Greetings,
First bit: International Heraldry Day is not "sanctioned" by the American Heraldry Society - (Unfortunately, IMHO)
HOWEVER: For those not following the IHD 2014 Facebook page and other forums I happen to be participating in. International Heraldry Day is June 10, 2014. The FB page has doubled in membership and several heraldic organizations are going or have published short articles in their newsletters. Several artists have made works specifically for the day - some free of charge, some on items for sale. Alexander Liptak’s winning badge from last year is being used to promote the activity and a small gathering in the Netherlands was proposed and has local attendees from what I know going to get together.
Having said that, I just this AM figured out what I’m going to do either that day or the nearest weekend day to do a bit of personal celebration. This is kind of a cool thing that people can do unrelated to IHD and wanted to pass it along.
Quote:
I found an interesting site called Waymarking. I did a waymark search for "heraldry" location at my US zip code. Only one hit within 100Km.. so, I was thinking of getting a free account and spending International Heraldry Day going out and finding Heraldry, taking pics and uploading proposed waymarks for inclusion in the category Coat of Arms. This appears to be an international online thing.. people can search for waymarks by category, keyword and location, location alone… so - when someone is going on holiday or vacation, they could search the location for waymarks and find heraldry…
With the free membership you get to search, submit for inclusion waymarks and such. A paying membership has more capabilities and is $30/year. I may go that route to experiment - but what a wonderful online opportunity to help folks find real, physical heraldry (especially in the remote places like the US where one often has to search for it).
This could be something members of the AHS may want to take up a bit over time… I think it would be great to be going, say, to Toronto.. and look for heraldry in that location online… Link to waymarking provided below:
That sounds like a good idea! I wonder what can be found around here…
I’d start with graveyards and churches… then government buildings…
One never knows…
Also colleges and schools, whether public, private or parochial. though the duality of design and execution may be ... variable?
Also any military bases & the local Reserve or National Guard armory will likely have various unit insignia, some of which should be heraldic.
Happy International Heraldry Day, everyone.
There’s nothing like the feeling when you wake up in the morning and open your heraldry gifts under the heraldry tree.
"Look! I got a new crest!" says Billy.
"I got a new badge! I love it!" says Jenny.
Then all the family enjoys a nice heraldry feast.
Kathy and others (many others!) have been posting Heraldry Day items on Facebook for several weeks - for those who are Facebookers (is that a real word?) look for the FG groups International Heraldry Society and Heraldry Society. Lots of interesting eye candy!
For my part, while no eye candy like most of the FB posts, I’d like to start two new threads on our AHS forum. These are topics that have generated some level of controversy lately, but buried in other threads and thus somewhat scattered and difficult to track down, especially for newbies or those like me with limited search skills (the computer dyslexic community;) )
The two topics I have in mind are the pro’s and con’s of two questions in the American context, especially in designing new arms:
* differencing within a given family vs. sharing the same arms by all members of the family; our Guidelines address this but allow for both options. Whether or not to difference, and if so how, are decisions that need to be considered and addressed in the design process.
* The scope of coverage of a given new coat of arms:
* arms whose "destination" (who they apply to) is limited to the first person to adopt them;
* or to that living person and his immediate family & descendants bearing the same surname;
* or to all descendants of some earlier deceased ancestor bearing that ancestor’s surname.
These options are not IIRC discussed, or at least constrained, in our Guidelines; but all are used by different folks or families in our membership and others in this country, and are important to consider and address in the design process.
NOTE: this current thread is NOT the place to address either of these two questions; each merits a separate thread. I’ll try to start them soon, likely not both at once but please be patient.
And to me at least (of course others may differ) neither topic is an either - or question; each discussion should focus on pro’s and con’s of different options, not on trashing those with whom we may disagree.
While these questions are aimed at the American context, our foreign members are of course welcome to contribute, especially but not only as to how well various approaches have worked in their own traditions.
Good suggestion Mike - I’ll second it!
Thanks! I set up the two threads last night—we’ll see how many folks participate.
I recently visited the site. It’s nice, but you have to be creative with your search parameters.