Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 777

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 777

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/777

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 whether there are any pre-17th century examples of "Barry gules and sable fimbriated Or" or "Gules, two bars sable fimbriated Or". You also asked if "Per chevron barry sable and gules fimbriated Or and argent, a horse salient sable" would be reasonable period style arms, noting that it was based on the Porsche emblem.

First, we'd like to mention a couple of things about the Porsche emblem. The first is that the 2nd and 4th quarter of the emblem are not "barry gules and sable fimbriated Or"; they are simply "barry gules and sable." If you look closely at the emblem, you'll notice that it is enamel work. Every object is outlined with gold wire that holds the enamel in place; this makes it appear as if all the objects are "fimbriated Or". The second you probably already know: the emblem itself is modern. According to the Porsche company, it was designed on the back of a napkin in the 1950s. [1] Any resemblance it has to period heraldry is coincidental.

The design you describe, which we blazoned "Per chevron barry sable and gules fimbriated Or and argent, a horse salient sable", is not consistent with period heraldic style. We know of no arms in period that use "Barry gules and sable fimbriated Or".

The design "Per chevron gules and argent, in chief two bars sable fimbriated Or and in base a horse salient sable" is also not consistent with period heraldic style. If properly drawn, this design shows both bars above the point of the per chevron division, which makes the arms artistically unbalanced. In period heraldry, the idea of a balanced design is very important. Charges are drawn to evenly and symmetrically fill the areas on which they lie. We believe that the design element "Gules, two bars sable fimbriated Or" is possible for period arms, but it is an unlikely design. Fimbriation is extremely rare in period heraldry, but it is occasionally found in very simple designs such as the one just described.

If you plan to register a variation on these arms with the SCA College of Arms, please note the registered arms of Richard Ironsteed, "Quarterly azure and argent, a horse rampant sable." These arms will conflict with almost any arms containing only a horse rampant sable.

We recommend the following arms, which use elements of your original design:

We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. AElfwyn aet Gywrum, Daniel de Lincolia, Zenobia Naphtali, Lothar von Katzenellenbogen, Arval d'Espas Nord, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Livia Montgomery, and Talan Gwynek aided in researching and writing this letter.

In Service,
Margaret Makafee


References

[1] Private conversation with Porsche Cars North America, Inc customer service line, February 1998.