Finnish Heraldic Design Rules

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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05 November 2007 10:24
 

Our colleague Jyri Lehtinen (Airut) from Finland has pointed out to me a Wikipedia page in which he and his colleagues from the Finnish Heraldry Society have posted the FHS’s "Ten Commandments" for heraldic design.

Given the many influences on American heraldry, we could never make anything like this "stick" in the United States, but the Finnish rules should give us some goals to keep in mind in designing arms.


Quote:

These are the guidelines used when heraldry is designed in accord with Finnish custom. Note that no other tinctures than those mentioned are used. The use of heraldic furs is scarce.

These ”commandments” were drawn up by Jukka Suvisaari and amended by a committee set up by the Finnish Heraldic Society in April 1990. The committee consisted of Kimmo Kara, Juhani Vepsäläinen and Jukka Suvisaari.

 

The Commandments
<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>1. Only heraldic tinctures are used. These are the metals, gold (Or) and silver (Argent); and the colors, red (Gules), blue (Azure), black (Sable) and green (Vert). In heraldic drawings yellow can be used in place of gold and white in place of silver. In flags and pennants this is almost always done nowadays. Heraldic colours are bright and clean; tones of the colours are picked from center of the scale.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>2.The use of only two tinctures, of which one is a metal, is preferred. The use of a third tincture requires good reasons, but a fourth is definitely bad heraldry.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>3.According to the tincture rule, one must not place colour on or next to colour or metal on or next to metal, unless the line of contact is very short.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>4.Letters, numbers or texts do not belong on a heraldic emblem.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>5.Figures (charges) must be as big as possible and fill the space intended for them as completely as possible.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>6.In figures natural presentation is not important, but characteristic is. (i.e the ferocity of the lion, majesty of the eagle, gracefulness of the deer)</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>7.In principle the charges should be two dimensional. At a minimum they must be recognisable even when presented as coloured flat surfaces, without shading or extra borderlines.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>8.A heraldic emblem must be easy to remember. It should not be crowded with too many symbols, only the absolutely essential. The ideal is only one charge.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>9.It is forbidden to be repetitive in heraldry: one idea should not be symbolized with two or more charges. On the other hand, if one charge suffices to symbolize two or more ideas, it only strengthens the symbolism of the charge, and therefore the whole emblem.</li>
</ul>

<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>10.The charges and the whole emblem must be such that they can be redrawn according to a written description (blazon) of the coat of arms or flag without a model. This means that the charge must be a general presentation of its kind. For example, a castle cannot be a specific castle, but only a stylized heraldic castle (although it can be explained as referring to, say, Käkisalmi castle). In other words, the description of the charge should not require the use of a proper noun.</li>
</ul>

The Wikipedia article is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten_Commandments_for_a_Designer_of_Finnish_Heraldry

 
Stephen R. Hickman
 
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Stephen R. Hickman
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05 November 2007 12:13
 

They could add more colors to their list.  Four just doesn’t give enough room for artistic expression.  They could add purple, for example.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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05 November 2007 12:22
 

There’s apparently no tradition of purpure (let alone the "stains") in Scandinavian heraldry.

I can’t answer for the Finns, but my own reaction is that asking for a bigger palette to design Finnish arms is like asking for more than 14 lines to compose an Elizabethan sonnet.  The end result may be very pretty, but it won’t be a Finnish coat or arms/Elizabethan sonnet.  At least in the view of the Finnish Heraldry Society.

 
Michael Swanson
 
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Michael Swanson
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05 November 2007 13:03
 

Stephen R. Hickman;51086 wrote:

They could add more colors to their list.  Four just doesn’t give enough room for artistic expression.  They could add purple, for example.


These are not guidelines, they are The Commandments!  :D   If you are Finnish and add tenne, you and your arms will be trampled by reindeer.

 

I like the commandments!

 
David Pritchard
 
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05 November 2007 14:36
 

In my own opinion the ‘commandments’ of Finnish heraldry are very good. It should be noted that they are very similar if not the same as the guidelines of heraldic design of the Heraldry Department of the Ruling Senate of the Russian Empire that were adopted in the 1860’s and which applied to all new noble arms granted in the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Russian guidelines specifically prohibited the use of purple on the shield of arms and it would seem that this tradition still is continued in modern Finland.

One could only hope that the ‘commandments’ of Finnish heraldry could at least be utilised as guidelines in the design of new American heraldry, as this would greatly diminish the number of heraldic ‘Frankenstein Monsters’ that keep appearing on the Internet.

 

 
Linusboarder
 
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Linusboarder
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05 November 2007 14:38
 

Michael Swanson;51089 wrote:

These are not guidelines, they are The Commandments!  :D   If you are Finnish and add tenne, you and your arms will be trampled by reindeer.


Are you saying if I go to Helsinki and display my arms I will be finished?

 
Hall/Perdue
 
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Hall/Perdue
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05 November 2007 14:45
 

Quote:

If you are Finnish and add tenne, you and your arms will be trampled by reindeer.


I always wondered what grandma did to tick off that reindeer.wink

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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05 November 2007 15:26
 

David Pritchard;51090 wrote:

One could only hope that the ‘commandments’ of Finnish heraldry could at least be utilised as guidelines in the design of new American heraldry, as this would greatly diminish the number of heraldic ‘Frankenstein Monsters’ that keep appearing on the Internet.


I would very much like us to develop a set of design guidelines, although I don’t think we can be quite as severe as the Finns.  The three-tincture limit, for example, is more restrictive than is normal in many of the traditions from which American heraldry is drawn, and one of the most typical formats of French or British arms (a charged ordinary between two or three other charges) probably wouldn’t meet the Finnish ideal.

