Heraldic Design

[Aiden of Oreland]

 So I have been struggling on this for some time now. I stress about what my symbol and crest should be. I really desire it to embody me as a Knight and for it to be unique. There isn't much to work with with my current crests of my families for I know names have changed over time. As some of you may have seen me in my white and green surcout that I built or created for it to represent my Lennon family crest. Does any one have suggestions on how I might go about this? How have all of you come up with your designs? I mean I have studied Fluer de lis designs for ideas.

[Sir Edward]

That's a very good question. There are quite a few ways to go about this, actually. What some people will do, is play with one of the Coat-of-Arms programs out there, such as Blazon95, or Inkwell's Coat of Arms Design Studio (this is the one we standardized on for the Order roster). With those, you can experiment and see what you like.

The down side is that these programs can't do everything. They have a small number of charges to choose from, and have other limitations.

Another angle to approach it from, is to think about the meaning you want it to convey. What sorts of things are important to you? There are websites out there that list the heraldic meanings for different charges, and you can pick based on the meanings rather than the looks, if you want.

For mine, this is what I did:

I decided I wanted one or more of these: Dragon, Ankh, Sword, because they all had specific meanings to me, in terms of how I got here with these historical and chivalric interests.

I had always used blue and black as my colors, but also added white as a third.

Then, I drew up 40 shield designs on the computer, using various combinations of these elements. Some had only two of the colors, or only one or two of the symbols. Others had more. Over the course of a week, I narrowed it down to 5 shields. Then I sat on it for a while, and eventually the idea struck that I kept. It wasn't one of those original designs at all, but combined elements from the last few.

What you'll want to avoid doing is what some people have called "resumé heraldry", in which people try to squeeze in every little detail that means something to them. Don't make it overly complicated, since you'll probably be painting it on something. And don't be afraid to make it mostly geometric instead of using lions and dragons. A lot can be done with stripes and lines, surprisingly.

Another good thing to do is look at a lot of other people's designs and get some ideas. Some SCA websites have heraldry for their kingdoms. I also like looking at some of the shields on the Selohaar roll of arms.

[Sir Douglas]

If your white and green surcoat is indicative of your ancestry, something else you could consider is using that as a base and building your arms onto that. Perhaps keep the colors, but change around the design, or keep the design and add another charge or two onto it.

Heraldry was a very personal thing. It was, after all, meant to identify a particular person. So it can be almost whatever you want, as long as you're satisfied with it (and as long as it doesn't intentionally conflict with the arms of someone else).

You could also check out this introduction to heraldry: http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/index.html It's very basic, but it might give you a few ideas, or at least show you how many different things can be done.

Also, welcome to the forums.

[Lord Dane]

Besides being symbolic of your family name or heritage, your Coat of Arms (CoA) should say something of you. It is a unique identifier of your person, quality, beliefs, faith, trade/occupation, etc. In essence, every part of it says something about YOU in simplicity or extravagance. The more elaborate your design, the more prestigious but the more expensive so most of us go with .... Keep it simple.

The colors, charges, fields, etc all must come together to identify YOU or your family. All the resources you need are here. Start with your surname (last name) and build upon it.

Some just take up the mantle of an Order like the Templars to save face & make it easier. It is easier but takes the personal aspect out of your own heraldry.

[Aiden of Oreland]

Thanks a lot! I have spent weeks researching and such but I found it so difficult because I knew this would be a symbol that I'd carry with me and I want it to really and truly represent. I will most definitly look through these sites! Thanks again for the advice. I should come up with a design during the summer do to my education schedule. Knowledge must come first.

[Sir Douglas]

Yeah, it something you don't really want to rush. Take your time until you come up with something you're happy with and that you feel represents you well enough. When I did my arms, I didn't really know a whole lot about the symbolism behind heraldry at the time, so it's rather basic and probably doesn't represent me as a person as well as it could (though fortunately, I am able to fudge it a little and "backwards-symbolize" it). I could always change it, I suppose, but I've worn it to the point where it just feels "normal" to me.

I also hadn't found this forum yet, which would have been a nice resource to have, so if you have any questions or need any help, don't be afraid to ask.

[Sir James A]

Some very good points made and advice given. I don't have much else to add, but here's a link that explains how I came up with mine: http://www.james-anderson-iii.com/historical/my-heraldry/index/

[Sir Edward]

The good news is that you can always change it, or add to it later. It's just harder to do later, after you've painted shields and made banners.

It's also good news that the surcoat doesn't have to match the heraldry. It's really the shield that matters. Surcoats can be completely different, or incorporate some of the design, or rearrange it. Those were all done back in the day. So even if you update it later, you can repaint a shield or make a new one, and keep using some of your other gear that you already have.

[Sir James A]

So even if you update it later, you can repaint a shield or make a new one, and keep using some of your other gear that you already have.

Hmm, "or make a new one" ... spoken perfectly as a "you can make more than one kit!" suggestion. You beat me to it on that one.

[Sir Nate]

Ive just decided to go off the uniform desighn of an old playmobile ive had since, well it's one of my earliest memories.

[Aiden of Oreland]

I also suppose I could start out with a very basic design. For I know that heraldry does change when you are awarded something. Such as a stripe or a flag. Also would you recommend a heraldry leaning on the side of German instead of Irish because there were technically no knights from Ireland. And I mean warrior knights not modern knighted men. I ask this for my origin is Irish and German and dome Russian. Did Russia have "Knights in shiny armor" because I may look into that and find family coat of arms.

[Sir Martyn]

They did indeed - look up St. Vladimir of Kyivan Rus - Vladimir and his boyars (roughly equivalent to landed knights) routed some evil in their day - including thwarting the plans of the legendary witch Baba Yaga.  To see some great examples of current reproductions of the medieval arms and armor of that culture look up www.armstreet.com

[Aiden of Oreland]

Yes i forgot about armstreet. They have nice costum armor. Isnt tht man the insperation for Dracula? Haha baba yaga, bartag the magnificent

[Sir James A]

Dracula's inspiration was Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler. Different people.

[Aiden of Oreland]

Thats right, my bad.