Re: Royal Heraldry Changes and Where You Fit In

[Phillip of Ghent <garm@teach.ENET.dec.com>]

> Mistress Moira writes:
>
>I had thought that the original Queen's arms did have a wreathe of roses,
>to balance the wreathe of laurel.  Either my memory is faulty or it was
>changed at a later time.  Likewise, I do not remember the fields originally
>being reversed for male and female.

Mistress Moira is correct in her recollection of the Queen's arms
originally having a wreath of roses.  My lady, Mistress Kiri, succeeded
Mistress Moira as Triton, and was directed by Atlantia's second Queen,
Anya du Calais, to redesign the Queen's arms.  HRM felt that the green
wreath being on a blue field half the time was lost, and the overall design
too "busy".  Mistress Kiri discussed design changes at a Kingdom Herald's
meeting (when such things occurred fairly regularly), and the current design
was their concensus.  The wreath of roses was replaced by three roses (two
in chief and one in base) in an attempt to simplify the design.  According
to the blazon, the two roses in chief should be placed on the coitises, and
the one in base on the per pale line of division.

>From the earliest days of Atlantia, the field divisions for the Soverign
and Consort have been mirror-images of each other, one azure and argent,
the other argent and azure.  Like most of the populace, I can't remember
which is which.

While I've heard complaints from seamstresses for over a decade, I'd really
miss the coitises if they were to go.  They make the arms more visually
complex, but they definetely say "Atlantia".

- Phillip of Ghent
Atlantian since Before Dirt(tm)