Well, dad and uncle Pat are settled on the quarterly field…I know some will balk at it…so be it…not my choice anyway. So, aside from the pro vs. con on quarterly arms, what do you think of this general layout?

These are my arms, as given by dad and Pat’s desires for the family arms to be.

Also what do you think of the artistic merit, or lack thereof? I recognize, again, that I did not make the arms of the Irish High Cross broad enough really and I can not say why…this is my third try in this series and I still am making them small.

I also recognize that a wreath is not necessary for a crest coronet, but as the CHoI displays them this way it appears almost as much as without a wreath, I chose to leave it in in this rendition as I am going for the “Irish” look anyway; in that regard I am also using the Irish default color of mantle and the Irish option for a vert lined helm. I am slowly going to work on a rendition of my arms in the Spanish, Germanic, Norse, Scottish, and contemporary forms just for kicks.

The two badges are for my devotion to Jesus Christ, St. Bride (Bridget of Ireland) and my Irish heritage in the sinister one and my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and my love of horses, and my Colorado cowboy/American Western heritage in the dexter one.

Arms: Quarterly, Azure and Argent; 1, a horse head erased crowned with an ancient Irish coronet; 2, a tower; 3, a cross bottony; 4, a dexter hand apaume; all counterchanged.

Crest: Out of an ancient Irish coronet Or, a dexter arm embowed Proper, the hand grasping an Irish High Cross Vert.

Mantling: Gules, doubled Argent.

Motto: Saoirse = Irish for freedom

Badge One: On a torteau a St. Bride’s Cross Argent

Badge Two: within the horns of a horseshoe reversed Argent, a fleur-de-lis Azure.

I like the arms Denny!  The second badge is my favorite.

I like the arms as well.  With the four quarters all different, and since they all use the same color combination, I don’t think that the shield gives the impression of being marshalled, which is, I think, the basis of many people’s dislike of quartered arms.  The contrast of the azure and argent is very nice, and I think that your choice of colors on the helm and mantling adds a nice splash of color.  The arms of the cross in the crest could stand to be a bit longer, but you already know that :D The second badge is my favorite as well, since it ties into the color scheme of the achievement.

Anyway, I think that the arms are very nice.  Good work, and I look forward to seeing the arms in other styles.

thank you. 2 for #2.

i didnt even think of the color combination connection between the second badge and the arms.

Quote:

With the four quarters all different, and since they all use the same color combination, I don’t think that the shield gives the impression of being marshalled, which is, I think, the basis of many people’s dislike of quartered arms.

I agree.  I like this version better than it’s predecessors.  Using just the two colors with the colors "counterchanged" unifies the whole composition and goes a long way to mitigate the criticism of quartered arms.

Good work!

/Charles

Nice work, Denny!  You’ve really outdone yourself!  Bear your arms with honor, and display them with pride!  :D

Denny,

I agree—it’s very nice and does not have the "dog’s breakfast" feel that quartered American arms often have.

Two points I really like (three, if you include the simplicity of azure & argent)

1.  I like the "white hand of Ulster"

2.  I really ... I mean really!! like your horseshoe badge.  I like that a lot!

One point .... did anyone tell you the arms of the celtic cross are too short?

:D

—Guy

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One point .... did anyone tell you the arms of the celtic cross are too short?

LOLOLOL. Oh man Guy. What can I say? I can not figure out why I keep doing this. I mean…I drew them proportional on the one allied arms I created and interlaced a red rope through. But, every single time I go to do them here I get a brain freeze and I can not make the cross beam right! I think when it comes to this part of my emblazonments I really should ask another artist to do it. My nephew, Mykel, is now cartooning, so maybe I’ll ask him to do this part of it…seriously. But, I do think we were able to pull off this approach quite well. Thanks again.

Donnchadh,

Although I still like your original "bendy" arms better, you have settled on a nice design. Although quartered, maintaining only one metal and one color along with using only one charge per quarter keeps it from looking like a quartering of four seperate arms. Nicely done! :D

Guy Power wrote:

I like the "white hand of Ulster"

I was just thinking…(scary, I know)...since Ulster already has a hand of it’s own (red), could this be the birth of "the white hand of MacGoff"?

Guy Power wrote:

does not have the "dog’s breakfast" feel

I didn’t know dogs ate Lucky Charms? 

Oh, and you may want to think about lengthening the arms of the cross in your crest a bit to make it look more proportional. 

Take care,

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It’s probably because I saw it overused in the SCA, but the St. Bridget’s Cross is somewhat trite.

This holy symbol is used a lot in the SCA? At first that seems strange, but then again maybe not.

I wonder how many people in the SCA, or anywhere really, truly know its holy symbolism or its holy virgin creator? I personally have a very serious and deep devotion to the “Mary of the Gaels” (Naomh Bríde=St. Bridget). I have compiled a little biography of her life. I have composed a Novena in her honor. And I have composed a Litany dedicated to her.

When I shared this with my archbishop he asked me why I was not becoming a priest, which I was discerning albeit as an ordered one.   hee hee.

Denny I like your new arms a lot (and personally more than the old bend arms). The badge(s) are very nice as well. Excellent work

Your freestanding second badge, A fleur-de-lys Azure within a horse shoe Argent, is a very fine design. It immediately brought to mind a number of ancient noble Polish or Lithuanian arms of a similar concept.

thanx colin.

so, david, or anyone, can u tell me how close? i dont want to infringe on anyone’s arms with my badge at all and i certainly dont want to claim any polish ancestry as that is not who i am. i would feel bad if it was seen as that.

Donnchadh;47688 wrote:

thanx colin.

so, david, or anyone, can u tell me how close? i dont want to infringe on anyone’s arms with my badge at all and i certainly dont want to claim any polish ancestry as that is not who i am. i would feel bad if it was seen as that.

Most all Polish noble arms have charges that are of metals, Or and Argent, only. The fleur-de-lys being Azure made it different enough that you should not have to worry about exactly copying extant Polish noble arms, though I would leave the final word on this subject to George Lucki who has a vast knowledge in the field of Polish and Lithuanian noble arms.

I think you are on quite safe ground. There is no tradition of badges in Poland. I am not aware of any arms that bear a similar enough charge and certainly the combination of colour and metal differentiates it from armorial charges (although tincture rules are violated this rarely occurs with blue - black would be the most common colour to be used as though a metal).

ok good. i didnt want to be doin’ a no-no there even if out of ignorance of polish heraldic practices.