Aspects of Heraldry

 It's that time of year again and my copy of Aspects of Heraldry, The Journal of The Yorkshire Heraldry Society, has just dropped through my letter box. 

Edited (and with a great many illustrations and articles) by David Waterton-Anderson, this is always a pleasure to receive. This edition has a wide variety of articles produced by David (Armorial Cloth Badge, Heraldry at Orton Hall, and Markenfield Hall) and other contributors including Analeigh Sbrana (Keeping it in the family), Michael A. Linton (Shifting Barony: Vesci), Donald M. Hallowes (Whitkirk Church) Geoffrey Collier (Haldenby Arms) and yours trully (Canting Arms & Making it Fit).

If you are not yet a member of The Yorkshire Heraldry Society, I commend it to you; you don't particularly have to live in Yorkshire as the magazine alone is worth the membership fee. The Society has an active schedule of visits and holds an annual lecture day.

David can be contacted at yorksheraldrysoc@gmail.com

A Grant of arms to an Office Holder

Today, the Court of the Lord Lyon published photographs of the Lord Lyon presenting the Letters Patent of  a new grant of arms to the non-hereditary office of Keeper of Inchmahome.

I am always pleased to see how successive Lords Lyon strive to keep heraldry relevant and to the fore. Scotland, in my humble opinion has a head start in this as, unlike its fellow nation of the UK England, it has a thriving Clan system of which heraldry is of great importance. 

Here are the Letters Patent (it is a pity that there is a grammatical error in the execution of the document which appears to have gone unnoticed). 

This image is possibly too small to see but I checked with a magnifying glass. There is a surplus "the".

"John Alexander Stewart of Inchmahome disponed to the the Trustees of the said Society in trust for the use and behoof of the said Society".

Lyon Office has been notified.

Nevertheless, congratulations to the Stewart Society and the present Keeper of Inchmahome, may you gain much joy from the use of the arms of your Office.

New arms for an anniversary - HSS

Congratulations to the Heraldry Society of Scotland whose newly granted supporters commemorating the forthcoming Golden Jubilee, were unveiled at their AGM yesterday. I always liked the crest character which, by accident or design, had always been depicted in the image of one of its original founding members, Charles John Burnett, Ross Herald of Arms Extraordinary, but time moves on and it seems that he has now been replaced by a likeness of the recently deceased Mark Dennis, who was appointed as Ormond Pursuivant of Arms in 2009 and later elevated to Ross Herald of Arms Extraordinary in 2017, a role he held until his retirement from active court duties in 2020. Life moves on. A well deserved tribute to a man whom I though should have been successful in his application to become Lord Lyon.

The Original "Burnet" arms of the HSS

The new "supported" "Dennis" arms of the HSS.

I must admit that when I first saw the newly granted supporters they brought to mind one of the supporters from the completely unauthorised arms adopted many years ago by the late former Chairman of the HSS Romilly Squire who referred to these arms as his "foreign" arms to be use outwith the borders of Scotland.

The "foreign" arms of the late Romilly Squire (artist, himself).

New arms for a extinct family (attributed) - decided.

After some deliberation I have decided to go with the chevron and thistles coat for the arms to be attributed to a fictional family surnamed Touchnor.

Arms: Per chevron Or and Vert, a chevron per chevron between three thistles all counterchanged.

Crest: A porcupine Proper.

Motto: Noli Tangere.

This achievement is presented as an heraldic pun, canting arms or arme parlante; a visual pun on a person's or family's surname using the symbols and charges depicted on their coat of arms.

To play on the surname of "Touchnor" (soundalike: "Touch-no"), this design centres around the idea of avoiding contact or keeping a secure boundary. I have made the "barrier" a chevron per chevron counterchanged and the charges are thistles: A thistle is a prickly, wild herbaceous plant characterized by sharp, needle-like prickles or spines covering its leaves and stem. These sharp bits are a natural defence mechanism designed to protect the plant from being eaten by grazing animals. Thistles litterally say "Touch me not". or "Touch no". 

The crest of a porcupine visually enforces the concept of "do not touch."

The Latin motto Noli Tangere (often written as noli me tangere) literally means "do not touch me." or, "Touch not", a play on the name Touchnor.

Please note, these arms have been designed for a fictional character in a book.

International Rabbit Day 2026

 Today is International Rabbit Day so here are the canting arms of  Conisbie.

Conisbie, alias Coningsby, of Nene Solers (Co. Salop) and Morton Bagott (Co. Warwick)

Arms: Gules, three conies sejant two and one Argent. 

Crest: A coney sejant Argent,

(Visitations 1623 and Edmonson)

This one is quite obvious as a cony (or coney) is the traditional heraldic term for a rabbit, frequently used in British heraldry. Representing fertility and a gentle nature, it often appears in canting arms (puns on surnames) and is commonly depicted as brown, sitting (sejant), or running (courant). Here, it is Argent.

Why do we need a Doncaster East and Axholme Coat of Arms?

Ten out of ten for enthusiasm but I'm not hopeful that the result will be anything but a right pig's ear of a design; it usually is whenever the general public are asked to design a coat of arms or a flag (witness the wonderful flag that Telford has been blessed with). 

