Skulls as charges

 
Medugal
 
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Medugal
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03 July 2012 20:56
 

Good idea or bad? I was thinking of using one like this:

http://i.imgur.com/6S8QXs.jpg

 

... as my sole charge.

 

Without getting too far into familial meaning, my family purportedly had a long history of being gravediggers. A shovel might be more appropriate, however that simply wouldn’t look good.

 

My concern is that it might look a bit "Ed Hardy" and such, besides obviously being the charge in Death’s arms.

 

Thoughts?

 
Madalch
 
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Madalch
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03 July 2012 21:04
 

Nothing wrong with using one as a charge, but you might not make it the sole charge.

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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Kenneth Mansfield
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03 July 2012 21:17
 

I agree with Darren. No reason not to use one as a charge, but I think not the only charge if for no other reason than it is likely not unique.

 
 
Alexander Schrenk
 
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Alexander Schrenk
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03 July 2012 21:58
 

Having a skull seems a little morbid to me, but I do acknowledge it would be pretty cool. How about bones instead of a skull?

And you could throw in some spades to reference the grave digging.

 

That might look something like this:

 

http://i45.tinypic.com/346t0zn.png

 
steven harris
 
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steven harris
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03 July 2012 22:12
Michael Y. Medvedev
 
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Michael Y. Medvedev
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04 July 2012 02:20
 

One may try a skull Azure or Vert as a sole charge (Gules would be too grim)... Or it may be placed in a parted field which also makes the image distinctive; or placed in a parted field and countercharged.

 
Michael Y. Medvedev
 
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Michael Y. Medvedev
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04 July 2012 02:30
 

One of my friends, a Bielorussian noble, enjoys this rare coat:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/POL_COA_Kalwarya.svg/200px-POL_COA_Kalwarya.svg.png

As the coat’s name [Kalwaria, that is, Calvary, i.e. Golgotha] suggests, the charges represent Patriarch Adam’s mortal remains.

By the way, the crest is probably unrelated to the shield and may refer to the inter-clan links, being borrowed from the symbolism of some related family. According to the legend, however, the crest was granted by Sigismund III for military merits, again without any relation to the coat’s imagery.

 
Medugal
 
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Medugal
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04 July 2012 06:09
 

Hmm, I think I may have mistaken my terms. I meant that it would be the only "creature", the design itself would be a per fess with the skull in the lower part, white skull on black.

 
Kathy McClurg
 
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Kathy McClurg
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04 July 2012 07:06
 

Medugal;94452 wrote:

Hmm, I think I may have mistaken my terms. I meant that it would be the only "creature", the design itself would be a per fess with the skull in the lower part, white skull on black.


The skull being underground?  Looking up "Skulls in Heraldry" and checking the Wikki Impages (not the best reference, but some examples nonetheless):

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Human_skulls_in_heraldry

 

Our friend Kimon did a blog entry on the subject:  http://www.idtg.org/archive/602-controversial-arms-skull-and-crossbones-in-heraldry/

 

Maybe, in order to allow more room for the main charge you’d consider Sable a Human Skull Argent a chief argent…

 

If you’d like a starry night effect:  Sable a Human Skull in chief a semy of mullets argent.

 

Generally Grave Diggers do their job Prior to the corpse arriving.  I’m wondering if a composition could be achieved which depicts this better….  But I have no immediate thought on what it might be.

 
Richard G.
 
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Richard G.
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04 July 2012 07:54
 

I do like Alexander’s suggestion. Historically however, digging graves has been one of the traditional duties of a church’s sexton. They may be low-paid, unskilled, and temporary labourers, or they may be well-paid, trained, and professional careerists, as their duties may include landscaping. Before becoming president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln dug graves. Although a skull and a bat might not be bad heraldry, it is IMO a somewhat Gothic interpretation of one’s family history. (Says he whose shield is powdered with a semy of nails.) Sorry Medugal, just my 2 cents worth.

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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04 July 2012 09:10
 

Bat? Are we confusing two concurrent threads?

 
 
Medugal
 
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Medugal
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04 July 2012 10:39
 

Kathy McClurg;94456 wrote:

The skull being underground?  Looking up "Skulls in Heraldry" and checking the Wikki Impages (not the best reference, but some examples nonetheless):

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Human_skulls_in_heraldry

Our friend Kimon did a blog entry on the subject:  http://www.idtg.org/archive/602-controversial-arms-skull-and-crossbones-in-heraldry/

 

Maybe, in order to allow more room for the main charge you’d consider Sable a Human Skull Argent a chief argent…

 

If you’d like a starry night effect:  Sable a Human Skull in chief a semy of mullets argent.

 

Generally Grave Diggers do their job Prior to the corpse arriving.  I’m wondering if a composition could be achieved which depicts this better….  But I have no immediate thought on what it might be.


Found this after following you wiki link, then the sources of one of the images:

 

http://i.imgur.com/EZy0u.jpg

 
Guy Power
 
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04 July 2012 13:45
 

Kathy McClurg;94456 wrote:

The skull being underground?

<...>

Maybe, in order to allow more room for the main charge you’d consider Sable a Human Skull Argent a chief argent...


How about "a chief invected argent"?  The invected line of partition would give the appearance of holes being dug.

 

—Guy

 
Alexander Schrenk
 
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04 July 2012 14:01
 

Guy Power;94472 wrote:

How about "a chief invected argent"?  The invected line of partition would give the appearance of holes being dug.

—Guy


And you could put the shovel heads in chief.

 

http://i45.tinypic.com/29yl5qr.png

 
Medugal
 
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Medugal
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04 July 2012 14:16
 

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions- at the risk of sounding ungrateful, I’d like this not to get too much into my developing design (still a work in progress, but once I get something down I’ll put down $20 to get some feedback and collaboration smile).

Flipping through a few resources online and what I’ve seen here, the skull doesn’t appear to be as uncommon as I’d thought, but certainly conveys a certain morbidity as some have pointed out!

 
Richard G.
 
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04 July 2012 17:36
 

Kenneth Mansfield;94460 wrote:

Bat? Are we confusing two concurrent threads?


Yes, Kenneth. Thanks for correcting me.