These are the arms I am working on for my best man.

Sable a dragon rampant, wings addorsed and elevated grasping in dexter claws a harp, grasping under dexter foot a drum Or, in a chief Azure three pansies Or.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/snydergroove/rockhold1_Turlington.jpg

Nice design.  Personally, I think it would cleaner if it was the harp or the drum instead of both but what you have still looks nice.  Also, your blazon states that everything is Or but you’ve painted it as Argent.

Ahh yes… slip of the tongue. I did mean argent. It has been a very long day.

Too much!

I don’t know what the various charges and their accoutrements represent, but it seems like there ought to be a way to simplify it - either by reducing charges or by finding a charge that has multiple meanings. Also, charges that mean something is overrated. :oops:

Maybe there’s a way to have something mean something that’s a little less obvious - you know like having an ordinary be an abstract representation of something. Not that anyone would really do that. :whistle:

Five different charges counting the chief. Agree with Kenneth… a bit much.

Also, don’t much like the motto as it points a negative finger at "the masses" which is in my opinion, the worst way to rise above them. It’s like trying to learn to parrallel park by focussing on the curb, which if you do, invariably you will hit it.

Keep the Dragon, it’s got some serious cool points.

My original design was Per bend sinister, sable and azure…the dragon…Argent, but he requested some variations of and ended up with this design. He was excited about this design and is pretty much sold on it, though I told him to do the refrigerator test and to think of alternatives.

As for the motto, I picked one based on a conversation him and I to show him what it would look like, and he is not using it. He is currently seeking out a motto to use or the possibility of not using one at all.

Is the dragon there to counter the notion that musicians are pansies?

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Seriously, though, why the harp and drum? I think a dragon holding a harp can be successful.

Also, and maybe most importantly, I’d like to thank you and Google for all the images of Christy Turlington that I just had to scroll through to see if I could find and image of some historical Turlington arms. :cool:

He has been an electronic music DJ, producer, and promoter for the better part of 20 years now. It’s sculpted the way his life has turned out and the people he has met (including myself) and very near and dear to his heart. With that he is also an avid music fanatic. I offered up the harp by itself, but he requested something that would show the rhythmic and beat driven side of everything; and that is the final result.

The pansies represent free thought (one of the many meanings) which is a trait he prides himself on. The meaning of "free thought" for him is a very loaded definition that would be sure to incite many debates and discussions (it usually does).

I did some research on his line, but was only about to make it back to the mid-1800’s before I hit a dead end. Apparently though, his grandfather went by the surname of Turlington his entire life, but his his birth certificate says Turnington and his father is listed as Turnington, but there is no records going back under that name outside of one generation. My thought is that the official who wrote the birth certificate messed up the name.

And I see nothing wrong with have to look at Christi Turlington while doing research. Research would be more fun if all surnames had a famous supermodel attached to them

There are a number of variants on the spelling of Turnington. Turlington, Tarkington, Turkington, Torkington, just to name a few.

Michael, while I admire your efforts, I must agree with the views of Kenneth and Jeffrey.

Don’t get me wrong. The "thank you" was sincere.

I still think the arms are too busy. What if you simply made the division line of the chief indented or dancetty to represent what would be a steady "beat" on an electrocardiogram.

As many will already know, the dancetty barrulet on my own coat of arms represents the rope on a rope tension drum - basically making the shield a drum. But given that my descendents are not all that likely to devote as much of their lives to drumming, for them it will not necessarily represent something that is meaningless to them - just a zig-zag line.

For example, you could take some pallets and put a dancetty row of billets over them to mimic the look of a mixing board.

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http://imageshack.us/a/img832/3483/turlington00.png
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See the arms of Sir Paul McCartney as inspiration:

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http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3g21raOzM1qivmgqo1_400.jpg
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Snyder;96237 wrote:

As for the motto, I picked one based on a conversation him and I to show him what it would look like, and he is not using it. He is currently seeking out a motto to use or the possibility of not using one at all.

Why not use "Free Thought" as his motto if that’s something he prides himself on and likes to talk about?  That would eliminate the need for the pansies on the shield and can open the shield up for bigger elements.

Kenneth Mansfield;96250 wrote:

For example, you could take some pallets and put a dancetty row of billets over them to mimic the look of a mixing board.

<div class=“bbcode_center” >
http://imageshack.us/a/img832/3483/turlington00.png

</div>

Kenneth, this is a very cool design!  I also like the idea of playing with the chief line and making it dancetty to reflect the beats of the drum.

I wanna throw out a completely different idea given the armiger is a DJ.

Turlington… turntable… hmmm… sounds vaguely similar…

A dexter hand between two roundels (symbolizing a dj spinning his turntable)

And then throw the dragon up to the crest and have him maintaining or charged with a pansie.

I showed him the billets—which I love by the way—and his response was more over the fact that billets refer to "folded paper or wood blocks" and that wasn’t him and the original design was what he wanted. He is approaching these very literally on the meanings. I’ve explained to him that depending on the interpretation and perspective the meanings can change.

Personally though, I like the dragon with the harp and drum. I understand the reason some dislike it and find it overkill, but I think it’s fitting and something I haven’t seen done before. But I should notE that I am pushing for him to drop the pansies in chief and just have the Sable, a dragon…. or Per bend sinister, Sable and Azure, a dragon…. The pansies came about from him and asked to incorporate them.

I’m hoping to keep chipping away at him with it and just end up with the dragon harp/drum.

As for the roundels, I’ll have to present that to him as well.

They actually aren’t billets, because they’re fesswise instead of palewise.  Call it a mixing board.

How about a dragon playing just one instrument on a field semy of pansies?