Heraldry is a vibrant part of American life. It came to our country with the first European settlers, was used and appreciated by Revolutionary patriots, and continues to flourish today.
The American Heraldry Society was founded to study and promote the proper use of heraldry in America. The Society seeks to educate the American public about the art and practices related to personal and organizational heraldry.
My Dads parents both Flemish Anna Ansuew? Paul Boel. I'm in Canada, half Belgium. My Moms side Icelandic, decedents King Harald Norway, Eric the Red can trace that lineage to 500 BC. Find my coat of arms! 666 0
Ralph is gracious for taking this on and deserves his high reputation for his heraldic expertise and tremendous English skills. Some of Joseph McMillan's comments on the Facebook video site are pertinent here as well as the discussions. Additionally, I think that there's a lot of room for a revised lecture on this topic by the AHS in the future. For Ralph, no windmills currently in Amsterdam (where some of my family live), but I wouldn't be recommending that they use Amsterdam's arms, but rather the arms of Phillip Groat (of Rotterdam, who purchased a strip of land from the Haudenosaunee (Mohawk)) or an allusion to Sir William Johnson or what might be his arms (though I would hope that they left off the badge of a baronet).
Would the average newspaper reader of the day have made the connection between spurious arms and bad leadership? I always imagine that most people today assume that every surname has a coat of arms that it can use. Was it not the same in the 19th Century? Did any one REALLY care?
Doesn't the College of Arms try to say that THEY are the ones with authority to grand to citizens of Commonwealth countries? Does Lyon often make grants to non-Scottish people who are cubjects of the Queen in places besides Scotland?
A freely available version can be found here: www.committeeonheraldry.org/wp-content/uploads/Gore_Roll_RIHC.pdf but there are also versions on the NEHGS website that you can pay to access.
This was really informative, structure like this is so important! Too bad my blood is entirely too mixed to be able to claim one thing. This was awesome, looking forward to seeing more lectures!
I am happy to see the AHS producing these lectures. Also fascinating to see the challenging emblazonment I completed for Mr. Isaac Schneider while I assisted the International Association of Amateur Heralds' Design Assistance Team,
USAF squadron badges (such as the one with Dumbo the elephant) are not intended to be classically heraldic. Many, in fact were designed during WW2 by the Disney studio. They are nevertheless official. It's really a different genre of emblematics. Wings and groups have actual coats of arms, and it's totally fair to judge those by heraldic standards.
