Heraldry design help

[Timothy]

Sirs,  I have received a note from the office of the  Chief Herald of Ireland and have been informed me  that they only have two Gallagher/Gallaher surnames on record as having arms. Both were granted in the 1970's. While I do not believe this is fully accurate I need to look at the design of new arms. Is there anyone who has the time and interest in assisting me with this. I ask as I can, sometimes, draw a straight line with a ruler. I have attach some pictures with elements I might use.

Any help would be appreciated.

Timothy

[Timothy]

in addition I might use these as well.

[Sir Douglas]

Have you tried the Coat of Arms Design Studio? There's a free version that works right in your browser. Fairly simple to use, but might not allow for some of the more complex designs. Depends what you had in mind, I suppose.

http://inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/free-version/

Otherwise, I'm pretty handy in the art department. Just let me know and I'll see if I can help.

[Timothy]

Hi Douglas, Yes I have  but to no great success.

Any time you can help that would be great.

Timothy

[Sir Douglas]

What did you need help with?

[Timothy]

Hi Douglas,

I know if you quarter a shield you get four parts. I cannot remember what a division of six is called.
I was thinking of starting with six and working down to quartering if need be or just use elements from the pictures I have posted.

I was  thinking of dividing in to six to incorporate the Gallagher arms, Maryland arms, Bavaria arms ( where my mother people are from. The blue field with the golden harp for Ireland  a symbol for teacher or learning or education, and the Leopards of Normandy

or something else


Timothy

[Sir Edward]

Have you tried the Coat of Arms Design Studio? There's a free version that works right in your browser. Fairly simple to use, but might not allow for some of the more complex designs. Depends what you had in mind, I suppose.

http://inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/free-version/

This is a really good program, and is the one we standardized on for creating the arms for our roster. It doesn't do everything, and doesn't at all address different types of "lines" other than straight (no embattled or wavy edges, for instance), so we often have to do some finishing work in photoshop.

The good news is that it will accept external images to use as charges.

I'll be happy to do a few photoshop mock-ups if you know what you want (they'll be imprecise hacks to save time, since it's not worth making it perfect until you've chosen).

For terminology and ideas for geometric shapes and the like, I really like this primer from the SCA: http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/  (for some reason, images don't seem to be loading at the moment)

Here's an archived copy of the page on divisions: https://web.archive.org/web/20130620212111/http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/fielddivisions.html

Archived copy of the Ordinaries page: https://web.archive.org/web/20130620232347/http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/ordinaries.html

I don't know of a specifically 6-field division, but there are divisions of 3 and 8, plus you can overlay ordinaries, such as a chief or base, that gives you an area to work with as well.

I'm trying to lightly steer people away from quartering, not only because it's heavily used already, but also because historically it most frequently was a joining of two sets of arms through marriage, which often is not what most people intend in our community.

[Sir Edward]

One additional thought-- I'm also trying to lightly encourage people to simplify. It's easy to get into doing what some people call "Résumé Heraldry". A little of everything that means something to you, or has to do with your career, or interests, or family background. By the time you add everything, you can end up with something very complicated. That's fine in itself, but may not work well for an earlier-period impression. Plus, most of us end up painting or sewing it at some point, and complexity can make that very difficult. So it's just something to keep in mind.

[Sir James A]

I second what Sir Edward said with some of the "less is more" ideal. Here's a page on my site that covers my personal heraldry, if you haven't seen it: http://www.james-anderson-iii.com/historical/my-heraldry/index/

[Timothy]

Thanks Sir's Edward and James.

Lets see if I can blazon this
Per pale Vert and Or, Lion rampant Sable
treading on a Azure crab in fess proper between four trefoils Or and Vert

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Timothy

[Sir Edward]

Per pale Vert and Or, Lion rampant Sable
treading on a Azure crab in fess proper between four trefoils Or and Vert

Is the crab "azure" or "proper"? The color should come after the object it refers to, and "proper" means it has the normal/natural coloring rather than something specific. For instance, a "tree proper" would have a brown trunk and green leaves.

[Timothy]

Hi All,

I have been discussing the blazon on the FB page of the International Heraldry Society. They have been most helpful.

This should be the LAST Blazon

Per pale Or and Vert, Lion rampant Sable
sinister rear paw resting on a crab Azure between an orle of eight trefoils' counterchanged.

Timothy

[Timothy]

Hi All, Mr. Elliot Nesterman on the FB page for the International Heraldry Society help with many other as I wrote and revised my Blazon.  He has now gone the very extra mile and created two arms. One is based on the blazon I wrote and one other.  All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all here who helped as well!

So what do you think?

Timothy

[Sir Edward]

Wow, I like them a lot! Those turned out great.

[Sir Nate]

Seems I missed whole conversation. But will say this
Tim if it helps you. I based my heraldry on a toy.