 

Not to mention that the banning of the stains would be a "long war" beside which the war on terrorism would seem but a blink of the eye.

 
Patrick Williams
 
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05 November 2007 15:54
 

Linusboarder;51091 wrote:

Are you saying if I go to Helsinki and display my arms I will be finished?


No, Colin. That would be way too bad a pun. You’ll be gored and trampled, however.

 
Madalch
 
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Madalch
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05 November 2007 16:10
 

Linusboarder;51091 wrote:

Are you saying if I go to Helsinki and display my arms I will be finished?

Depends on whether or not you’re caught.  If you don’t run into any heraldists, you’re fine.

But if you do run into a Finnish heraldist, he’ll sink you.

 
arriano
 
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arriano
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05 November 2007 17:17
 

Joseph McMillan;51093 wrote:

I would very much like us to develop a set of design guidelines, although I don’t think we can be quite as severe as the Finns.


So as not to reinvent the wheel, I would think the first step would be to take these Finnish guidelines and remove whatever we don’t think fits regarding American heraldry, and then add anything we feel important but not yet included.

 
Linusboarder
 
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05 November 2007 17:45
 

Patrick Williams;51096 wrote:

No, Colin. That would be way too bad a pun. You’ll be gored and trampled, however.


Too bad a pun, That cant be possible?

 
Stephen R. Hickman
 
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05 November 2007 18:31
 

Colin, let’s just say that if you display your shield in Finland, then you’ll probably need it.  I would have the same problems in Greece, albeit for different reasons.  wink

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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05 November 2007 20:12
 

I agree that a set of guidelines or "best practices" for the actual design of new arms is a good & useful idea, to supplement the existing AHS Best Practices which primarily focus on - for lack of better words—"ownership" and "republican" issues.  There are several ways we could approach it, but as Joe says (paraphrased) we can’t just take a set of foreign guidelines, however much we may like them, and adopt them wholesale, because we are so blessedly multicultural.

As a suggestion, rather than immediately jumping into "the" AHS approach, we might want to first collect existing sets of guidelines and then draw from and/or supplement—and/or reject, in some cases—in drafting our own.  Besides the intrinsic value of seeing what’s there before we launch our own effort, we will need to recognize that those Americans who choose to model their approach after the traditions of their ancestral homelands will need Finnish- or Scottish- or Spanish- etc. specific info to draw from that will mean little to those who don’t share those roots; and rather than just turn them loose on the internet, we’d be better off including e.g. the Finnish "10 commandments" with American commentary, for each particular audience.  Ditto other major heraldic traditions.

 

I would see these as in effect appendices to our existing Best Practices, with hopefully an "umbrella" overview tying the lot together.

 

Thoughts?

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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05 November 2007 21:53
 

Michael F. McCartney;51104 wrote:

Thoughts?


You read my mind.

 

Here are Carl Alexander von Volborth’s recommendations from The Art of Heraldry:
Quote:

<ol class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>Make sure that the design is unique and does not infringe upon the rights of others.  (More on this point, which is covered in the AHS Guidelines.)</li>
<li>Try to keep the design as simple as possible.  Arms are still meant to be means of identification and representation and should be easily recognized and remembered.  Crowded designs do not answer to this condition.</li>
<li>Respect the ethnic background of your family and try to keep the new arms in the style of your country of origin.  If you are, for example, an American citizen, having a German or French name, don’t use the heraldic style and charges which are characteristic for British or Italian heraldry.</li>
<li>Do not use badges of Orders of Chivalry as charges for your arms.  This can be misleading.  Should you be a member of such an order, you can show this outside the actual coat of arms.</li>
<li>Do not use coronets, crowns or any other object that may have a particular meaning in the heraldry of the historical noblesse.  Do not use supporters, they have a particular significance in heraldry and should not be assumed.  Avoid everything that could be interpreted as misleading.</li>
<li>In your choice of charges you might search for symbols which express perhaps an occupation or profession that was or is characteristic of your family, for a pun on your name (canting arms) or for something relating to the place of origin of your family.  There are innumerable possibilities to create a meaningful coat of arms.  As for the tinctures you could use your favourite colour combination (preferably limited to one colour and one metal) or the colours of your home town or country.  Charges like the rod of Aesculapius for physicians or the Caduceus for merchants for example have been used only too often and are not very original.  Try to avoid heraldic platitudes in a new design.  A sailor does not have to use a whole ship.  Oars, a sail, a boat or a rudder would do the trick, and artisans could use the tools of their trade, preferably in the medieval form.  Show the elements on the shield from the most recognizable angle; a hand seen from the side is meaningless, but palm outwards with space between the fingers is instantly identified.</li>
</ol>

Elsewhere in the book are these items:


<ul class=“bbcode_list”>
<li>"Heraldic colours should be strong and true.  Red, for instance, should neither be too purplish nor too orange, nor lean towards pink or brown."</li>
<li>"The designer of a new coat of arms should try to avoid any object as a charge on the shield or as a crest that had not been invented when heraldically-decorated equipment was actually used in battle and tournament….  There is however, nothing wrong with the invention of new abstract patterns and forms which adapt themselves to the ancient heraldic spirit."</li>
<li>"Quadrupeds too can be depicted in various tinctures, but natural colours should best be avoided…. Birds may appear in any tincture used in heraldry, but natural colour should be avoided."</li>
<li>"Heraldic charges should be stylized and photographic realism avoided."</li>
</ul>

 
Airut
 
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Airut
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06 November 2007 05:02
 

The reason why I pointed out this site to Mr McMillan was the important work he made in polishing the english versions from the rough translation. Even though some Finns speak better english than our rally and formula 1 drivers, when it comes to heraldbabble in english help is greatly appreciated. Kudos to Mr McMillan!