As one of the newest people with arms on here I wanted to mention that today is my one year anniversary of assuming my arms!  I can’t believe it’s already been a year since going through the design process.  Thanks to everyone on here (especially Kenneth, Josh, and Kathy) I was to create something that really speaks to (and about) me.  And, even though I’ve toyed with the idea of tweaking a few things over the year, nothing has actually changed so I think that means that these are the perfect arms for me.  I’m very happy with them.

How long has it been since you’ve adopted your arms?

Congratulations, Jesse, on your achievement! (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)

It’s been four and a half years for me. I don’t get the urge to tweak mine any more (I did once, but it didn’t change the blazon), though I do still wonder about the choice I made to create arms for ME rather than my family. I call it the College of Arms approach, as opposed to the Lyon Court approach. But male-line genealogy limitations being what they are, I opted for arms now vs. arms at some vague point in the future if ever.

Congratulations, Jesse, and I’m glad you haven’t changed anything.  Resist the temptation.

My grant from the CHA is dated July 15, 2009, but the design was worked out with the heralds some months before that.  If I had to do it over again, I might have reduced the number of elements in my crest slightly, if only to make it easier to render in different media and at different sizes - but I remain satisfied with what I have and the symbolism I was trying to express.  When my thoughts stray to alternative designs, I remind myself that if I’d inherited these arms, it wouldn’t occur to me to change them.

Incidentally, in my original design process, I considered using designs inspired by various ancient Thornton arms, but there are several vastly different arms that occur in the old armorials (and bucket shops):

- Argent, on a bend gules, three escarbuncles or;

- Argent, between three hawthorn trees vert, a chevron sable;

- Gules, on a fess argent, three human hearts gules

- Sable, a chevron argent, a chief invected argent

Some are described as English, or Scottish, or Irish.  My 4x great-grandfather was born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland in 1778, and immigrated to Canada in 1825.  Although later generations were Catholic, he was a member of the Church of Ireland, and an Orangeman (apparently a fierce-tempered one who lost an eye fighting Catholics on the streets of Dublin).  Irish records being what they are, I’ve been unable to go back any further - therefore, I’ve no known claim to any ancient arms, and no way to tell how long my Protestant ancestors were even in Ireland.  Ergo, using any of the ancient Thornton arms, even as a jumping off point, seemed a stab in the dark, genealogically and geographically.  So, I started from scratch and tried to come up with something simple, yet innovative (in that I’ve never seen a Celtic cross used as an ordinary).

I will add this - I worked with two heralds at the CHA who were very accommodating, but although they provided guidance, they didn’t offer as many suggestions as I expected.  I do wonder how my arms might have turned out if I’d let everyone here have a crack at it.

Benjamin Thornton;95372 wrote:

I do wonder how my arms might have turned out if I’d let everyone here have a crack at it.

Not any nicer than they are.

Kenneth Mansfield;95373 wrote:

Not any nicer than they are.

Thank you, Kenneth.  I hope I made clear that I intended to compliment the heraldic hive-mind of this forum.  The creativity and scholarship here are second to none.  Just ask the College of Arms.

Congrats on the anniversary Jesse.  And as we have discussed several times, you’ve got an excellent design.  Don’t change a thing!  I might also send you thanks for all the design support you have given me.

Jesse - I have VERY little to do with it, but thanks for the shout out.

I’m at the 4 year point almost - but I must have had the right help or done something right - I haven’t had a second serious thought about a change.

Thanks everyone!  This past year has been a lot of fun.  I’ve learned a lot and I’ve made new friends.  I look forward to seeing what else I can learn in the heraldry world.  And, Kathy you definitely helped out a lot "behind the scenes".  you gave me a lot to think about while I was going through the process so I think you were just as much as part of the "design team" as Kenneth and Josh were.

I assumed my arms about 16 months ago.  Since I benefited from excellent advise along the way, I’m quite happy with how they turned out :D

Wow!—has it been a year now?  and no changes?—good for you!

The design discussions for your arms were among the best here, both as to the quality of the comments (well, most anyway!) and the outcome.

I settled on the design for my arms (minus the saltires) by 1967, & added the saltires about 1978—whether the outcome would have been the same if this forum had been around then, I don’t know; but it’s been long enough that I can’t imagine changing them!