ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 944 http://www.s-gabriel.org/944 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 5 Jun 1998 Greetings, Here's what we can say about your arms, which would be blazoned as "Sable, a jawless skull argent." We've included some information about piracy in general. Pirates have existed in all periods, but since you are thinking of the Jolly Roger we're going to talk about pirates in the Elizabethan period (the late 16th century). For that period, it's entirely possible for a pirate to have a coat of arms. It was a common practice for a ruler to give a private shipowner a "letter of marque" that authorized him to raid the commerce of other countries. Some of these shipowners, called "privateers," rose to a fairly high rank--and when they were unable to get a letter of marque, many of them were not above engaging in unauthorized raiding--piracy-- as well. (1) However, the coats of arms that these people had were not connected with the "Jolly Roger." In fact, we're not even sure that the "Jolly Roger" was used in period; it may not have been invented until after 1600. Privateering was an acceptable profession for gentlemen (that is, people with the right to bear arms), and there are numerous examples of privateers (and pirates) who had arms. That said, there is no reason that a pirate would have arms that have any connection with the Jolly Roger. First off, we're not even sure that the Jolly Roger is period. Secondly, a person who acquired arms through piracy would not be likely to connect his arms (which are his personal property) with a symbol in general use. A pirate would be no more likely to use skulls in his arms than anyone else. However, we did check the arms you suggested. They conflict with the Jolly Roger, which is protected by the SCA. However, you could use the arms "Sable, three skulls argent" (which would have two skulls at the top of the shield and one below). In period art, skulls seem to have been shown both with jaws and without, and no particular distinction seems to have been made between them; a blazon of "a skull" would allow you to draw them either way as the whim took you. (2) We also looked at other ideas based on your suggestions, since they would be equally appropriate for your persona--you mentioned that you were also thinking of using daggers, rapiers, or snakes. Daggers and rapiers are very common in the SCA, but very rare in period heraldry, so we avoided them. The simplest snake design that we couldn't find a conflict for is "Sable, a snake glissant in bend argent." (This is a snake drawn in a wavy way, as though it's gliding through the grass. It is diagonal and its head is in the upper left of the shield.) We can also suggest "Sable, a whale argent." Whales were drawn in a very distinctive way in medieval and Renaissance art: They had boar-like heads with tusks, bear-like forelimbs and two short tubes sticking out of their heads, which represented spouts. Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmege, Aryanhwy Prytydes verch Catmael Caermyrdin, Alison Macdermot, Talan Gwynek, Modar Neznanich, Teceangl Bach, Rouland Carre, Miguel Santos de Borja, and Daniel de Lincoln contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel (1) Britannica Online, "Piracy" (accessed 4/21/98). (2) See for example _Descent from the Cross_ by van der Weyden or _Death, the Knight, and the Devil_ by Du:rer. (found in the _Encyclopedia of World Art_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), 4:297 and 14:413).