I recently discovered that the North Carolina Senate (the upper house of our General Assembly) was granted arms by the COA in 2005.  The arms allude to North Carolina’s history as an English Colony (Cross of St. George) under the eight Lords Proprietors (eight escutcheons) and include supporters taken from the paintings of John White.  I am not as impressed by the crest, but other people may really like it.

http://www.andrewcusack.com/recush3.jpg

It seems that the Senate of Virginia received a similiar grant in 1979, so perhaps the North Carolinians felt a bit inferior without one, most likely due to our "Valley of Humility" Disorder…

I’ve never seen it before, so I suspect it will have little impact on the popular use of heraldry in the state.  Then again, it would probably serve to reinforce the notion that heraldry in the US isn’t official unless granted by a foreign authority…

IIRC, in the "Oxford Book of Heraldry" by a couple of the CoA officers, the chapter on American heraldry shows the seal & counterseal of the Lords Proprietors.  One side has the arms (shields) of the eight proprietors arranged in a circle, similar to the small shields in the Senate arms, around a small roundle charged with a cross (I assume St George’s cross for England, but the seal wasn’t in color); & the other side show what apparently were the arms of the Province, two cornucopias in saltire as in the Senate’s crest.

The odd coronet in the Senate arms is taken from the method of display of the arms of Landgraves and Cassiques of the Province on an heraldic sun (alternating straight & wavy rays), and maybe (fuzzy recall) similar coronets?

The Province had its own Carolina Herald (also discussed in the Oxford Book of Heraldry).  For better or worse there were relatively few L’s & C’s, in part because the fellow the Lords Proprietors picked as Carolina Herald (also a serving officer in the CoA) was a bit of a drunk & scoundrel.

IIRC (hey, I’m getting old) there was a message thread or two on this Forum about the whole Carolina heraldic experiment.

There were relatively few Landgraves and Cassiques, but not because Carolina Herald was a lush.  He had no role in the creation of Ls and Cs beyond keeping a register.  The creating of Ls and Cs was done by the Lords Proprietors in accordance with the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina.

The Proprietors actually tried to create a lot more of these nobles than ever actually existed.  Because the royal charter of Carolina permitted the Proprietors’ to bestow titles only within their domain, all the titles granted to various and sundry people who never left England were void.  Plus the Fundamental Constitutions tied the title (like a Scottish feudal barony) to full possession of the land with which it was connected, which meant that you not only had to have the land granted to you—which could be done on the Proprietors’ whim—but you had to have it surveyed, settled, and worked.  In technical terms, you had to be "seized" of the property.  The English Board of Trade vacated a sizable number of Landgrave/Cassique-related land claims for defects in "seizure."

(Note that technically the arms of the Virginia and North Carolina senates are not grants but "devisals."  Which is basically a fancy way of saying the College of Arms designed the arms, just as any of us might have done, although with a somewhat higher price tag.)

We actually discussed these arms several years ago when they were granted:

http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1621&highlight=carolina

Michael F. McCartney;92946 wrote:

The odd coronet in the Senate arms is taken from the method of display of the arms of Landgraves and Cassiques of the Province on an heraldic sun (alternating straight & wavy rays), and maybe (fuzzy recall) similar coronets?

 

Right.  Here’s an illustration from the COA’s files showing said coronet:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7061/6863493450_9b250d2982_b.jpg

arriano;92954 wrote:

We actually discussed these arms several years ago when they were granted:

http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1621&highlight=carolina

Thanks for the link.  I had used the search function, but didn’t locate a previous discussion.

Actually this illustration is a fine guideline for the use heraldic symbols on personal property.

Small plate refers to items made of silver (including silver plate and gold) such as cutlery, forks, spoons, serving pieces, as well as: (the now obsolete items from this period) vinaigrettes, pomanders, nutmeg grinders, étuis and folding fruit knives that a gentlewoman would gave carried on a châtelaine and a gentleman in his pockets.

Plate refers to large pieces of silver (or silver plate) such as: tureens, tea and coffee sets, bowls, covered dishes, ice buckets, serving plates, as well as: (the now obsolete items from this period) snuff boxes, seal boxes, change purses (actually boxes), etc.

Other ornaments according to fashion refers to items made of glass, procelain and emboidery.

Thanks to Joe for correcting my version—tho’ I think mine still makes a better story!

Your added comments re: the English Board of Trade are (IIRC from the earlier thread) new and most interesting information.  One might speculate that the Proprietors should have taken a page from the Scottish/Nova Scotian baronetcies and gotten Parliament (or whoever) to designate some small piece of land in London as part of Carolina for purposes of taking possession of their grants, as the Scots did by designating a very small piece of Nova Scotia at Edinburgh for purposes of taking seizin (sp?)—though the English criteria re: "settled, surveyed & worked" sound more stringent?

More seriously, I also recall that of the few L’s & C’s, some already had (or were believed to have) English arms so no call for a new Carolina grant of arms.