Use/Display of Personal Arms?

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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28 January 2011 10:14
 

All,

In what ways do you actually use/display your own personal arms?

 

I know all the the hypothetical uses (jewelry, seal, banners, livery for servants:wink:, etc.) that are typically given, so what I’m asking for is not for a list of hypothetical or acceptable uses, but the actual way you display your arms.

 

Do you have a banner?  Do you have a signet ring?  Do you use a seal?  Do you have stationary with your crest/arms?  Did you commission an artist to paint your arms so you could display it in your house? (As a sidenote, has anyone commissioned any flying heraldry from CaberDancer Graphics in South Carolina?)

 

My observation of the actual use of personal heraldry is skewed towards those possessing Scottish Arms (where armigers’ banners are often displayed at clan gatherings, armigers’ crests are displayed as silver cap badges, etc.), so I’m wondering if there is a difference in the way that Americans with assumed arms tend to use/display their arms.

 

David

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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28 January 2011 11:14
 

well, many here have displayed their arms (practical sense) in some of the ways you said hypothetically. just sayin.

as for me and my arms, i have painted them on wood and that hangs in my living room. i have painted them on my mail box. i have painted them on my luggage. and i have all sorts of emblazons i did for myself, with a couple hanging on my walls along with other art. i also use them as avatars here and on FB and other places. maybe one day i’ll get a flag/banner or a ring, but i haven’t yet.

 

as for me and others arms, i’ve airbrushed (painted) a set on a man’s car, a piece i did was painted (tattoo) on one of my clients shins (yes, shin). and another had them painted (tattoo) on their shoulder. i’ve painted several pieces of wood that i’ve seen hung in and on their houses.

 

i’m sure there’s more, but i can’t remember right now…i haven’t had my coffee.

 
Kenneth Mansfield
 
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Kenneth Mansfield
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28 January 2011 11:52
 

I currently only have a printed achievement of my arms hanging in my dining room, but I have plans! Eventually the print will be replaced by a painting. I am also going to have a cap badge made of my crest, but I want to carve it myself and have a mold made, so still waiting for time to do that. I also intend to have a banner made, but had to wait to have my porch rebuilt/restored first. Will probably wait until the house is repainted so as not to call too much attention to the condition of the poor thing (ah, the joys of owning a Victorian house).

Though some think it gauche, I do have stickers of my shield on both of my cars—turns out that it works. I mean, heraldry is supposed to be an identifier, right? The folks at my office Googled me before hosting a baby shower for me and my wife in 2009. They pulled the avatar I used at the IAAH forum and peppered it around the invitation as a border. When I bought a new car a year ago, someone came up to me and asked me how I liked it. They knew it was mine because of the shield sticker which they recognized as my arms.

 
 
Dohrman Byers
 
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Dohrman Byers
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28 January 2011 11:57
 

I use my arms on letterhead and business cards. I make my own Christmas cards, which always include my arms. As a parish priest, my arms appear on my parish bulletin and displayed in the sacristy with the arms of the pope and the archbishop. A parishioner who does woodworking did a carved and painted representation of my arms, which now hangs above my bed. My arms are also etched on my tombstone, which I erected when I erected the tombstone for my parents. One bishop, for whom I did the arms, told be that someone made him a quilt with his coat of arms.

 
davidappleton
 
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davidappleton
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28 January 2011 12:00
 

I have mine printed on business cards with my name, address and other contact information.

I also have a small table banner (about 3" x 3") which I made of my arms, which comes with me when I’m attending a conference, especially one where there is going to be a luncheon or dinner, which I use as a name plate or place holder.

 

David

 
Michael Y. Medvedev
 
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Michael Y. Medvedev
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28 January 2011 12:03
 

Dear David,

If Russian examples may be relevant… :D !

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 January 2011 13:11
 

David,

You may want to check out http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Guide.Guidelines#toc11 for other ideas/details/thoughts.

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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28 January 2011 14:20
 

Thanks for the responses.  I appreciate it.


Donnchadh;81303 wrote:

a piece i did was painted (tattoo) on one of my clients shins (yes, shin).


Ouch!


Kenneth Mansfield;81304 wrote:

I am also going to have a cap badge made of my crest, but I want to carve it myself and have a mold made, so still waiting for time to do that.

I’ve thought of something similar, maybe from this artist:  http://www.crestbadges.com/


Kenneth Mansfield;81304 wrote:

Though some think it gauche, I do have stickers of my shield on both of my cars—turns out that it works. I mean, heraldry is supposed to be an identifier, right? When I bought a new car a year ago, someone came up to me and asked me how I liked it. They knew it was mine because of the shield sticker which they recognized as my arms.


This is a good idea.


Dohrman Byers;81306 wrote:

My arms are also etched on my tombstone, which I erected when I erected the tombstone for my parents.


Hmmm.  This is compelling because of its permanence.  The only reason that I know that an ancestor bore assumed arms (Captain James Alexander Walkup, http://wauchopes.com/JamesMargaretWalkupGrave.jpg) was because of the inscription on his and his wife’s tombstone.


