[T]he basic purpose, the very raison d'etre, of armory is identification. Accordingly, in order to fulfil its functional purpose an armorial design must be capable of immediate recognition, whether displayed on some large flag flying from a tall building or very much reduced onto writing paper heading, a seal, or the like. It has been found during the eight hundred odd years of the use of arms that if an armorial design uses charges which are identifiable in silhouette, and not dependent upon internal configurations for recognition, then those arms will fulfil their basic purpose of identification, whether displayed large or small. (Conrad Swan, Canada: Symbols of Sovereignty, p. 210)
I'm an Academic Herald. I'm not a "real" herald; I don't register people's coats of arms (though I can certainly suggest designs for those who might be interested). What I do is study, research, teach, and write about heraldry. And I like to share what I have learned about heraldry, hence this blog. I hope that you'll find it informative, interesting at least occasionally, and worth your time to come back. Got a question? Comments? Feel free to let me know. I'd love to hear from you. You can find my contact information in my Profile.
I ran across a recent discussion about the coat of arms of Jan van Abbenbroek in The Netherlands, which appear in an old armorial, the Wape...
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Saturday, May 21, 2011
Heralds Don't Pun, They Cant!
Friend and fellow heraldry enthusiast Leslie Schweitzer sent the following picture link with the comment: "Look! A cygnet ring! Where do we put the wax?"
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