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5 years 9 months ago #1709 by jzen
Heraldic Achievement Lesson 4: Divisions of the Field


As I was reflecting on this, I was particularly drawn to the Party per Bend, party per cross, and party per pall divisions. I though each provided their own unique character to a coat of arms and I had some difficulty deciding between them. I ended up going with the party per cross division, but party per pall was a close second. I felt that dividing my field in the cross provided the most balance to my shield, and reflects on my need for balance in life, as well as balancing my heritage with who I am.
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5 years 9 months ago #1710 by jzen
Heraldic Achievement Lesson 5: Ordinaries


It is easy to see that I used the Cross Ordinary here, demonstrated by the Pale and Fess of equal widths that stretch the length of the Escutcheon. In my planning for field divisions, I wanted to be able to displace 4 separate areas on my field, two to share my heritage and two to demonstrate my personal identification with the virtues exhibited in a combination of the primary colors. I felt this would give me the most opportunity to provide balance to my escutcheon and tell the most about my story. It was difficult deciding how I would distinguish this, but I opted for the solid black lines that make clearly defined areas of separation, while keeping the cross a true ordinary in the field.
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5 years 9 months ago #1711 by jzen
Heraldic Achievement Lesson 6: Diminutives


So as I continued to dig into heraldry, I discovered that the way I designed my coat of arms is referred to as Marshalling, a way of combining two or more coats of arms. This is the method used to express heritage. In traditional rules of heraldry, it was only allowed for the display of paternal lines with rare exceptions. The way I look at it, I came from two parents, and while I’m cognizant of the traditional rules, I know that is only half of my heritage. The particular form of marshalling I did was called quartering, and it is a way of using the party per cross to express three of more coats of arms. When I put my coat of arms up in the gallery, I thought this was a form of diminutive, and that is true to a certain extent, but it actually has a specific name, so I wanted to make sure that I pointed that out. Quartering is the most common method of expressing more than one coat of arms, and there are no limit to the amount that can be displayed in this fashion.


More explicitly to this exercise, I included the diminutives present in my hereditary coats of arms. I have an endorsed pale in my mother’s side coat of arms that separates the gold and blue fields. I have my cross ordinary that serves to quarter my escutcheon, and I have a barrulet fess dividing the fields on my father’s hereditary coat of arms. I also have the red and gold chequy diminutives in the fields in the top left and bottom right of the shield. Diminutives can be a tricky topic to understand. Even when I worked this out, I realized I didn’t fully understand it when I posted my coat of arms in the gallery. There’s something new to be learned every time I engage my heraldry!
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5 years 9 months ago - 5 years 9 months ago #1721 by jzen
Heraldic Achievement Lessons 7, 8, 9: Charges

For me, it made sense to combine all the lessons on Charges into a single response. I loved learning about the Charges when I was creating these lessons. These cool little symbols add little bits of extra meaning to a coat of arms, and often are what makes them distinguishable. On the one I created, my charges come from my ancestral coats of arms. On my mother's side I have the German Imperial Eagle in Displayed and Elevated Attitude that was first used on Charlemagne's coat of arms. If would come through in many forms throughout history, but, I decided to head back to an original expression of it. In the blue field, I have five Fleur-de-lis that come from this Frankish line. These are associated with the Christian conversion of Clovis I King of the Franks, and have come to be associated with french noble and royal lines.


On my father's ancestral coat of arms, I included 2 portions of Red Lions Rampant in a white field. The are separated by a red hand and are holding up a red star. The hand symbolizes a pledge of faith to the family, while the star represents celestial goodness or a noble person. Also implied, but not presented I have a fish on the lower portion of this coat of arms. The fish represents a true, generous mind and one who is virtuous for himself, not because of his heritage. I loved the meaning of this, and is one of my favorite takeaways from studying the symbolism of Charges. I didn't include anymore because I thought the coat of arms seemed busy enough. There were a couple I was contemplating, but I don't think the result would look as nice as the one I have.
Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by jzen.

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5 years 9 months ago #1722 by jzen
Heraldic Achievement Lesson 10: External Field


As I put the finishing touches on my coat of arms, I looked for a way to make it distinguished and more meaningful to me. I maintained the color scheme that I had originally started with, red and gold, and I included the elements that tied it in to the Order. I didn't include everything presented in the lesson, some for obvious reasons, and some because it was just a little crowded. All in all, I'm happy with the result. Here's what I used from the lesson and a little rationale behind their inclusion:


Supports: I used the Lion Rampant to support my Escutcheon. It is symbolic of being not only ready to take on the challenges of knighthood, but also actively engaged in such work. The lions are focused on the tasks of the order and engaged as such.

Helmet: The helmet represents my knighthood, and is a visible sign of my role in the Order.

