Empty Shields Again!

So, having finished up my research at the library in Charlotte, Michigan, we had some time to drive around a bit and see how much the town had (or hadn't) changed in the half century since I lived there.  And in keeping with what I've found in other places while looking for heraldry, there were some blank shields.

This one comes from one of the buildings in the two-block long downtown part of the city.  It's a really great architectural feature but, as with so many other blank shields/cartouches/ovals/etc. that I run across in my travels, I wish that they had added a coat of arms to the shield or, in this case, the oval.

And then we drove by a house that had two of these babies sitting outside, one on either side of the sidewalk leading up to the house.  I have no idea where the owner got them, but I'd sure love one (or two) to place at the front of my house!  And let me tell you, the shield hanging from the chain around its neck would have my coat of arms on it, too, instead of the horizontal (and sadly, blank) plaque here.

Still, for all that it's bearing an empty shield, what a great thing to have "guarding" the path to one's house.

More "Heraldry" in Charlotte, Michigan

In the two and a half days we spent in Charlotte, Michigan, a lot of our time was at the local library, looking through bound copies of old newspapers (1960-1963).  And in keeping with my often-stated belief that "you can find heraldry everywhere," sure enough, we ran across the following on a license plate of a vehicle parked in the library's parking lot.

It's not "real" heraldry, as I see it, but it's certainly an attempt at an heraldic-like logo.  And it celebrates American automobiles, which some of us (especially those who, like me, were brought up during what I think of as the golden age of American muscle cars) think is kind of cool.  (The fact that this particular plate was mounted on a minivan took away a bit from that coolness.)

Still and all, though, it's a try for something heraldic.  And while it may have fallen a bit short, I think the attempt was made ought to be given some consideration here.

Heraldry, Even in a Small Town

So after the conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, finished up, we drove to the small town in southern Michigan of Charlotte, almost exactly 50 years after my family had moved away from there.  And while I have often said that "you can find heraldry everywhere," I was not certain that I'd be able to do so there.  Happily for my theorem, there was heraldry to be found in this town of some 9,000 people, both real and not.

The real heraldry was found, not so surprisingly, at what used to be the county courthouse, a large red brick building now occupied by the Charlotte Historical Society and a museum.

The first coat of arms was to be found in the pediments over the doors to the building.  These are, of course, the arms of the United States of America, Paly of thirteen argent and gules, a chief azure.  And this is the correct version of those arms: thirteen stripes (the number often varies from that), and no stars on the chief (as is often found, the artists confusing the flag with has stars with the arms, which does not).

That said, I am not at all certain why the arms of the United States appear on the courthouse.  It is not a U.S. courthouse, but a county courthouse, an arm of the State of Michigan and not of the United States proper.

Inside, in what used to be the courtroom was the "arms" of the State of Michigan.  It is, as you can easily see, "landscape" heraldry, with not one, not two, but three mottoes.  E pluribus unum, above the eagle crest, used to be (until the 1950s) the motto of the United States, "out of many, one."  The second, on the chief of the shield, Tuebor ("I will defend").  And finally, Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you).  This last totally ignores that fact that the State of Michigan consists of two large peninsulas, along with a couple of smaller ones (the "thumb" of the hand of the lower peninsula and the "tail" of the dog of the upper peninsula), and the argument could be made that there are even more (the "little finger" of the hand, for one).

Still, it's official "heraldry," however much it may be a landscape placed on a shield, and there it was, painted on the wall of the court on the upper floor of the county courthouse.