Finding a clan badge

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I think I recently did a post on this -- search the archives, who knows. But in any case, here goes again....

I think a lot of people get confused when talking about heraldry and the proper useage thereof, because they don't know the terms. So, here's a brief little lesson.

ARMS: Arms are born by an individual person and are meant to reperesent only that individual person. They are a graphic representation of the owner and each one is unique, rather like a medieval social security number. So you would never use or display someone else's arms -- it would be like identity theft. The arms are the graphic design that appear on the sheild itself in most representations, although they don't have to be on a shield -- they can be displayed on a flag, banner, standard, or anything else really.

FULL ACHIEVEMENT: The "classic" way to disply one's arms is in full achievement. When displayed this way, the arms are on a sheild, and there is a helm on top of the sheild, usually with mantling (all that flowing stuff you see to either side) of the livery colors. In addition to this, there may be one or more other elements in the full achievement, depending on the status and rank of the bearer. These include.....

SUPPORTERS: These would be the little critters sometimes seen standing on either side of the shield, often depicted "holidng it up."

MOTTO: Shown on an escroll, this can be above or below the full achievement.

And last but not least....

CREST: This is a single object mounted on top of the helm in the full acheivement of arms. Whereas the arms can be made up of a variety of figures, shapes and graphic elements, the crest is always a single object (or sometimes more than one object that are connected -- such as a hand holding a dagger). The reason is that a crest was originally a three-deminsional sculpted object that was mounted atop actual helms worn in tournaments so that the armoured individual could be identified. Like the arms, this is a personal heraldic device that represents the bearer, and it's use by any other individual is wrong.

However, in Scottish heraldry there has developed the convention of displaying the crest alone (not the full achievement) within a strap and buckle (usually bearing the motto), turning the crest into a badge -- hence the term "clansman's crest badge.)

BADGE: Unlike all of the above, which are personal and individual, a badge is a communal heraldic device. It does not denote "I am this person" but rather "I belong to this person" or "I am loyal to this person." An armiger (one who bears arms) may also have a badge that his servants can wear, or that his propery is marked with. As stated above, in Scotland it has become customary to wear the crest of a clan cheif as a badge, denoting loyalty to the cheif.

So, what if you have a name like "Gibson." Well, you may very well scour the records and find someone whose last name was Gibson who bore arms at some point in Scotland, England, Ireland, etc. And that person may have also born a crest. And you could, I suppose, pay good money for someone to reproduce that crest in the style of a Scottish clan badge. But should you?

Remember, this is not your crest. It is the personal crest of someone else. And who is this other person? He has your same last name, but do we know anything else? Is he even related to you? Does he have descendants who continue to bear his arms today? As I stated, displaying his crest as a badge is meant to denote loyalty to a cheif. Is he your cheif? Are you really giving your loyalty to this individual?

Since Gibson is considered part of clan Buchanan, then that is your clan and if you are going to show loyalty to the clan, you need to display and wear that clan cheif's crest badge. It doesn't matter is his last name is different than yours. (As a side note, Buchanan, I beleive, does not have a cheif at present, so displaying the cheif's crest as a badge would not be a display of loyalty to him as a person, but rather to the position of the chief should it ever be filled, and of course to the clan itself).

Long post, I know -- but I hope it answered some questions.
Aye,
Matt

[macwilkin]

Matt,

How are you that eloquent so early in the morning? Well done indeed, sir!

Since Gibson is considered part of clan Buchanan, then that is your clan and if you are going to show loyalty to the clan, you need to display and wear that clan cheif's crest badge. It doesn't matter is his last name is different than yours. (As a side note, Buchanan, I beleive, does not have a cheif at present, so displaying the cheif's crest as a badge would not be a display of loyalty to him as a person, but rather to the position of the chief should it ever be filled, and of course to the clan itself).

I can confirm that the Buchanans have no chief at present, thanks to a friend of mine who represents the Clan Buchanan society in Louisiana at present.

Cheers,

Todd

[Cawdorian]

Matt,

That was a very informative post, very well presented.

Jim

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

MAc,

As usual, a well explained and informed post. I was actually able to understand each of the components is a much better fashion than I had with other posts and research of my own.

RJI

[yoippari]

Ok, I think I get it now. Badges are not all that formal, just a sign of "I'm a (insert family name here)". I really am not sure how coat of arms got brought up with this but I don't really have any interest in a coat of arms, just knowing what badge would be the most appropriate.

St Andrew's cross would not be my first choice but getting into religion vs catholicism vs christianity. I would much rather have a simple "I'm a christian".

[macwilkin]

Ok, I think I get it now. Badges are not all that formal, just a sign of "I'm a (insert family name here)". I really am not sure how coat of arms got brought up with this but I don't really have any interest in a coat of arms, just knowing what badge would be the most appropriate.

In order to understand the symbolism behind a clansman's badge in Scottish heraldy, it is necessary to discuss coats-of-arms and the peculiars of Scottish heraldry.

St Andrew's cross would not be my first choice but getting into religion vs catholicism vs christianity. I would much rather have a simple "I'm a christian".

The St. Andrew's Cross is the national symbol of Scotland, and a "non-denominational" one as well -- as I said in my earlier post, it is found on the national flag, and is worn by many as a sign of their Scottish heritage, regardless of denomination.

Apologies for the confusion. It was not my intention to offend.

T.

[yoippari]

I'm pretty hard to offend. You havn'e come close.

I'm slowly taking this all in, badges, crests, heraldry, a lot of it is completely new to me. So the St. Andrew's Cross badge is basicly a "I'm Scottish" badge?

[macwilkin]

I'm pretty hard to offend. You havn'e come close.

I'm slowly taking this all in, badges, crests, heraldry, a lot of it is completely new to me. So the St. Andrew's Cross badge is basicly a "I'm Scottish" badge?

You've got it. Scottish soldiers have worn the St. Andrew's Cross in one form or another on their tunics for centuries. Here is an article I wrote for Scottish History Online with the story of the Saltire:

http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/...e/saltire.html

And another good article:

http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/Scotland/saltire.html

A Thistle is also appropriate, since the Thistle is another national symbol of Scotland -- legend says that a thistle saved a group of Scots from marauding Vikings when one of the Norsemen planted his big foot on the thistle, causing him to screm and awaken the sleeping Scottish forces.

You might want to take a look at one of the Xmarks kilt pins -- Bob C. is using it as a cap badge on his bonnet, and it looks good -- it is a Saltire on a Celtic knot wreath, very nice.

Cheers,

Todd