space in chief or better, on the flaunches.

 

More additional info - I did find a spelling variant for Wiggins in Black’s Surnames of Scotland - I’m not at home now but will post what I found if SKS doesn’t (please!) beat me to the punch.  It was a short entry, referring to two brothers in IIRC the southern part of the country - a land transaction or something of that sort?

Personally I prefer the first suggestion above, but then they wouldn’t be my arms so who cares!

I have to admit that I’ve been puzzled by some statements in your post. I’ve only just learned that rook is another name for a raven! I’ve been assuming that you had mixed up my thread with another one that is similar, though I couldn’t find one similar. Now that I’ve finally realized that, your post makes much more sense.

I’m very glad to know this too, because I’ve been admiring ravens in the arms of McClurg and Merlina and thinking of ways or reasons to adopt them into my own. I’ve been warming to the "pair of rooks=peruke" rebus, but not really liking the look of the chess rooks. They look too much like castles and I just don’t care for them. This opens up a new line of ideas to play with. Now I can dispose of the reams of paper with drawings of heraldic earwigs!;)

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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10 September 2014 23:54
 

QuiQuog;102657 wrote:

I’ve been warming to the "pair of rooks=peruke" rebus, but not really liking the look of the chess rooks. They look too much like castles


Not to take you backward, but a heraldic chess rook doesn’t look like a castle.

 

Chess-rook:

http://karlwilcox.com/parker/wp-content/uploads/parker/m105b.png

 

The heraldic charge that looks like the rook in the standard Staunton-design chess set:

http://www.stauntonchesssets.com/images/staunton_rook.jpg

 

is called a tower.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Complete_Guide_to_Heraldry_Fig500.png/160px-Complete_Guide_to_Heraldry_Fig500.png

 

Nevertheless, I think the rook birds are better, because since you’re already being fairly obscure with the pun, might as well go all the way.  (That is not a criticism, by the way.)

 
arriano
 
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arriano
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11 September 2014 18:29
 

Joseph McMillan;102662 wrote:

Not to take you backward, but a heraldic chess rook doesn’t look like a castle.

Chess-rook:

http://karlwilcox.com/parker/wp-content/uploads/parker/m105b.png

 


See the Wolcott arms as an example on our Roll of Early American Arms:

 

http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Roll.W

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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11 September 2014 23:58
 

I suppose either variety of rook would do but IMO the rebus is clearer with the birds - pair of rooks vs pair of chess rooks.

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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25 September 2014 02:54
 

Earlier in this thread I noted that there was a family of essentially the same name in Scotland. Just found my notes, from George Black’s "Surnames of Scotland":

"Wiggein- Surety found in 1569 for Rynne Wiggein and Archie Wiggein in East Teviotdale (RPC, I, pg 661).  Perhaps from Wigan in Lancashire."

 

Surety is esentially a bond of sorts - i.e. someone posted bail or more likely co-signed on a loan.

East Teviotdale is more or less near Kelso in the Scottish Borders.  RPC is the Register of the [Scottish] Privy Council, a sort of catch-all for government records, including bonds.

 

Not sure how or if relevant in current exercise , since haven’t found any mention of arms for this name in Scotland, but thought it might be of interest.

 

("Perhaps…" is Professor Black’s speculation as to where the name came from.)

 
QuiQuog
 
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25 September 2014 10:52
 

I don’t know how you guys find this stuff, it amazes me.

I suppose the relevance of researching heredity in the context of the current exercise is to discover if there are any armorial bearings already granted that I could inherit, or use for inspiration if not inherited directly. A family amateur genealogist traced my direct line to Surrey county in England as far back as 1635. Nothing noted of any arms in her research. Wiggins isn’t an overly common name, and there only seem to be a rare few arms granted that I have ever seen in the few rolls I have searched, none of which have any relation to me as far as I can tell.

 

It seems that if I can go that far back and not find traces of any CoA, then the likelyhood of there being any are about zero. I would think that bearing arms would be something that a family in that time would not want to hide or forget about. In that light, I’ve been resigned lately that I have no armigerous (am I spelling that right?) relatives in my past, but it would be interesting for me to trace my heritage back even farther if possible. It’s easier said than done though. I have less knowledge of genealogy than I do of heraldry.

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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26 September 2014 04:43
 

Assuming that your family genealogist has dotted all her i’s and crossed all her t’s, having your known ancestry that far back is great!  Not finding an armiger in the lot isn’t unusual, so don’t sweat it; neither can most of us here or in America generally.  So we do what those who value heraldry have always done, with or without the assistance or approval of some governmental herald, and create new arms for ourselves and our families.

The genealogical information, in addition to it’s intrinsic value, may also suggest design themes significant and reasonably unique to your own family.  You have the advantage of a deeper well of family history to draw from, if you choose to use it, than most of us.  How or if you take advantage of it is of course up to you and your kin.  Ditto how much you choose to share here to help us help you!