If this has been discussed at length, before, forgive me and point me to the link.
In several recent threads I keep bumping up against the fundamental question of why people (myself and other AHS members included) "do" heraldry?
I pose the question in that way because our involvement goes beyond a purely academic or scholarly interest. We’re not content to merely study heraldry, read about it, or have beautiful prints of old heraldry on our walls. Instead we’ve inherited, assumed, registered, or petitioned for grants of our own arms. We’re not content to be spectators to this sport. Instead, we’ve decided to become participants.
I’m an amateur history geek. I tend to read quite a bit, particularly about Elizabethan and Jacobean England and colonial Carolina. But I’m not a reenactor, or a RenFaire guy. Why is heraldry a topic where I’m not satisfied to sit on the sidelines?
When I consider these things, Michael and Kathy’s words are in my head~ "Arms in America are only a hereditary visual identifier".
The problem is, I don’t need a visual identifier. I suspect that most AHS members don’t own a banner of their arms. If they do, I suspect that it gets flown rarely. It’s not a practical need that we’re addressing through our use of heraldry. There are more precise and effective ways to identify oneself than a signet stamp. My name at the top of custom stationary does a better job of identifying who I am to the reader of my letter than an embossed crest. I could elaborate further, but I think you understand what I’m getting at.
As I’ve considered my own motivations, there are two that seem to stand out:
1. Some sort of inner resonance that makes me want to say "I dig it" or "neat-o". Nothing practical here, just the same sort of kid-like wonder that made Maurice Keen pursue a career researching knights. Charles Drake summed this up in an earlier thread discussing badges (emphasis mine):
Charles E. Drake;80178 wrote:
Badges are cool because they are another heraldic device, and heraldic devices are cool.
We need a symbol to mark our followers or a flag around which to assemble them today about as much as we need a painted shield to identify us in battle.
It’s probably much more complicated than that, but I can’t express it. It floats my boat. My own personal heraldry would tie me to the "coolness" of heraldic tradition in a way that observer status wouldn’t. And it’s not the same as re-enacting. If we’re really using heraldry, then we’re participating in a living tradition, not trying to replicate what others did in that tradition at a different point in time.
2. My own personal heraldry would serve as a symbol of the shared heritage of my surname-line relatives. I am proud of what these Pope relatives have achieved and are achieving. That might come off as snobbery, but aren’t parents rightfully proud when their kids make the honor roll? Isn’t that parental pride based on an inherent comparison to other kids who didn’t make the honor roll?
So what’s your reason for doing heraldry?
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then in my opinion personal heraldry accomplishes the same or more in a symbolic manner. I have always been interested in heraldry and flags. If designed correctly both flags and heraldry impart so much. In fact, I see heraldry as the original form of personal branding. It was a personal logo.
On a daily basis I see a multitude of symbols and vanity plates that seek to illustrate the owner’s allegiance, preference or personality (or all three). So why not heraldry? Like David, I am not a reenactor, and I have never been to a Renaissance Faire (although, I would like to attend one as a visitor).
Consequently, I feel that heraldry captures something unique about a person or in some cases a family which nothing else could effectively capture. Unfortunately, many may view heraldry as antiquated or privileged.
I also thought heraldry was for a certain privileged class until I read and researched the subject, but I since becoming involved in the various heraldic communities I have developed a yearning to learn more. I feel there is a similarity between blazoning and computer code; each has a certain syntax and grammar.
It’s a wonderful challenge.
David Pope;104939 wrote:
I am proud of what these Pope relatives have achieved and are achieving. That might come off as snobbery, but aren’t parents rightfully proud when their kids make the honor roll? Isn’t that parental pride based on an inherent comparison to other kids who didn’t make the honor roll?
This, of course, touches the core of the issue. Does "I’m proud of my kid for making the honor roll" really imply "and yours didn’t?" It certainly can, but it needn’t. Not everything is a competition. Different parents see things different ways. Beyond that, for person A to say "I’m just as good as person B" (which might be what the use of arms fundamentally signifies) is not necessarily the same as saying "... and therefore better than persons C, D, ... Z."
