Velkommen til Danmark, og Velkommen til København

So, having finished our heraldic tour of Belgium, in the cities of Antwerp and Ghent, we hopped a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark. And it didn't take us long to see heraldry there, either!

Indeed, on the way from the airport to our hotel, we passed the Hôtel d’Angleterre:*

Which has, right at the top center of its façade, the arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

What this meant, of course, is that the first heraldry that we saw was what I described in another post just a couple of weeks ago as an "heraldic stray", a coat of arms belonging to someone or something from somewhere other than where it appeared.

The saving factor, if you will, of finding right off the bat (or rather, right off the airplane) the arms of the UK in central Copenhagen, Denmark, is that the same display of heraldry also features not one, not two, but three Dannebrogs, the Danish national flag (Gules a Nordic cross argent; a "Nordic cross" on a flag is one set to dexter, like a Latin cross fesswise).

So, as I said in the title to this post: Welcome to Denmark, and Welcome to Copenhagen.

Which welcome was followed almost immediately by a representation of the arms of the United Kingdom.

So there you go. Not quite what I had expected, but then, heraldry does seem to have a way of surprising us when we look for it.

* Yeah, I know. That name is not Danish; it is French, for the Hotel of England, or the English Hotel. I have no idea why a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, would be named in French.

In Memory of a Duke

Going up the social ladder in our heraldic tour of the Bute Museum in Rothesay, we ran across this little heraldic gem:

It appears very much to me like a carved decoration from the stern of a large boat or small ship. It is beautifully carved -- just look at the way those thistles run from one end to the other, framing the achievement of arms in the center.

That is not to say it is without its issues. It appears to have been overpainted, more than once, and some of the colors used are incorrect (as you will notice when comparing the picture below to the blazon). Plus, the escallops in the husband's arms look more like garbs. And the ermine tails on the husband's fess and the small charges on the label on the wife's arms are lacking. The torse appears to be carved as a solid, straight bar perched precariously atop the helm.

It is the achievement of arms of Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and his wife, H.R.H. Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, the Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King Edward VII.

His arms are: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Or a lion rampant gules (Fife); 2 and 3, Vert a fess dancetty ermine between a stag's head cabossed in chief and two escallops in base or (Duff).

Her arms are the Royal Arms of Great Britain with an inescutcheon of Saxony and with a white label of five points charged alternately with three St. George's crosses and two thistles slipped and leaved proper.

The crest is A knight on horseback armed cap-à-pie. The supporters are Two savages wreathed about the head and waist with laurel and holding in their exterior hands a branch of a tree over the shoulder all proper. I am unable to make out the motto above the crest. (If I have to guess, I think it begins with "Deo", but my picture (and the overpainting) is not clear enough to make out much more than that.) The motto under the the shield is Virtute et operâ (By virtue and deeds).

Even with all of it's errors, though, it's an amazing display of heraldry, and a wonderful piece to run across in a little museum in Scotland.

Some Quasi-Heraldic Symbols of Royalty

Many of the windows on one wall of the courtyard of Linlithgow Palace have pediments displaying the symbols of the Stewart royal family.

There is King James VI of Scotland, with the crown, sceptre, and sword:

James VI was also King James I of England, with the crown and Tudor roses so emblematic of that nation (as well as his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor, the sister of King Henry VIII):

And finally his son, Charles, the Prince of Wales (later King Charles I), with the Prince of Wales feathers and motto (Ich dien), and surmounted by a fleur-de-lis (Charles' great-grandmother was the French Mary of Guise) and by a thistle (a symbol of Scotland):

These are yet another nice display of some of the symbols of royalty, of genealogical descent, and a way of visually expressing the importance of the royals who lived in this palace.

The Prince of Wales Feathers

Over on the Royal Central website there is a fairly recent (March 24, 2015) article entitled "Not just a feather in the cap: a brief explanation of The Prince of Wales feathers" by Cindy Stockman which goes into the design, history, and usage of the ostrich plumes and crown badge of the Prince of Wales.

(The badge is below the shield and within an oak wreath in this depiction of the arms of the Prince of Wales done about 1800.)

It's a nice article, full of facts and factoids, and gives one of the best, and most concise, discussions of this royal badge that I have seen.

You can find the full article on the Royal Central website at http://royalcentral.co.uk/blogs/not-just-a-feather-in-the-cap-a-brief-explanation-of-the-prince-of-wales-feathers-46542

A Coat of Arms for Ascension Island

In a news item in Coin Update, a coin has been issued marking the grant of a new coat of arms for Ascension Island. Last August, Queen Elizabeth II approved a new coat of arms for Ascension Island, a design drawn up by the College of Arms in London. Prior to this approval from the Queen, Ascension Island used the coat of arms of the United Kingdom for official purposes.

The £2 coin was issued on March 8 by the Government & Treasury of the Ascension Islands.

A volcanic island in the South Atlantic, Ascension Island is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day.  (Not unlike Easter Island in the Pacific.)

The fewer than 900 Islanders were asked what they would like to see on the coat of arms, and the design was based on the features they suggested, including the sea turtles (used here as supporters) that lay their eggs on Ascension’s beaches.

The complete article can be found on-line at http://news.coinupdate.com/ascension-new-coat-of-arms-granted-1889/

Heraldry in the News!

In an article in the Central Somerset Gazette, Councillor Jon Cousins of Glastonbury, England is quoted as saying that the town’s current coat of arms is “a device of cruelty and intolerance” and may breach equality legislation. He says it has strong anti-Catholic sentiment and pinpoints a puritanical time in the town’s history.

Admittedly, the motto (which is placed on the shield, and not below it as would normally be expected) Floreat Ecclesia Anglicana (Let the Church of England flourish), might be considered to be anti-Catholic, but it’s not a particularly Puritan sentiment. (Trust me on this; I’ve got Puritans in my family tree.  Dour bunch for the most part.) And, in fact, it could certainly be argued that the bishop’s mitre and cross croziers are not “puritanical,” either. Councillor Cousins says he believes (without saying why he does so) the crossed croziers and red background were a reminder of the treatment of the last abbot of Glastonbury, who was hung, drawn, and quartered on Glastonbury Tor following the dissolution of the Abbey.

But what does Councillor Cousins want to trade this coat of arms in for? The shield (well, one of the shields) attributed to King Arthur. No, not the blue (or sometimes, red) one with three golden crowns on it;

the green one with a cross throughout and the image of the Virgin Mary in the first quarter,

which shield the Councillor suggests should be placed beneath an image of the sun rising behind Glastonbury Tor and with the motto Unitate Per Diversitas (Unity through diversity).

Which is all arguably less “puritanical,” but I fail to see how it would be more “acceptable to Christians, Goddess and Pagan groups alike.” Councillor Cousins says that the image of the Virgin was considered acceptable to Christian faiths and pagan faiths, some of which believe Christians drew inspiration for her from the pagan mother goddess. So I guess that’s all right, as long as the pagans don't have any objection to the cross, and also so long as you don’t want to also include some of the other religions now found in England and also presumably in Glastonbury: Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, and so on. (Elsewhere, the paper notes that there are now “70 different faiths, creeds, and spiritual paths in the town.”)

Glastonbury Mayor Ian Tucker has agreed for a group of representatives from various faiths and town historians to consider if the current shield should be changed.

The full article can be found on-line at http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Glastonbury-shield-arms-device-cruelty/story-18482928-detail/story.html#axzz2QYxqa6zr At the end the article, the Central Somerset Gazette asks “What do you think? Is the current emblem cruel and intolerant, or should it be kept for the sake of tradition?” and includes an email address to send responses.