Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 624

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 624

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/624

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 sent us a question about designing arms. Your letter was very brief, so please forgive me if I've misinterpretted it.

You can certainly use a wolf in your arms. Wolves were not among the most common charges used in heraldic designs, but they were not uncommon. In many cases, they were used by families whose surnames sounded something like the word for "wolf" in their language: e.g. Wolvington, Loupiac, etc. This practice of using a heraldic charge which suggests your surname is called "canting", and it was quite common in period armory.

Purple was used in period arms. It was considerably less common than some other tinctures -- blue, red, silver, gold, and black were the most common. However, if you want to use purple, you certainly may.

You may be interested to know that both wolves and the color purple are relatively common in period Spanish and Portuguese armory. There are even a few examples of purple wolves. If you'd like to choose a name and arms to fit one of these cultures, we'll be happy to help. You can find some good articles on medieval Spanish and Portuguese names on the web at:

http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/

You might want to consider choosing a surname which sounds like the Spanish or Portuguese word for wolf, <lobo>. It was very common throughout western Europe for people to design their arms to refer to their surnames in this manner. You'd be taking the opposite approach, but the result would be an excellent re-creation. Some surnames that you might consider are <Loba>, <Lobato>, <Lobeira>, and <Vilalobos> [1].

I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have further questions.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur


References

[1] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos

IX-XIII, ambos inclusive (Universidad de Granada, 1957).