Emblazon this Count's Shield

[Danihel Laurieir]

To the Kingdom's Heralds:

Apparently, as part of my new exalted status as a Count, I am—according to the Dean of the College of Arms—entitled to "display an achievement of arms which includes a shield, a helm, a coronet, a crest, and a motto."

I have not mastered the heraldic argot so please forgive my imprecision, but here are my tentative thoughts about what I'd like on the shield: the tincture of the shield might be Or, except there'd be a chief gules. In the center, there'd be two charges—a Rhino statant sable above a wreath of laurel vert.

I think I'd like the motto to be "We Shall All See" in Talossan.

As for the helm, coronet and crest…I'll gladly take recommendations.

If my suggestions are muddled or incorrect, I will eagerly defer to the College's undoubtedly superior aesthetic sensibilities.

But please bear in mind that I want my shield and stuff to be uglier--and less Big Huge Birdesque--than Count Ian's.

Thank you, and take your time with this.

[Lord Q]

danlorentz said:

I think I'd like the motto to be "We Shall All See" in Talossan.

[glow=red,2,300]AWESOME!!![/glow]

[King John]

In Old Talossan, the motto's easy — Videbimus Omnes. In Modern Talossan, uh, let's see. Mmmm. How about Noi Toct Vidharent? (Which is, incidentally, the longest sentence ever composed in the history of the Talossan language without a diacritical mark.)

— John Woolley, UrN

[Hooligan]

May it please the College, the OAF will be honoured to see to emblazoning the draft escutcheon as specified by my Lord Castiglhâ. The crowned helm, mantling, and crest, I shall leave to more expert hands in the College.

Hooligan

[Hooligan]

Count Lauriéir:

Please review for accuracy the emblazoned escutcheon below, containing your proposed arms:

Or in pale a rhinoceros pascuant sable and a laurel wreath vert a chief gules.

Respectfully submitted by your most humble servant,
Barôn Tepistà

[Hooligan]

Count Lauriéir:

Okay, I was feeling a bit full of myself, and I went ahead and added the nobleman's helm, the count's coronet, the mantling, and your proposed motto. The emblazon, for your review, appears below:



At your service, milord, I remain,
Barôn Tepistà

[Trotxâ]

mha said:

May it please the College, the OAF will be honoured to see to emblazoning the draft escutcheon as specified by my Lord Castiglhâ.

It so pleases the College. Go to.

-- Jaune Sabre

[Danihel Laurieir]

Excellent!

The rhino is ugly!

Would it be possible for the wizards of the college to see what the shield would look like if the laurel wreath were moved to the red stripe on top?

Would the college have a recommendation to make about the most pleasing placement of the wreath?

About the motto: I think I might prefer the old-school tongue version--Videbimus Omnes--to the new-fangled version. But again, if there's some heraldic tradition or taste at work here I hope the college will steer me right.

Lord Hooligan, I am grateful for your labors. Thank you.

[Hooligan]

My Lord --

The rule against placing colour on colour would prohibit the laurel wreath (vert) from being placed upon the chief (gules). One or the other would need to be re-tinctured. The laurel wreath could become either or or argent (I think that is the first time I have ever used the words "either or or" and been 100% correct in my grammar), or -- yes, or -- the chief could become argent if the vertness (okay, that's probably not a word) of the laurel wreath needs to be maintained.

The alternative would be, as Sir John does on his arms, to place another charge upon the chief and then plant the laurel wreath upon THAT. But that's probably kind of messy in your case, since the wreath is a sizeable thing.

I thank you for your kind words and await your suggestion for further progress.

Hooligan

P.S. Per your request, your proposed motto is now displayed (in the emblazon posted earlier in this thread) in Old (rather than Modern) Talossan.

[King John]

This rhinoceros is ugly, true, but doesn't strike me as very heraldic. There are a very few heraldic rhinos, and maybe we can find a decent depiction of one of them.

Maybe you could make the wreath big, and the beast in the middle of it?

If we lowered the rhino's head, as if he were grazing, he could be blazoned "a rhinoceros pascuant" — cool as all heck, and an all-time heraldic first.

— Blanc Wolf

[Hooligan]

As Sir John says, the rhinoceros is a recognized but quite rare heraldic charge, and this rarety is, I think, very cool. The rhino symbolizes a peaceful nature, very slow to anger, but ferocious and tenacious when challenged.

Hooligan

[Hooligan]

My Lord:

On the suggestion of Blanc Wolf Herald, I have replaced the rhinoceros in the above emblazon with a heraldic depiction of a rhinoceros pascuant. Sir John believes it to be cool as all heck, and an all-time heraldic first. What with the fact that I am as fixated as anyone on TCF, I would concur with the herald, and I await your opinion.

Hooligan

P.S. Sir John, I attempted to surround the beast with the laurel wreath, but the necessary reduction to the size of the inner charge appeared to my eye to disadvantageously affect the resulting emblazon. This said, I would not be surprised if a more talented herald could accomplish the design modfication you propose.

[Danihel Laurieir]

I like the new rhino...It's still ugly enough and more heraldic looking.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to adopt Sir John's suggestion that the beast be nestled within a laurel wreath.

While the rhino's symbolism--slow to anger, but tenacious in a fight--is something I aspire to, it's not necessarily the most accurate description of my temperment. Still, it's an ideal--and its something I've seen before: my folks have a family coat of arms (a homemade thing) that prominently features an ugly rhino.

Thanks for all your work on this...Got to go...the Oscars are starting...

[Trotxâ]

My Lord, Fellows of the College, and citizens Azul -

Standing on the shoulders of the inimitable Lord Hooligan, I present this proposal for your Lordship's achievement:

This has the front-facing silver helm accorded to a count, and leaves space for fauna to be added to support the shield. The laurel does surround the lower part of the rhino.

Still to do:

• Crest
  
• Supporters
  
• Compartment
  
• get rid of the white ghost pixels around the edge
  

Thank you to Lord Hooligan for all his hard work on this. We press onward.

-- Jaune Sabre, Herald

[Danihel Laurieir]

Troxta:

This looks good. Thanks so much.

Let me know when it's all done, so I can start parading it around Wittenberg.