Greetings, Everyone.
I am helping a friend design arms for himself and we are considering various charges that we might include on his shield. One idea that he came up with was to include a flintlock rifle and powder horn, as he is a gun enthusiast (more specifically, muzzleloaders). I was wondering if rifles and other types of firearms were found on shields very often. I have searched around on the forum and on the internet, but I am not finding very many examples.
Does anyone here know about the use of firearms in heraldry or of any examples?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jonathan R. Baker;57710 wrote:
Does anyone here know about the use of firearms in heraldry or of any examples?
From Parkers
Quote:
Musket. The Musket is found amongst bearings as well as the Potgun, and the Pistol. They appear to have been drawn from the objects themselves. The Petronel, a kind of pistol used by the French, is given in heraldic books, but no case has been observed.
Gules, two muskets in saltire within a bordure argent; a chief or charged with a lion passant guardant of the field—GUNN.
Per fesse wavy gules and azure; [in chief] a lion passant gardant or, beneath the feet a musket lying horizontally proper; [the base] semy of fleurs-de-lis confusedly dispersed of the third—HOCKIN, co. Devon, 1764.
Sable, on a chevron erminois between three pistols or, as many roses gules barbed and seeded proper—HOPKINS, 1773.
Or, on a cross azure five pairs of pistols saltirewise of the first—TOULSON, co. Lancaster.
Per saltire azure and or a lion rampant guardant of the first on a canton argent two pot-guns azure(another sable)—GOLD.
On the Canadian Heraldic Authority website:
http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=35
http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=178
http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=411
Cannon barrels and cannon balls are not uncommon in the heraldry of historical military leaders in Europe. Probably the most common firearm in heraldry other than a muzzle loading cannon barrel is the flintlock pistol.
Some writers (Carl von Volborth for one, IIRC) expressed the opinion that if post-medieval charges appear on the shield, the helmet etc. should (not must, but should) be of roughly the same time period. Others—or maybe the same ones—also have expressed their views that using relatively old-fashioned versions of, e.g. firearms, is in their opinion preferable to depicting the most modern version. In both cases, the intent is to lessen the sense of anachronism between the charges and the overall appearance of the achievement (e.g. a 19th century artillery piece on the shield, with a 13th century helmet),.
Of course these are only opinions you may wish to consider, not heraldic "rules."
Here’s a horsepistol for you ... but it’s part of the crest, not the shield. Click thumbnails for larger images:
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/9881/sirnathanjohnsonvx1.th.jpg
Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Mayor of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne from 1680-1681; Member of James II’s Parliment, 1685; Governor of the Leeward Isles from 1686-1689; Proprietary Governor of Carolina from 1703-1709:
Per pale sable and azure; a saltire argent charged with 5 cocks of the 1st, combed and wattled gules, between 3 towers, 1 in chief and 2 in fess, argent, with flames issuing therefrom proper; and in a base two tilting spears broken, in saltire. or. Cr: a dexter arm in armour embowed, firing a pistol, all proper.
Note that in his portrait (upper left) you can faintly see the dexter arm embowed is reversed, "off side":
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3255/natjohnsonktcn2.th.jpg
There are of course hand held (though largely inaccurate unless used at close quarters) firearms that coincide with the period of the grand jousting tournaments, those being the hand cannon and the matchlock. A long handled hand canon and mace combination weapon can be found in the collection of the Tower of London and was included in the Tower’s 1547 inventory of arms during the reign of Henry VIII. See: https://www.royalarmouries.org/extsite/view.jsp?sectionId=3297
Jonathan R. Baker;57710 wrote:
Greetings, Everyone.
I am helping a friend design arms for himself and we are considering various charges that we might include on his shield. One idea that he came up with was to include a flintlock rifle and powder horn, as he is a gun enthusiast (more specifically, muzzleloaders).
If I may make a suggestion, I would recommend just the powder horn. On a shield, a flintlock will look pretty much like any other musket or rifle, and the powder horn expresses the interest in muzzle-loaders quite as effectively as the gun itself. Someone somewhere expressed the thought that the ideal of heraldic design is to have one thing express multiple meanings and to avoid having multiple things express a single meaning.
I’d like to recommend as arms, Vert, a chevron between three powder horns, all Or.
Cheers,
Joseph McMillan;57727 wrote:
If I may make a suggestion, I would recommend just the powder horn.
If your friend uses a flintlock rifle or musket then I would recommend the powder horn, however if he uses a percussion rifle or musket (as used in the US Civil War) then I would recommend a powder flask as a heraldic charge. Here is a web site with a multitude of powder flask designs: http://www.arms2armor.com/Flasks/flasks.htm For images of powder horns visit this site: http://www.americanpowderhorns.com/
As a heraldic charge may I suggest that the powder horn be short stringed to distinguish it from a version of the hunt horn. The hunt horn being stringed to go over the shoulder and the powder horn being stringed most often to attach to a belt. A doomed wooden plug in the large opening of the horn would also help distinguish it. Here is my favourite powder horn shape from the site, an early Kentucky rifle priming horn:
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http://www.americanpowderhorns.com/images/horns/images/horn1.jpg
</div>
Joseph McMillan;57727 wrote:
If I may make a suggestion, I would recommend just the powder horn. On a shield, a flintlock will look pretty much like any other musket or rifle, and the powder horn expresses the interest in muzzle-loaders quite as effectively as the gun itself. Someone somewhere expressed the thought that the ideal of heraldic design is to have one thing express multiple meanings and to avoid having multiple things express a single meaning.
Complete agreement. I think it is ideal not to have a specificity past "rifle" as it would require a level of detail that would be ineffective in terms of what is often called the "postage stamp test". I love the semy-de-lys in Hockin and the design of the coat in general, but the arms of Thom, despite their appropriateness, could be open to criticism in that "sport pistols" are not different enough from the regular variety as to be distinctive at a distance.
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I was wondering if rifles and other types of firearms were found on shields very often
I think there is a gun in the arms of Hervé Pinoteau:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Pinoteau.jpg/100px-Pinoteau.jpg
Cheers
I would agree that a flintlock rifle or musket would look opretty much like any other generic rifle in small scale (postage stamp test) or at a distance. However, a rifle with a powder horn would IMO be fairly recognizable as a muzzle-loader.
(Not my ideal form of heraldic charge—clearly anachronistic—but the symbolism might "trump" other considerations for e.g. descendants of a trapper or early Colonial or American soldier.
There were rudimentary firearms in use in Europe as early as the 14th century, and hand-held long arms by the middle of the 15th. Perhaps a matchlock arquebus would be a way of conveying an interest in muzzle-loading weapons without being anachronistic in the heraldic context. This one is supposed to be circa 1501:
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Perhaps a matchlock arquebus would be a way of conveying an interest in muzzle-loading weapons without being anachronistic in the heraldic context.
I’d like to see that.