And let's just set aside the fact that the College of Arms is strongly under the impression that it is in control of the granting of new armorial bearings and may have an opinion on the actions of Members of Parliament straying into its territory.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1720987406699632

For reference, this is the new Telford flag. 

Talk - Suffolk Heraldry Society

 I shall be giving an online Zoom talk to members and friends of the Suffolk Heraldry Society on Thursday 18 February 2027 at 7.30pm.

I look forard to seeing you there.

New arms for a extinct family (attributed)

I am in the process of designing fictional arms for a 16th century family with the surname Tichnor from the fictional manor of Tichnor (the Tichnor surname is extinct in England). Needless to say, as I am fond of punning arms, puns feature heavily in the design. Design B has, possibly, the stronger pun but design A has its merits. 

Here are the two images and the explanation behind the puns is bellow.

Design B:

To play on "Touchnor" (soundalike: "Touch-no"), this design centres around the idea of avoiding contact or keeping a secure boundary. The Shield  is Vert (Green), symbolizing nature, growth, and the countryside but it is the main charge which provides the pun. The only charge on the shield is a Noli me tangere (Latin for "touch me not") flower, specifically, a stylized Touch-Me-Not (or Jewelweed) plant. This provides a direct, botanical pun on the name. The Border (bordure) counter-compony of Argent (Silver) and Sable (Black) signifies a boundary, wall, or barrier, enforcing the "nor/no" portion of the name by saying "stop, do not cross, don't touch me.

The crest of a porcupine visually enforces the concept of "do not touch."

The Latin motto Noli Tangere (often written as noli me tangere) literally means "do not touch me." or, "Touch not", a play on the name Touchnor.

Design A:

The same basis applies but here I have made the "barrier" a chevron per chevron counterchanged and the charges are thistles: A thistle is a prickly, wild herbaceous plant characterized by sharp, needle-like prickles or spines covering its leaves and stem. These sharp bits are a natural defence mechanism designed to protect the plant from being eaten by grazing animals. Thistles litterally say "Touch me not". or "Touch no". 

I shall mull it over.

 

Shropshire's Punning Heraldry - now available to purchase

The book is now available to pre-order (expected to be in stock within 10 days) at £40 plus shipping. 

A4 size (210 x 297 mm) Hard back and full colour.

Excluding the forword and index there are 138 pages and 184 colour images.

Shipping will be Tracked:

Book + UK £40 (plus PayPal £2.30 Buyer Protection fee) plus P&P via Ebay 

Book + Europe £60

Book + All Others £70

For overseas buyers, please contact me with your details (including address) at:

and I will send you a PayPal invoice.

Please note, whilst the book is available worldwide, for UK buyers only, the book is available on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/298721063123

Staffordshire's Punning Heraldry - Bagnall

 Bagnall

Arms: Per saltire Or and Ermine, a lion rampant Azure.*

Crest: An antelope sejant Argent ducally gorged Or.

There is a clever heraldic pun (known as canting arms) to be found in the crest of this achievement. The pun relies on a very rare, mythical heraldic beast known as the bagwyn. 

The blazon describes the crest as an antelope sejant. In traditional British heraldry, a bagwyn is an imaginary monster that looks almost exactly like a heraldic antelope. The primary distinction between the two is minimal, mostly involving the specific shape of the horns and the horse-like tail. Because they are so visually identical, armourists frequently substituted or conflated the two creatures. Bagwyn, is a direct phonetic pun on the surname Bagnall ("Bag-wyn" / "Bag-nall"). By placing an antelope in the crest, the designer created a visual nod to the bagwyn, cementing a classic medieval wordplay on the bearer's family name. 

*This blazon is possibly as the result of a transcription error. When the lineage was formally proven and confirmed by the Kings of Arms (including Robert Glover in 1583 and William Dugdale in 1663), the official, legally recognized grant for the Staffordshire Bagnalls was strictly maintained as the version with the two horizontal bars (Ermine, two bars Or...). The per saltire version exists as a recognized historical variant or transcription error specific to certain localized manuscript copies of those Visitation books. Whether we take this version as a transcription error or just a variant, both versions nevertheless have Ermine and Or.

Staffordshire's Punning Heraldry - Cunliffe

 Cunliffe

Arms:  Sable three conies courant Argent.

Crest: A greyhound sejant Argent collared Sable.

There is an excellent heraldic pun (known in heraldry as canting arms) to be found in this achievement. The pun operates on two clever levels, playing with both the sounds of the words and the interactions of the animals depicted. The core of the pun relies on the historical pronunciation of the word "Conies". The word Conies (the old English word for rabbits) was traditionally pronounced to rhyme with "honeys" or "monies" (with a short 'u' sound: /ˈkʌni/). 

"Cunliffe" (originally derived from the Lancashire location Cundeclif or Cumbecliue) starts with the exact same phonetic sound ("Cun-").  By placing three conies on the shield, the armiger was using visual wordplay to sound out the first syllable of the surname Cunliffe. 

The combination of the shield and the crest creates a lively, theatrical joke: On the shield, the conies are described as courant (running). Perched directly above them on the crest is a greyhound, a dog famously bred for coursing and hunting rabbits. The layout creates a perpetual visual gag: the greyhound sits atop the helmet eternally watching or waiting to chase the three rabbits running across the shield right below it.