"If a thousand monkeys painted a thousand arms a day, ..."
...in two years they’d all have multicolored fur & no heraldry?
Any update Jesse on how you’re feeling about the arms? I’m still voting for keeping what you have. It’s a solid design.
J. Stolarz;87701 wrote:
Any update Jesse on how you’re feeling about the arms? I’m still voting for keeping what you have. It’s a solid design.
As of right now, there’s no update. I’m still waiting to hear back from my family to see what they have to say. Personally, I’m leaning towards keeping it as is but if they overwhelmingly favor a different design then I will reconsider it.
"I’m still waiting to hear back from my family to see what they have to say. Personally, I’m leaning towards keeping it as is but if they overwhelmingly favor a different design then I will reconsider it."
Well and wisely said!
I suppose if two relatively distinct branches were each to prefer a different color pattern for the chief, they could use that as a difference. The arms are sufficiently complex and unique that the visual connection between the two branches would not be lost.
I’m not advocating that approach—one shared design would IMO better signify and unite the extended family—but it is at least an option, and a far better one than two or more sets of dissimilar arms which would mask rather than display family unity.
I have an update for anyone that is interested.
I have decided to keep my arms as is. I talked to my mom and showed her the various color schemes I was thinking about and she loved the original and the the last one (the one with the black chevron outlined in white). She really liked both. Ultimately I decided that I really like what i have, white bear and all. I know that the white chief/black bear makes more sense but my urgent design really tells the story that I want to tell. And, as Kathy pointed out, I can always use it as a way to talk about and introduce heraldry to others.
However there is one minor change that I will make. Xander mentioned that by making the tongue and claws also white, it could help make the bear seem a little less natural and hopefully not look like a polar bear. I actually like the idea so I will make that change. However, I am not sure how to blazon that without sounding redundant. Right now I’m thinking bear passant Argent armed and langued Argent. Any better options? Also I’m thinking about specifying the type of bear (California brown bear or grizzly bear). Do you think that is necessary?
Thanks to everyone that weighed in on the topic. I really appreciate all of the advice that was offered. I know that some people will not be happy with my decision but ultimately this is the design that will work best for me. And if anyone in my family wants to go ahead and adopt the arms, they can make any changes they want to at that point.
Jesse,
Why don’t you just blazon it as a bear passant Argent, and tell your artist how you want the tongue and claws? They’re really minor details and, in my opinion, only worth blazoning if they absolutely positively must be the tincture specified. Leaving it unstated would actually let you gravitate to the normal default of Gules as you eventually see the light!
And I’d recommend against specifying the species of the bear. The emblazonment isn’t likely to be—and shouldn’t be—zoologically precise, and a "brown bear Argent" is just going to provoke, "whaaa….???"
Ditto Joe on both points; and congratulations on having such a fine mom!
So I’m seeking some advice again. First, I am completely happy with my design and don’t really want to change it. That being said, now that I’m much more familiar with the rules and traditions I keep hearing a voice in the back of my head that says my arms should be a little more Spanish in nature. My problem is that I tend to not like the Spanish style as much because I feel the designs tend to cluttered and busy. Without changing my original design too much, I could just slap a border around it since the Spanish tend to like borders. However, the Scottish system tends to use borders as a form of cadency and since my design already looks a little English/Scottish I don’t think that will help. Adding charges to the border would definitely help but, again, I feel like that will clutter the design. So I ask you all, what do you think? Should my arms be more Spanish in nature? If so, are there ways to do it without completely redesigning everything? Or is everything fine as is? Thanks again in advance!
Jesse, I don’t think you should change your arms even slightly.
Jesse, I think your arms are a wonderful design. I have always admired them. Very clean & distinctive. My vote would be to keep them as they are!
Jesse, all the elements in your arms have Iberian equivalents and I can’t see any reason why you should change anything. If you really desire a more Spanish look to your arms, why not consult Carlos Navarro or Ljubodrag Grugic (Ljubodrag has designed arms for several Spanish clients) and ask them for an opinion.
I came across this message board on Ancestry and I thought you might be interested http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.carrasco/82/mb.ashx
I hope you can open the link.
j.carrasco;93997 wrote:
So I’m seeking some advice again. First, I am completely happy with my design and don’t really want to change it. That being said, now that I’m much more familiar with the rules and traditions I keep hearing a voice in the back of my head that says my arms should be a little more Spanish in nature. My problem is that I tend to not like the Spanish style as much because I feel the designs tend to cluttered and busy.
Jesse, I think what you’re picturing as typical Spanish designs are probably elaborated/augmented versions of what began their existence as relatively simple arms. Have you looked at Nicolas Hobbs’s "Grandes de Espana" site? I can’t find it currently on line, but it’s available through the Internet Archive’s "Wayback Machine." Go to http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://grandesp.org.uk and click the highlighted date on the calendar. It will come up in Spanish, but there’s a link for the English version of the site on the left side of the page.
Don’t do it, Jesse. Be strong. It’s far to easy to allow the wearing off of novelty to breed dissatisfaction with your design.
Coming from a granting jurisdiction, I’ve come to appreciate the force of will required of American assumers to declare, "These are my arms" and then resist the urge to tinker with them down the road. Even more so, I’m impressed when this commitment can be passed down to subsequent generations. It appears to me that most Americans who assume arms hope to pass them down to their children substantially unchanged. If you’d hope that your (potential) heirs don’t change your arms, then the least you can do is leave them alone yourself.
Jesse, my advice is to leave well enough alone. Stand fast.
I agree - don’t change it. I’ve been tempted a few times to remove my own border but I have not regretted keeping it after the time I’ve had it. I suspect adding a border to yours would clutter it too much. Your design is wonderful as it is.