Oh my, am I embarrassed. Thanks, Joe. A senior moment, I’m afraid.
While watching the Granada Television adaptation of Conan Doyle’s’ “The Blue Carbuncle” (with Jeremy Brett quintessentially as Holmes), one is presented with heraldry at the start. The Countess of Morcar is seen riding in a coach with armorial bearings upon the door. The arms in question struck a cord with me, having seen similar arms in Fox-Davies’ A Complete Guide to Heraldry. The coats of arms shown in the episode are virtually the same as those of Sir William Gordon Cumming, 2nd Bt. , plate III in Fox-Davies, with one egregious exception.
Sir William’s blazon was:
Arms: Quarterly, 1 & 4, Azure three garbs Or; 2 & 4, argent, three bends sable charged with as many roses of the field; over all upon an escutcheon of pretense the arms of Gordon or Gordonstown;
Crest: A lion rampant Or holding in the dexter paw a dagger proper.
Motto (above the crest): Courage
Supporters: Two horses argent.
Mantling: Gules lined Argent.
Those on the Countess of Morcar’s coach appear to be emblazoned:
Arms: Quarterly, 1 & 4, Azure three garbs Or; 2 & 4, argent, three bends sable charged with as many roses of the field; over all upon an escutcheon of pretense Argent a lion rampant Or;[!!!]
Crest: A lion rampant Or holding in the dexter paw a dagger proper.
Motto (above the crest): Courage
Supporters: Two horses Sable.
Mantling: Gules lined Argent.
Considering that the Countess of Morcar was in receipt of the blue carbuncle by rather dubious means (according to the screenplay), perhaps this heraldic faux pas of a metal upon a metal was a hint of her, or her husband’s, own dubious noble lineage? Or perhaps not…
At any rate, the compliments of the season to all.
Unexpected Heraldry here…
Cars 2 will be release in late June. The Queen of England will make an appearance. She is sporting this on her fender:
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=69&pictureid=1058
Look closely. Not sure how to blazon this, as I’m unsure of some of the charges. But very cleverly done, IMO.
That is neat. I’m glad to see that her majesty has come out of retirement since her appearance in the Naked Gun movies:rolleyes:
Another film, recently shown on TV in the USA, is "King Richard and the Crusaders". It’s a bad film but there is a lot of heraldry in it and crests are seen in a jousting scene as they would have been properly used.
gselvester;89198 wrote:
Another film, recently shown on TV in the USA, is "King Richard and the Crusaders". It’s a bad film but there is a lot of heraldry in it and crests are seen in a jousting scene as they would have been properly used.
http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/8/b70-4418
Was this the film where Saladin says, "You have shown me the strength of your arm, not your sword…" or something like that? Saw it when I was a kid.
—Guy
A few shots of some banners and the Royal Standard in one of my favorite classic movies, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" with David Niven in the lead role:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjWEPIDnsOk
http://www.world-history-movies.com/image-files/bonnie-prince-charlie.jpg
Believe it or not, "The Thing". I’m referring to the new re-make (actually a kind of prequel/re-make) in theatres now.
The whole thing is set in a Norwegian geology camp in the antarctic and in the common room there is very prominently displayed a framed image of the royal arms of Norway. It’s in several scenes.
Banners, etc.
Olivier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fa3HFR02E&feature=related
Branagh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM&feature=related
Here’s one you’ve gotta love if you’re even remotely familiar with Star Trek
The arms of Jean-Luc Picard as seen on the Picard family album in Star Trek Generations.
Blazon: Quarterly, first and fourth Or a lion rampant to sinister Gules; second and third Azure, a bend sinister wavy between two estoiles Or.
Picard’s is actually quite nice.
The picture is by Hugo Strohl and is taken from a picture of a family tree which can be found in The art of heraldry by A.C. Fox Davies which is based on Strohls Heraldischer Atlas.
It’s also available on Netflix streaming. I must admit to preferring the more recent Kenneth Branaugh version.
liongam;39335 wrote:
Although the film is available on DVD, I am sure that it is shown on occasion on one network or other in the USA.
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=1485
Sorry about the quality of this picture but the book was to big for my scanner I had to cut of a piece which was very blury, still you can see where the "Picard"arms came from.
