Why would this mean adding a third tincture? The wings (or some other device) cantoning the cross could be Azure. If it’s just the blood you don’t like, the field could be goutty de larmes.

I thought of Azure crosses, but with those and the cross potent, it would look too much like the Shield of Jerusalem.  To be honest, however, I’ve become quite fond of these arms as-is.  I’m not entirely certain that they need any more changes—unless Guernsey has a problem with them, of course.  Are there any other flags or arms which these are similar to?  I want to avoid the situation which I found myself in with the Arms of Greece before I submit these arms to the USHR.

Another question:  Would these proposed arms be too much like the Flag of Guernsey (or any other emblazonment, for that matter) if the cross potent were Or instead of Argent?  How would that look, BTW?

Stephen,

Guernsey won’t care, but other observers might think you were trying to make an allusion to Guernsey in the design of your arms.

As for your query "Are there any other flags or arms which these are similar to?" I will only repeat my advice near the head of this thread:  you need to do your own research and satisfy yourself that there are no duplication issues involved with this design.  No amount of asking on a message board if anyone’s aware of such issues really satisfies the need for due diligence in this area.  Take a Saturday, drive the half-hour down I-40 to Knoxville, and spend the day with some of the 183 books listed in the UT Library catalogue under the subject "Heraldry."  They include several editions of Rietstap for Continental arms, several of the Burke’s armorials, Bolton, the Balfour-Paul ordinary for Scotland, and a number of the English visitations.  There are also a lot of heraldic sources available on Google Books and elsewhere on line that you should explore.

Joe is a TOUGH task master—but he’s right…sigh…

Joseph, I seem to have struck a nerve with you.  If this is the case, then I apologize.  If I am mistaken, then I apologize.  I’ve been to Hodges Library before, but I lived in Knoxville at the time.  I can’t get away that far as easily anymore, as I now have familial obligations here, but hopefully I can get there soon.  Thank you for the advice. 

No, Stephen, you haven’t particularly struck a nerve, at least not personally.  Perhaps I should have phrased my advice in terms of what I would do in your situation, rather than what you should do.  If I had designed and adopted arms that others had criticized as looking like a foreign country’s national arms differenced for cadency, and if I agreed that this was reason to change them, I would want to be very sure that I didn’t repeat the same error a second time, as I think you are trying to do.  But I don’t think that I personally would be comfortable about the adequacy of asking a small group of people for their off-the-cuff opinion about whether the my new design might duplicate one of the hundreds of thousands of existing coats of arms out there in the world.  I’d want to do my own research to verify that as best I could.  It wouldn’t be perfect, but I could at least tell myself that I’d exercised due diligence.

If I didn’t have time to do that, I think I’d just put the armorial thing on the back burner until I did.  As our friend Mike McCartney occasionally reminds us, "Blazon in haste, repent at leisure."

But that’s just me.

Joseph McMillan;64893 wrote:

If I didn’t have time to do that, I think I’d just put the armorial thing on the back burner until I did.  As our friend Mike McCartney occasionally reminds us, "Blazon in haste, repent at leisure."

But that’s just me.

I have always liked the quote from Nietzsche:

“When one has finished building one’s house, one suddenly realizes that in the process one has learned something that one really needed to know in the worst way - before one began.”

That’s the way it is with self-designed heraldry.  We start out with very little knowledge and all we want is a coat of arms ASAP.  Then after a few years, after we have read a few heraldry books, looked at a few thousands coats of arms, and watched the design process dozens of times, we see how little we knew when we first decided on a design.

It took Father Guy 300 years to come up with his final design.  I wonder how many times he thought he was finished.

"It took Father Guy 300 years to come up with his final design. I wonder how many times he thought he was finished."

Geez, he must be even older than I am!  But as they say, time goes fast when you’re having fun.

Seriously, though, haste will make waste (and thanks to Joe for remembering one of my more successful ( = less dreadful) bon mots.

You guys are right.  Perhaps I should hold off until I know more about heraldry.  Perhaps I should wait until I can verify, at least to some degree, that this design isn’t already in use.  Do you guys know what the worst part of this is?  I was putting the finishing touches on the final draft for the USHR’s Registration Form.  I was that close.  :(