Another Armorial Regimental Flag

If I'm at a museum, no matter how many times I've been there before, when I get the opportunity to go again, I'm going to look around to see what's new or if there's something I hadn't noticed before.

The members of my Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War had been invited to the Texas Civil War Museum to see the regimental flag for which we had donated some money to conserve in its final restored state. (My last post contains pictures of this 150+ year old flag of the 45th New York Infantry Regiment.)

So while there, we all wandered about a bit to see what we could see, and I ran across another regimental flag on display, which contained an unusual "coat of arms" as its central element.

The unit to which this flag had belonged more than 150 years ago was the Second Regiment, New York State Militia (which was later redesignated the 82nd Regiment of Infantry) during America's Civil War (1861-1865).

The central element of the flag contains an achievement of arms based on that of the State of New York, having the same crest, motto, and supporters (for which, see my previous post). But the shield itself has been divided "per pall reversed" into three:

The upper left portion of the shield (dexter chief) contains the (incorrect) arms of the United States (this version has twelve rather than thirteen stripes, and places stars on the chief which are not present in the actual arms of the U.S.).

The upper right portion of the shield (sinister chief) contains the arms of the City of New York, the arms of a windmill set saltirewise between in pale two beavers statant and in fess two barrels/tuns palewise.

Finally, the lower third of the shield contains the landscape arms of the State of New York, a scene of the Hudson River with the sun rising over a mountain peak beyond the river..

Once again, hardly a sterling example of heraldic design, but one which does say quite clearly, "New York City, New York" on its face. So to that extent, I suppose, "identifiability has been maintained." And identifiability has always been one of the watchwords of heraldry and heraldic design.

State Arms on a Regimental Flag

A few years past, the Texas Department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (of which I am a member) donated some money to the Texas Civil War Museum to help pay for the restoration of a regimental flag which was in need of conservation. It was made of silk, and the past 150 years hadn't always been kind to it.

We recently got word that the conservation work had been completed, and we were invited to the Museum to see the results.

Here it is in its frame, stabilized and behind glass: the Flag of the 45th New York Regiment of Infantry.

The central painted panel is a representation of the achievement of arms of the State of New York.

It is, as you can see more clearly in the drawing below, an example of "landscape heraldry."

The arms are a view of the Hudson River, with the sun rising over a mountain, supported on each side by the figures of Liberty and of Justice, with the crest of an eagle spreading its wings atop a representation of the globe, and the motto Excelsior ("Ever upward").

Not the best example of heraldry, but the arms - and the flag - are a part of New York's history, and it was certainly a pleasure to see this particular bit of history is being preserved.

Heralds and Heraldry on the Internet

There is an overview of the new on-line exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library entitled Symbols of Honor: Heraldry and Family History, uploaded to the Library’s website in conjunction with the Symbols of Honor: Heraldry and Family History in Shakespeare's England, being held at the Library through October 26 of this year.  The links on that page go to separate sections, the whole forming the on-line exhibition.

The individual sections of this on-line exhibit include:

     The Medieval Heritage

     The Order of the Garter and The Garter King of Arms

     French Influences

     Tournaments and Armor

     Visitations

     Grants of Arms

     Shakespeare's Grant of Arms

     H.E.R.A.L.D.

     The Business of Heraldry 

     Badges, Mottoes, and Imprese

     Disputes within the College of Arms

     Heraldry for the Elite

     Heraldry for All

     Women's Heraldry

     The First Amateur Genealogists

You can find the Overview of this on-line exhibition on the Folger Shakespeare Library’s website at http://www.folger.edu/Content/Whats-On/Folger-Exhibitions/Symbols-of-Honor-Heraldry-and-Family-History-/Online-Exhibition/ and you can learn more about the Heraldry and Family History in Shakespeare's England exhibit there at http://www.folger.edu/Content/Whats-On/Folger-Exhibitions/Symbols-of-Honor-Heraldry-and-Family-History-/

There’s a bunch of other stuff of interest to heraldry enthusiasts on the site as well, and I think you’ll find it is well worth the time to click through and take a look.