My reasons are similar to David’s, but adding the joy of the eye candy - the art can be really beautiful!
David Pope;104939 wrote:
... but aren’t parents rightfully proud when their kids make the honor roll? Isn’t that parental pride based on an inherent comparison to other kids who didn’t make the honor roll?
For what it’s worth, without coaching or offering any context, I just read David’s question to my wife and daughter. Both of them said "no," my wife adding "only if you’re that kind of vile person."
I’m not calling names, but the adjective was too priceless not to share.
I think my reason for doing it was family pride. I’m proud of myself and I wanted a symbol with which my kids and grandkids and identify other than a plain old name. If nothing else there is some mystique in it all for posterity to enjoy, which is a nice gift for them.
Since it was mentioned; having been to the Renaissance festival as a tourist I can tell you that if you enjoy going out and having people trying to sell you roses, offer your kids free samples or get in your face and sing un-requested mariachi songs for tips then you’re in luck. This is like 10 acres of nothing but that. It’s also hard to enjoy yourself because the people either seem too old to work there and you feel sorry for them or they are too young and don’t understand what Renaissance period means. Oddest thing I saw: a Stormtrooper in kilt.
Joseph McMillan;104956 wrote:
For what it’s worth, without coaching or offering any context, I just read David’s question to my wife and daughter. Both of them said "no," my wife adding "only if you’re that kind of vile person."
I’m not calling names, but the adjective was too priceless not to share.
Thanks.
I’ll be the dissenting voter…
For purposes of this discussion, I refer to my dad’s arms as my arms, but they are really his, not mine, I just use them with cadenced difference.
So then, for me the shield IS the mark of my location on the battlefield (metaphorical… sort of). The internet is the most apparent field of use here (digital art community "avatars" and such), but it works anywhere. My arms hang next to my office desk so if anyone looks in when I’m not there, they can readily see who should be there (that "family crest" [sic] nerd).
So, might as well have a badge and be prepared for the eventuality… right?
I suspect the reasons enthusiasts "do" heraldry are numerous and diverse. We all assign our own value to it.
A similar question would be why do people create art? The motivation is different for everyone.
Jeremy Keith Hammond;105072 wrote:
I suspect the reasons enthusiasts "do" heraldry are numerous and diverse. We all assign our own value to it.
A similar question would be why do people create art? The motivation is different for everyone.
Agreed. I’m interested in what those numerous, diverse, and different reasons are. :D
Love of family, and love of profession.
Family requires no elucidation as I’m sure that’s understood around here—whether representing someone from the past or creating something to pass on.
As for profession, I work as a graphic designer. I appreciate Heraldry as a fascinating and oft ignored touchstone along the road from cave paintings, pictograms and the Phaistos disk to roadsigns, soup labels and logos. I’m actually surprised it isn’t referenced more in design history classes — illuminated manuscripts certainly get their due, but oddly enough, COA aren’t really covered.
For one, the "visibility at distance" thinking behind the rule of tincture is fundamental to design even today. And the idea of blazon, which for all intents and purposes is a medieval programming language designed to encode and widely distribute artwork, has parallels with everything from file and font formats and programming languages like CSS, to the internet itself.
And that’s not even getting to the most pleasurable part; seeing complex ideas reduced to colors and forms, using old vernacular. Whether it’s someone’s history, interests and tastes, or cants based on last names, it’s amazing to me to see a decidedly pre-modern discipline have so much in common with hard modernism; efficiency, essentialism… stripping away everything unnecessary and cluttered to communicate boldy. It’s literally what designers do every day, but instead of doing it to sell a product or to help people decode a map or prescription, it’s done to keep dudes with swords alive and connected on a dusty blood soaked battlefield. Pretty cool.