This is a design I have done for my fiance’s father. He is originally from West Virginia, served in the Chemical Corps during Vietnam, and comes form a long line of railroad workers and conductors. He is a simple man, so I was very straight forward and direct with the design overall.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/Snydercrew/wilson_Wilson-1.jpg

Blazon of Arms:

Or, with bordure of Azure, a bear rampant Sable, tongued Gules, holding in dexter a Railroad Spike Proper.

Blazon of Crest:

A demi bear Sable, tongue of Gules, holding in dexter a Railroad Spike Proper

Motto:

Mountaineers [are] always free

Hi Michael,

Only issue I have with these arms is that the bordure without charges on it immediately makes one think this might be a scottish cadet differencing from a coat without the bordure?

Michael,

I like the design and it certainly is a nice gift:  one that will hopefully keep giving for many generations to come.

It is a very attractive design, but when I see a bordure I immediately think of Scottish cadency or Spanish arms, which do feature bordures as design elements. That isn’t to say that it cannot be used as a primary design, just that those who "speak the language" might think it tells a story that it does not.

I would blazon what you have, however, as Or a bear rampant Sable langued Gules and holding in its dexter paw a railroad spike proper all within a bordure Azure. The primary metal and color of this shield I perceive to be gold and black rather than gold and blue.

I didn’t even consider looking into the cadency aspect of things. I removed the bordure and changed the spike to Azure.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/Snydercrew/wilson_Wilson_Wilson.jpg

Or, a rampant bear Sable, in dexter paw holding a railroad spike Azure.

(I will get this blazon thing if it kills me :D)

Or a bear rampant Sable holding in its dexter paw a railroad spike Azure.

[field color] a [charge] [attitude] [color]....

Nice simple design—the only concern I would have (generalized, nothing specific that I know of) is the possibility of being too close for comfort to some existing coat featuring a black bear rampant on a gold field, the only difference being the spike - a fairly minor visual difference, especially in small scale (e.g. a seal) or at a distance (e.g. on a flag or other display).

Still, the basic design is IMO too nice to mess with more than is necessary to avoid an accidental infringement.  Two possible options come to mind (there may of course be others)—

1) restore the border but add an orle of some simple charge that would be meaningful to your future father-in-law or his family.  This would difference the arms without such a strong implication of Scottish-style cadency.

Not having any information other than Mr. Wilson’s surname and occupation, I likely will miss the mark, but the concept could be as simple as adding silver or gold railroad spikes to the blue border; or maybe white saltires (St Andrew’s crosses) as I did.  My main intended symbolism was Scottish roots; my paternal grandfather and great-great-grandfather, both named Andrew; and the marine signal flag for the letter M—none of which may apply in your case; but one of the other intended symbolisms was the white X railroad crossing signs commonly used in the US since some of my family worked in that business (a great-uncle was a conductor).  If any of these applies & strikes your fancy (or rather, your future father-in-law’s fancy), feel free!—they make my arms distinctive from other arms featuring a red stag, but have been used by others with dissimilar arms for a variety of reasons.

2) Rather than charges on a colored border, perhaps an orle of some simple red, blue, black, etc. charge around the inner edge of the gold shield—maybe more blue spikes, or something else that would be meaningful—same idea as above, but with zero suggestion of Scottish (or any other) system of cadency.

If we knew more about Mr. Wilson or this family of Wilsons—name(s), other family occupations, place of origin and/or long residence, religious affiliation, etc.—there are likely any number of other possibilities, if you feel comfortable posting anything more.  If not, then hopefully these suggestions may be useful either "as is" or to trigger other/better ideas.

Perhaps have the bear carrying a sledgehammer in the other paw?  Or a hammer held over his shoulder (a la the Finnish national arms) with his right paw and holding the spike in the left.

I like that the bordure is removed. Michael’s suggestion works well too, that is if you want the bordure back, just charge it with X’s to allude to the railroad.

Another idea is to have the bear be sable semy of saltires couped Argent or possibly Or?

I’m fond of the idea of an orle, but don’t believe it needs to be of something else…

Or a bear rampant Sable holding in its dexter paw a railroad spike an orle Azure

I may have misplaced the Orle in the blazon, it would make the bear slightly smaller—but still an elegant design.

I had concerns with it being so simple that it resembled a lot of designs already. One of the thoughts I was playing with original was having a boulder base to represent the mountains that Mr. Wilson grew up in, but couldn’t help shake the feeling that it was to similar to the California flag and it would be seen that way.

So I scraped the bordure for the sake of avoiding comparison and confusion, but opted for the orle. Going upon advice with the demy of saltires, I tried several variations but wasn’t personally happy with any of the results with it so I scraped the idea. One idea I like was adding the sledgehammer to the other arm and incorporated. Instead of the sledge hammer I went with a spike hammer as it is the proper tool.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/Snydercrew/wilsion5_Wilson.jpg

Blazon of Arms:

Or, a bear rampant Sable, holding in dexter paw a railroad spike Proper, supporting over the sinister shoulder a Spike Hammer Proper, all within an orle Azure.

Blazon of Crest:

A bear arm Sable, the paw grasping a railroad spike palewise Azure

I like the orle a lot! :D

Or a bear rampant Sable holding in its dexter paw a railroad spike and supporting over its sinister shoulder a spike hammer proper all within an orle Azure.

Everything from the last color mentioned to the next color mentioned will be that next color so there is no reason to say "proper" twice.

I like the orle and I prefer this crest. Very nice.

Very nice.

I like everything, except for the "proper". Why not give them a proper heraldic tincture? (Pun not intended.)

I quite like the newest design.  I think the orle adds to the design and the hammer really makes the bear unique (very nice bear, btw!).  I really like the new crest as well.  I think this overall design might be a keeper.