Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 512

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 512

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/512

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for our opinion of your designs for your arms and badge. Here's what we've found.

You asked about several different designs for arms and badges. Most recently, you asked about these arms:

Per pale sable and Or, ten crosses botonny counterchanged.

Per pale sable and Or, ten crosses botonny four three two and one counterchanged.

The two blazons describe the same arms. Both are correct. We agree with Talan that this design is excellent period-style armory. We found no conflict with it.

You asked about this badge:

Per pale sable and Or two crosses botonny counterchanged.

Period badges did not have fields. The notion of a "fielded badge" is the result of a misinterpretation of some 17th century evidence; no one has yet produced an example of a period personal badge which had a field. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you use a fieldless badge. We can suggest two designs:

A cross botonny per pale sable and Or. A cross botonny per bend sable and Or.

The fielded version of your badge may conflict with the registered Society arms of Edward Ross "Per bend sinister Or and sable, two crosses crosslet fitchy counterchanged." Opinion is divided in the Academy over how the College of Arms would judge this conflict. The two fieldless designs that we suggested are free of conflict.

You had asked us about some other designs in earlier letters, "Per bend sable and Or, crusily botonny counterchanged" and "Sable,a cross botonny and a chief wavy Or". Your more recent designs, which we have discussed above, are better. Unless you are still particularly interested in the old designs, we recommend you use the newer ones.

I hope this letter has been helpful. Talan Gwynek, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Zenobia Naphtali, and Rouland Carre contributed to this letter.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur