The thread on the nuncio to Jordan and Iraq reminded me of this coat of arms, because it happens that tongues actually did appear in the arms of the Philological Society of New York, designed by Noah Webster circa 1788. Webster’s blazon:
Quote:
Argent, three tongues, gules, in chief; emblematical of language, the improvement of which is the object of the institution. Chevron, or, indicating firmness and support; an eye, emblematical of discernment over a pyramid, or rude monument, sculptured with Gothic, Hebrew, and Greek letters. The Gothic on the light side, indicating the obvious origin of the American language from the Gothic. The Hebrew and Greek, upon the reverse or shade of the monument, expressing the remoteness and obscurity of the connection between those languages and the modern. The crest, a cluster of cohering magnets, attracted by a key in the centre; emblematical of union among the society, in acquiring language the key of knowledge; and clinging to their native tongue in preference to a foreign one. The shield, ornamented with a branch of the oak, from which is collected the gall, used in making ink, and a spring of flax, from which paper is made, supported on the dexter side by CADMUS, in a robe of Tyrian purple, bearing in his right hand, leaves of the rush or flag, papyrus, marked with Phoenician characters; representing the introduction of letters into Greece, and the origin of writing. On the sinister side by Hermes, or Taaut, the inventor of letters, and god of eloquence, grasping his cadeuceus or wand. Motto—Concedat Laurea Linguae—expressive of the superiority of civil over military honors.
I take it that by the time the printer got to the last paragraph he was starting to run short of italic font. And the explanation of the oak branch reminds me of Randolph Duke in Trading Places: "... pork bellies, which are used to make bacon, which you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich."
The first person to make a seriously credible reconstruction of these arms gets the honor of having it placed in the section of the AHS website on historical American heraldry. The shield and crest alone will do; extra points for the supporters, etc.
:confused:
Webster—I assume inadvertantly—neglected to include the golden kitchen sink, emblematic of washing away the accretion of years to discover the true etymology of each word…and yet his blazon was still nearly as long as his dictionary.
I am most confused as to how that chevron and pyramid relate to one another.
The only thing I can think of "Argent a chevron Or between in chief three tongues Gules and in base an eye above a pyramid, inscribed on the dexter face with Gothic letters and on the sinister with Hebrew and Greek letters, proper."
Presuming the influence of the reverse of the US great seal, would have been well known to the intelligentsia like Webster and his colleagues—the seal was adopted in 1782 and these arms apparently designed in 1788.
Are we looking at something like this perhaps?
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=50&pictureid=842
I think we might very well be looking at something like that.
I’m almost afraid to say so, but the shield (minus the rest of the froo-froo) is not nearly as awful as the blazon would suggest.
xanderliptak;79147 wrote:
Are we looking at something like this perhaps?
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=50&pictureid=842
The crest is kinda neat. I would prefer seeing it as a badge, but then again maybe I shouldn’t be throwing bricks in glass houses.
Michael F. McCartney;79155 wrote:
I’m almost afraid to say so, but the shield (minus the rest of the froo-froo) is not nearly as awful as the blazon would suggest.
I’m almost afraid to say I agree :o
Much of the tinctures are left out, but I added some colour.
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=50&pictureid=845
Excellent work, Alexander! I’ll try to write up the story this weekend and put it on the site somewhere.
How can you have a crest with things floating in mid air when a crest is a two-dimensional drawing of what would be a three dimensional sculpture on the top of a helmet? That’s why there is such a phrase as "decadent heraldry". This is a good example.
I wouldn’t underestimate the ability of craftsmen to do things one might think impractical, but in this case it’s true that the magnets could actually be stuck to the key rather than floating around it by a careful balancing of attractive and repellent forces.
The basic blazon pretty much defines decadent heraldry, so it never occurred to me that the crest was any worse than the rest of it.
Though the actually emblazon makes it look better than it sounded while trying to read the blazon itself…it still is far from fantastic, or even good for that matter haha. Beside the fact that it has the Rolling Stones licks theme going on 
.
On a more positive note, well done Liptak, I am impressed. What medium did you use? Almost looks like marker but the colors look too even.