Torse and Mantle: The torse and mantle are in the colors of my primary virtues. The torse crowns my helmet and my knighthood in my primary virtues, and the mantle embraces my whole coat of arms, showing the creative and far reaching aspects of said virtues.

Order: I have included the symbol of the order at the bottom of my coat of arms.

Motto: I took a long time to think about this. I bounced around many different ideas and I finally decided to go with "Audentes Fortuna Iuvat" or "Fortune Favors the Brave." I felt that this represented me the best out of everything I came up with and bridges my past with my future. It was also my squadron motto when I was stationed in South Korea. I was glad to come to it.


As you can see, there was a little thought that went into what I chose to include in the external field. While there are plenty of other reasons that could be made for some of the items, I think these represent the main reasons. The only thing I would consider adding is an additional motto across the top of the external field. I'd not on my list of things to do, but it is something I may consider in the future. I would include my name on this if I go that route.

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5 years 9 months ago - 5 years 9 months ago #1723 by jzen
The Work Continues
There it is, my completed coat of arms. This is the result of literally years of work delving into my past. :) I have come to the end of these Journeyman lessons, but the work never really ends. There is something in Heraldry for us to continue searching for...new places to explore, old forgotten lines to reconnect. I continue to explore my past nearly daily, and will pass this on to my children. There is so much to explore, it is like a grand adventure into the past. Understanding where we come from is one of the most noble endeavors one could set out on. Having to do a little work to find it makes it all the more rewarding. For now, it's on to the next set of requirements.
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Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by jzen.
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5 years 8 months ago - 5 years 8 months ago #2027 by jzen
Master Herald Assignment 1: Creating a Lesson

Heraldry in France- A Brief History


Investigating my mother’s line, I thought focusing on French Heraldry would provide an interesting perspective on a very developed heritage. The French have a proud heraldry tradition that goes back to the late 11th, early 12th century. There were feudal associations with heraldry in France originally, but like in other places, it extended beyond noble and royal lines to include many diverse groups in society including peasants, cities, and church communities (Velde-French, 2005). This idea goes back to the original notion of the “Right to Bear Arms,” an aspect of Medieval life that gave everyone the opportunity to create a coat of arms, as long as it wasn’t already assumed by another family (Velde-Right, 2004). This practice began in the 13th and 14th centuries and continued on until strict regulations came in limiting who may have officially recognized coats of arms in the 16th century. At this time, English and French kings began to limit and restrict the use of Heraldry in order to provide a distinction for the bearer (2004).

In France, these restrictions saw the creation of a new position called the “King of Arms” who was responsible registering coats of arms and collecting fees for their registration (Velde-France, 2005). These positions would come to be included in the royal court and would eventually whittle down to a singular hereditary line within the House of d’Hozier. The restrictions also created new forms of law, and a method of dispute resolution that would be heard by Judges of Arms (2005).

Following the French Revolution, the old methods of French Heraldry were destroyed and the nobility was caste off (2005). Napoleon created a new system that focus on arms that related to function instead of heredity, thus allowing arms that reflected ones position or trade rather than recognizing a noble status. The restriction Napoleon placed on arms concerned what an individual was allowed to use. A person was not allowed to use arms or titles other than those specified by letter (2005). This would continue until 1814 when the restoration of the monarchy took place and old and new methods for granting arms were both recognized under the law (2005).

Currently in France, there is no restriction on the bearing a coat of arms and anyone is free to do so. The exception to this is for coats of arms associated with family names. One’s that have been traditionally associated with a particular family name are granted the same protection as one’s own name. Cities and trades still enjoy the use of a coat of arms and many still bear theirs in official capacity. Positions at local or federal level also have arms associated with the offices that an individual holds. These are also displayed as representations of those offices and not a particular individual.

Characteristics of heraldry in France have common threads in other countries heraldic expressions. One such example is the use of the Rule of Tincture which restricts the usage of colors on an escutcheon (2005). Another shared characteristic is in style and divisions. Many of the same methods used to make distinguished coats of arms were put into practice within French heraldry early on and became part of the core expressions of heraldry in other countries.
France did develop some unique characteristics. For instance, they have a unique system of crowns and coronets that are associated with specific positions and traditional coats and are linked to rank and title (2005). Another unique characteristic of French Coats of Arms that appears to be an original addition is the use of the fleur-de-lys. This symbol is emblematic of the lily and traditionally had meanings associated with political, artistic, and dynastic symbolism. Of all aspects available in the study of Heraldry, this one has come to be associated specifically with France, (although it has a home in other heraldic traditions) (2005).


References:

Velde, Francois. “French Heraldry and Related Topics.” Heraldica.org. 2 Feb. 2005. Web <www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frherald.htm>
Velde, Francois. “Right to Bear Arms.” Heraldica.org. 21 May 2004. Web. < www.heraldica.org/topics/right.htm>
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by jzen.
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