Reginald Ignatius Periwinkle Coat of Arms

   Arms are of course ancient and like many things in our daily lives, subject to the demands of the powers that be. Traditionally arms were assumed as a means of self identification, very handy in battle and by the 1500's as a way of branding oneself much in the way modern logos do. Arms eventually fell under the jurisdiction of the monarch but it is now common for people to hold arms either via assumption, registration, trade mark or still via a traditional grant.

   Over hundreds of years rules developed around the construction of arms although now the rules are much more relaxed and one is at liberty to decide how much or how little one chooses to stay or stray by the traditional conventions associated with heraldry.

   Below are the arms my daughter made for myself consisting of a shield and emblem. The blazon I have concluded is- Or, a Serpent (instrument) sable proper. I have registered this design subsequently for posterity and it can be located here- Reginald Ignatius Periwinkle . The serpent instrument was a horn instrument of the brass family from around the 1500's. I have yet to come up with a helmet & or crest but have decided upon the motto 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' which loosely means Victory through harmony.

'Victoria Concordia Crescit' 

  I shall be developing this design over time and will add further images as time permits. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.

   A coat of arms really comes to life with paint and parchment, much more so than I have seen with vector files. In my latest development my achievement has now developed a crest and scrolled motto. The art work below was a commission by fellow Yorkshire man Mr Arthur Richard Brinnhard. For the crest I decided a play on my name would be amusing. The raven in Western European tradition tends to be associated with woe and death and as my initials are RIP...a bit of Gothic irony!

What next? Perhaps a helmet and mantling? In some Western traditions there are also supporters, vivid animals that feature to the left & right of the shield. However these are  regarded as the trappings of the aristocracy in the UK so I think i will steer away from that aspect of heraldry. 

Blazon

Tonight I spent some time discussing the best way to describe the blazon or the language used to describe my coat of arms. A Mr Richard Lichten came up with this very apt Blazon- 

'Or,a Church Serpent of six tone holes sable, garnished of the first'.

The Crest- A Raven (Corvus corax) Proper, perched upon a wreath of Or and Sable. Motto- Victoria Concordia Crescit' 

I had forgot that there are actually two main types of Serpents, military & religious. The difference  being evident  in the bends of the 'S' shape. The Church design being more relaxed whereas tighter in the Military variant. See photo-

Another good example of a Church serpent. The instrument is claimed to have been invented by Canon Edmé Guillaume in 1590 in Auxerre, France, and was first used to strengthen the sound of choirs in plainchant.

A fine artist by the name of Arthur Richard Brinnhard designed the template for my wax seal using my shield only. His design is rather unique and a nice change from the ubiquitous iron beater. This was the design-

Here is a wax seal impression  made by the brass wax seal I purchased from the Peoples Republic of China for a very small purse of coins.

A great rendition by the Lion of Brinnhard with helm & mantling.

2016 My official Grant of Arms from the Principality of Sealand