Eastward, Ho! A Follow-Up

Having had the time to do a little more research into the naval heraldry noted in my last post, I feel pretty safe in identifying the ship from which that particular bow decoration came from as being the armored cruiser ACR-2 USS New York.  (The ACR-1, which was later designated as a second class battleship, was the USS Maine, of "Remember the ..." fame.)

My reasons for believing the arms belonged to the New York are several: first, the word "Excelcior" (which I believe is a misspelled "Excelsior"); second, the eagle over the shield; and finally, the two human figure "supporters" seen in profile on each side of the arms.  So why exactly does that make me think "New York"?  Well, this does: the arms of the State of New York.

See what I mean?  Compare this achievement with the external ornaments (or to use a different term, artistic "frou-frou") about the shield of the arms of the United States in my last post, below.

And here is a photograph of the New York, with the eagle showing quite prominently above the shield on the bow.

And here is another, taken from the starboard side.  If you click on the picture here, you should see the full-size version, where details of the bow decoration show up pretty well.

The New York was not, alas, a part of the Great White Fleet which circumnavigated the globe under President Theodore Roosevelt.  She did, however, have a long and active service, being at one time the flagship of the Pacific Fleet.

All in all, a really great piece of heraldry, and history, to have run across!

Heraldry (and Heraldic Stained Glass) in the News!

Over on the website of radio station WNYC in New York City there's a nice article about Sunlites Stained Glass in Rockaway Park, New York, and the stained glass panel that the owner there recently did for the installation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC.

As you can see, it's a beautiful piece of work.

The arms of the diocese (to dexter, or the left side as you are looking at it) are notable for their use of the windmill vanes which are the major element in the arms of New York City (http://www.ngw.nl/int/usa/newyork.htm).  The personal arms of the Cardinal are on the sinister side (to the right as you look at it) of the shield.

A greater discussion of both this panel and of stained glass work in general can be found on-line at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2012/feb/22/niche-market-stained-glass/

Ecclesiastical Heraldry in New York State

A recent (August 9, 2011) article in The Catholic Sun goes into some detail about the addition of arms (five feet high by four feet wide, forty feet above the floor) of Bishop James M. Moynihan, Bishop Emeritus of the Syracuse Diocese, painted in the apse of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, as well as a very brief discussion of the use of ecclesiastical heraldry in general, including the earliest use of a coat of arms by a pope (Pope Innocent III, 1198-1216).

Overall it’s a decent article (though I don’t recall having seen a saltire called a “saltair” before), and discusses the symbolism of the diocese’s and the bishop’s arms.

The full article can be found at http://www.thecatholicsun.com/sun-august-11-2011/newest-coat-of-arms-installed-in-cathedral

Heraldic History of the Big Apple

There’s a great article that I recently ran across over at the blog Manhattan Unlocked: The Unbelievably Rich and Inordinate History of Manhattan. The specific post was uploaded on December 5, 2010, and is entitled “Decoding the Seals of the City of New York.” It’s a great article, profusely illustrated, and gives the history of the current seal of the City as well as its long history and the changes (and errors) that have been made to it over the years.

The coat of arms, centrally placed on the seal, might be blazoned (they were never officially granted by any granting body of heralds) as: Argent the sails of a windmill set salitirewise between in pale two beavers statant and in fess two flour barrels proper. (Though a Civil War era banner containing the arms has the field Azure (blue) and the charges Argent (white or silver). And I’ve seen renditions where the field is Or, yellow or gold.) One depiction of the arms may be found on the Heraldry of the World website at: http://www.ngw.nl/int/usa/newyork.htm

I highly recommend that if you are at all interested in the meaning of the elements or in the history of the coat of arms and seal of what is probably the epitome of the American city, that you take the time to read this article. It can be found on-line at: http://manhattanunlocked.blogspot.com/2010/11/architecture-lesson-1.html