Celtic Crest

[celticstudio]

Heraldry is full of conventions and contradictions. One of those conventions is that the strap is the second livery colour of the armiger (in this instance, the Chief). Now the contradiction occurs when the second livery colour is blue. In that instance the usual choice would be black, taking the next colour in order of precedence (red, blue, black, green, purple). But, if so desired, you could stick with blue.

Now for all you heraldic hair-splitters: the "livery colours" are derived from the arms, with the first depicted colour in the wreath always being the first named metal (gold or silver, in that order). So even if the shield is blue charged with a gold thingiemabob, the liveries would be depicted on the wreath under the crest as gold and blue.

And that means that the Buckle and Strap would either be blue or black.

Hi,
You are very correct in every way about the colours of the torse and that it should be a metal colour however there is no connection between the livery colours and the colour of the belt and buckle. These were originally made of leather and from my research and experince in this field for the last 33 years I have never found a reference that states this as a fact of heraldry. I would appreciate a reference. I have a very large library on herladry and probably have any text that states this "convention". I believe that this is incorrect as is any discussion about the colour of the belt and buckle. Heraldry is an art form. There are rules for proper heraldry but there is some latitude. Heraldry is a written format. The heraldic artist is to follow the rules of heraldry and the description as set out in words. How the artist "draws" an image is up to the artists level of skill. It is only wrong if it breaks heraldic rules or does not follow the description.
The colour of the belt and buckle is not set out in the grant of Arms nor, I believe, is there a rule on the colour of the belt and buckle. I am always interested in learning and if you can "prove" this I would appreciate knowing.
Let's keep Scottish heraldry clean and crisp and CORRECT!
All the best
Louis

[macwilkin]

Hi Bill,
The words An Ceann Cirean Cinnidh are Gaelic and are translated roughly as “The crest shown is the crest for the Chief (head) of the Clan” and should appear below the crest. I dealt with this by breaking the words in the middle An on one side Cirean on the other side of the end of the buckle. The same with the rest of the wording.
Other obscure heraldry about Clan crests.
The torse is supposed to be made of the two main colours of the Coat of Arm of the Chief and these are used to create the colours of the mantling. The ripped and torn material on either side of the Arms. These were originally supposed to be made of silk and were used to protect the poor guy inside from cooking in his armour! A little shade. To fit this in place they twisted it into a torse (sort of like the Arabs do on their long headdress. I suspect that this was noticed when the knights were on Crusades in the Middle east.) In heraldry the torse is ALWAYS supposed to be of only SIX sections. (Reference: The Art of Heraldry, page 298, 299) More obscure heraldic law. Here is the second part of this same heraldic law. The first colour is ALWAYS supposed to be the metal colour. (Reference: The Art of Heraldry, page 298, 299) Every colour represents a material. The shield in a Coat of Arms is always a metal or a fur. The first colour of the torse is ALWAYS the metal and the second colour is the other predominant colour in the Arms. (Reference: The Art of Heraldry, page 298, 299)
Hope this helps. Your artwork for Kincaid is great .. best I have seen. Very nice. There are a lot of "small" rules that are not described in the description and these "rules" are almost impossible to find to make things perfectly correct.
If I can assist anyone here I will be delighted to do so.. so that Scottish heraldry remains clean, clear and crisp! I have been doing this for 33 years!
All the best
Louis

Sorry, Louis -- I beat you to it.

T.