Re: Heraldic Side Note

[clevin@rci.ripco.com (Craig Levin)]

Poster: clevin@rci.ripco.com (Craig Levin)

Branwynn dixit:

> Greetings unto this list from Branwynn Ottersby!
> Since no one has answered this yet, and I'm sure we are all burning
> to know :^), I will take a shot. Her blazon is similar to my own,
> which can go "Azure, an estoile of eight rays Argent, in chief,
> three gouttes Azure."

Er, the same problem applies. Stealth gouttes.

> According to the herald who helped write the verbiage, the stating
> of the tincture of the chief is redundant since it is the same as
> main charge just mentioned. Just another funny Herald-Thang.

Nope. You've neglected to state that there's a chief up there.
Being a herald myself, I can see the error of your blazoner. What
he or she intended was:

Azure, an estoile of eight rays Argent, and on a chief of the
second, three gouttes Azure. That's the English CoA's style of
blazonry, and not the one we prefer.

If you don't tell people that there's a chief up there, you've
messed up your blazon. Chief, of course, is not only an
appellation for a charge, but also a direction on the shield-the
top. "In chief" and "on a chief" are two different things. Think
of it this way:

Argent, two bars and in chief three mullets fesswise Gules looks
different from Argent, two bars Gules, on a chief Gules, three
mullets fesswise Argent. One is the arms of Wessington (and
Washington), and the other is okay armory that, AFAIK, is up for
grabs.

> However, since it *IS* a funny herald-thang, and many people aren't
> aware of the convention, I _sometimes_ blazon mine "Azure, an estoile of
> eight rays Argent, and on a chief Argent, three gouttes Azure" to
> make certain that I am understood.

That is the proper blazon.

> I know I sound terribly hickish to all the heralds 'round here,
> and until everyone knows the convention, I'm willing to put up
> with that for clarity's sake...

Clarity in blazon is the whole goal of the language. Otherwise,
it wouldn't have evolved.

-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
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