My cousin was married last year to a fellow by the name of Gearhart. He has admired my Coat of Arms and has expressed an interest in assuming one of his own. He has used an images since he was a kid of a gear surmounting a hart, a bit simple perhaps no worse than Roosevelt’s field of roses or Stephens, chicken on perbend indented.
Would a gear be blazoned as simply a gear, or perhaps a cog, or maybe something from watter/wind mills, maybe a roundel embattled? When we’ve made some more progress I’ll have to show some examples.
ESmith;50550 wrote:
My cousin was married last year to a fellow by the name of Gearhart. He has admired my Coat of Arms and has expressed an interest in assuming one of his own. He has used an images since he was a kid of a gear surmounting a hart, a bit simple perhaps no worse than Roosevelt’s field of roses or Stephens, chicken on perbend indented.
Would a gear be blazoned as simply a gear, or perhaps a cog, or maybe something from watter/wind mills, maybe a roundel embattled? When we’ve made some more progress I’ll have to show some examples.
Intuition tells me that the surname Gearhart is actually an Anglcised version of the more common German surname of Gehrhardt or Gerhardt. Oddly enough, I recently encountered a question regarding the cogs of a mill wheel in the Intermediate Examination of the Heraldry Society (London), when I was asked to identify, draw and hatch this full achievement: Sable, on a bend between three cogs of a mill wheel Or, as many elm leaves Vert.
ESmith;50550 wrote:
...a bit simple perhaps no worse than…Stephens…
Hey! :rolleyes:;)
Other potential cants (heraldic puns) to consider might include a gerfalcon, which would IMO make a fine crest.
It would be helpful to know the etymology of the German name (see David’s earlier message) and/or to look for other possible canting charges in a German-English dictionary.
And of course a bit of your friend’s family background might be useful—where from, info re: immigrant ancestor (name, occupation, religious or military service, wife or mother etc.). Not that we’d use it all, but it adds to the buffet table (I’m obviously late for dinner…)