What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 35 - The End

We are now at the end, in more than one way, of our posts of things that you can do with your coat of arms.

It's the end in one way, because this is the final post on this topic.

And it's the end in another way, because we are going to see some of the ways that people use their heraldry after leaving this "vale of tears"; that is, after they die.

We know that it was not uncommon both in Great Britain and on the Continent in past times for a memorial board or hatchment with the coat of arms to be placed in the local church (or on the home) of an armiger who had died, as here:

Well, this kind of armorial memorial continues today. It may not necessarily continue to be hung in the church afterwards; though in some places it still is, as this example from Ghent, Belgium, dated 1930:

But it can also appear temporarily during the funeral service at the head or the foot of the coffin.

And, of course, it may be created in digital format which can be printed on the program of the funeral service and appear in other places, as this one:

Even  more recently, someone posted in a Facebook heraldry group about his "pre-need" hatchments that he created and had printed in two different sizes on metal, all ready for display when his time comes:

Another potential use of heraldry at a funeral might be in an armorial flower arrangement like this one:

Of course, once you have been interred in your final resting place, your grave may be marked with an armorial gravestone. This is also a practice which has a long history. Here is an armorial grave marker from colonial Boston, Massachusetts:

But this practice of armorial grave markers, as with hatchments, is not limited to the past, but continues in use today:

So, as you can see from the examples here, even after you have "shuffled off this mortal coil", you can still be using your coat of arms.

I hope that you have enjoyed this series on What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms, and that you have been inspired by at least some of the examples you have seen here and are looking at ways in incorporate your heraldry more fully into your life.