Michael Y. Medvedev;81309 wrote:

My dear wife has a portrait of hers with a "marginal" image of her impaled arms.


I’ve seen this on historic portraits and have really liked it.


Joseph McMillan;81313 wrote:

David,

You may want to check out http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Guide.Guidelines#toc11 for other ideas/details/thoughts.


Thanks, Joe.  I’ve found the Society’s website to be very helpful to me as a novice.  How do you display your arms?

 

 

David

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 January 2011 16:58
 

David Pope;81314 wrote:

How do you display your arms?


Me?  As a library painting by Marie Lynskey (see my page in the AHS armorial) and in lots of applications in my imagination.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 January 2011 17:12
 

David Pope;81314 wrote:

The only reason that I know that an ancestor bore assumed arms (Captain James Alexander Walkup, http://wauchopes.com/JamesMargaretWalkupGrave.jpg) was because of the inscription on his and his wife’s tombstone.


I see from findagrave.com that these are at Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church in South Carolina.  The work looks like it’s by the same family of stonecutters who did so many armorial tombstones at Steele Creek and Sugaw Creek Presbyterian churches outside Charlotte.  Given that Mecklenburg County was one of the real hotbeds of the Revolution, it has struck me that this late 18th century proliferation of armorial headstones, even if the arms were made up by the stonecutters, is a compelling refutation of the theory that heraldry fell out of favor because of its royalist associations.

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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28 January 2011 17:42
 

Joseph McMillan;81320 wrote:

I see from findagrave.com that these are at Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church in South Carolina.  The work looks like it’s by the same family of stonecutters who did so many armorial tombstones at Steele Creek and Sugaw Creek Presbyterian churches outside Charlotte.  Given that Mecklenburg County was one of the real hotbeds of the Revolution, it has struck me that this late 18th century proliferation of armorial headstones, even if the arms were made up by the stonecutters, is a compelling refutation of the theory that heraldry fell out of favor because of its royalist associations.


Joe,

 

That’s right.  James A.‘s grave is at the Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church near Lancaster, S.C.  It’s the same graveyard that William Richardson Davie is buried in and where the memorial to President Jackson’s mother is (she died from cholera down in Charleston during the Revolution and was buried there).  Most of those buried there were Scots-Irish who emigrated prior to the Revolution.

 

James A.‘s father, Samuel, emigrated with the family from Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ulster to Virginia.  James A. moved south with his wife, Margaret Pickens (sister to General Andrew Pickens), to the Waxhaws area.  James A. was a militia captain during the Revolution under Davie and there was a skirmish with Tarleton’s forces on his "plantation".  The skirmish is recorded as "the Battle of Wahab’s Mill/Plantation", Wahab being one of the many different "spell it the way it sounds" renderings of his surname.  The original name is Wauchope and is a Lowland Scots name.

 

When I was in Scotland about a decade ago I attempted to locate the origin of the arms.  My guess is they were assumed after coming into contact with an "authorized" grant of the arms to another person named Wauchope by either LL or the COA, since there are several grants to Wauchopes including a garb or garbs as the main charge.  The presence of the lion supporters makes me think these must be assumed, and I have not been able to find any other record of these particular arms.

 

To your point, though, you’re right.  These were people who strongly resented the Crown and strongly resented the Anglican Church but strongly held onto the notion of personal arms….

 

David

 
werewolves
 
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werewolves
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28 January 2011 22:27
 

I have a carved plaque of my arms (that my mother carver) in my family room.

I suppose the most permanent and personal display of my arms are my tattoos though.

 
Benjamin Thornton
 
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Benjamin Thornton
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28 January 2011 23:00
 

I have a gold signet ring engraved with my arms and crest.  Also, in lieu of bookplates, I had a rubber stamp custom-made.  I’ve been meaning to take pictures of both.

Beyond that, my wife painted some wooden shields for our kids (5 and 3) to play knights with.

 
Kelisli
 
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Kelisli
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28 January 2011 23:42
 

I use my arms (full and minor), crest alone, badges, and family tamga, in the following capacity:

- Inherited family signet ring

- Library painting

- Bookplate

- Personal signet ring

- Avatar

- phone & Computer wall paper

- Banner

- Wall shield (about to receive it)

- Table shield (about to receive it)

 
Ronny Andersen
 
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Ronny Andersen
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29 January 2011 03:09
 

Hassan, please post pictures of the wall and table shield when you have them (Artist? Baz Manning?)

I use my coat-of-arms in these ways:

 

Library paintings (by John Ferguson, Andy Jamiesom and myself)

Bookplates (by Gordon Macpherson, Marco Foppoli and soon Michael Medvedev)

Signet ring

Fob seal

Stationery

On my Iphone

Heraldic banner

 

/Ronny

 
Michael Y. Medvedev
 
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Michael Y. Medvedev
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29 January 2011 11:53
 

Joseph McMillan;81318 wrote:

[...] and in lots of applications in my imagination.

Yessss, obviously, and what a pleasure it may be! :D