ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 412 http://www.s-gabriel.org/412 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 2 Jul 1997 From: Gretchen M Beck Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! Here is the information we have about simplifying your original arms design, "Gules, on a bend sinister argent trefly vert between an increscent Or and a rose slipped and leaved bendwise sinister argent, a wolf's head erased sable." You wrote that dropping the trefoils and the wolf's head, and changing the color of the crescent to argent would be acceptable to you. There are several Anglo-Norman style designs that meet these specifications. We are reasonable sure that these designs do not conflict with any registered arms. All the designs below use a bend instead of a bend sinister. While a bend sinister could be used, a bend is preferable. The bend sinister was very rare in period arms, and in some times & places may not have been distinguished from the bend at all. It is therefore better re-creation to use the bend rather than the bend sinister. If you chose the bend sinister to indicate illegitimate birth, then you should be aware that it did not mean that in period arms. The association of the bend sinister with illegitimacy is modern. The bend sinister had no particular meaning in period arms. In the following designs, the crescent would be interpreted as a cadency mark, showing that you were the second son of the owner of the arms, or a descendent of that son: Gules, on a bend between six roses, in dexter chief a crescent gules Gules, on a bend between two roses slipped and leaved argent in dexter chief a crescent gules Gules, on a bend between three roses slipped and leaved argent in dexter chief a crescent gules In these designs, the crescent shape is not used as a cadency mark. They are less typical of Anglo-Norman style than the examples above, because Anglo-Norman arms tended to have charges on an ordinary (an ordinary is a simple non-animate charge such as a bend), or charges surrounding an ordinary, but not both: Gules, on a bend between six increscents argent, three roses gules. (Two or three increscents would also work) Gules, on a bend between six roses argent, three increscents gules (as with the design above, two or three roses would also work) And, finally, here are a couple of designs where the crescent is eliminated: Gules, a bend between two roses argent Gules, a bend between three roses argent The two designs above also work if crescents are substituted for the roses. Alan Fairfax, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Talan Gwynek, Zenobia Naphtali, Christian de Holacombe, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Arval d'Espas Nord contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful. Please let us know if we can answer any further questions. In service, Margaret Makafee 2 Jul 1997