My arms are nearing a final design

Steven Harris

After quite a bit of work, consultation with various very patient members of our association, and seven refrigerator tests (at least!), my badge and crest are set, but I have three hopefully-final versions of my arms for which I’d like to get some feedback (ultimately, the decision is mine, but I’d value your impressions and comments):

8A) The Simple
This design has been mindfully in-the-works for nearly 2½ years. It is both densely meaningful and highly symbolic to me; it is also (obviously) the basis of all three of these versions. I’m afraid, however, that it may be too plain.

8B) The Innovative
Wishing to allude to my Scottish ancestry in a unique way, I adapted the “royal tressure” making it green and replacing the alternating fleurs-de-lis (a charge which I don’t particularly care for) with ermine spots (which I like for some aesthetic reason that I cannot explain). This one may be too "new" to be borne seriously.

8C) The Third (since no good adjective comes to mind)
My ancestral homeland is the Isle of Harris (hence my surname) in the Outer Hebrides – in the lands of the Clan MacLeod, whose kilt I have been known to wear on occasion. The bordure is inspired to the arms of the Chief:

I am open to other ideas as well to allude to Scotland in general, or the Isle of Harris and the Clan MacLeod specifically…

For your reference, the rest of my heraldry is as follows:

Crest:
Issuant from a wreath of fig leaves (Ficus religiosa) a bobcat (Lynx rufus) sejant gorged with a scarf of the MacLeod of Harris clan tartan and in her dexter paw a single apple blossom (Malus domestica) all proper.

Motto (below the shield):
“To Thine Own Self Be True” (from Hamlet I:3)

Slogan (above the crest):
“Veritas Honorque” (Latin: “Truth and Honor”)

Badge (also my avatar, thanks to Kenneth Mansfield):
An octagon Sable charged with three Annulets interlaced as in the arms within an Orle Argent.
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SAHarris
harrissab@gmail.com

Kenneth Mansfield · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:25 pm Post subject:

Steven, I like all three of them, though my preference would be either 8b or 8c. 8a just seems a little too minimalist (as in art or decor) for me.

I do wonder what it would look like if you used a pellet rather than an escutcheon.
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Kenneth Mansfield

Steven Harris · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:51 pm Post subject:

Kenneth Mansfield · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject:

I know that you have, I think from the beginning (?), wanted the chevron rompu included in your arms as a reference to your education at Virginia Military Institute. My concern (for lack of a better word) with the escutcheon is that it looks like an augmentation of honor. And given that this particular part of the arms of VMI is itself an augmentation of honor, it seems all the more so. From the TIOH memo to the superintendent of VMI:

John Jones · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:57 pm Post subject:

Version 8C is - for me - the most striking.
Quite a strong design.
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John Jones
Fellow IAAH

Martin Goldstraw · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:58 am Post subject:

Kenneth Mansfield · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:24 pm Post subject:

I could live with the following color violation, given that the escutcheon, even though it is in honor point, is still "over all".

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Kenneth Mansfield

Kenneth Mansfield · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:13 pm Post subject:

Or if busy doesn't bother you...

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Kenneth Mansfield

Kenneth Mansfield · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:48 pm Post subject:

Someone at the AHS forum had the same suggestion as mine (sans tressure version) with the exception that he suggested moving the escutcheon to the crest to be held by the bobcat. The last two suggestions then, without the escutcheon:

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Kenneth Mansfield

Kaj Malachowski · Joined: 17 Mar 2010 Posts: 85 Location: Warsaw, Poland

much better now!
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regards! -

Kaj M.

Robyn Heisel · Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 73 Location: California, USA

I like the idea of Kenneth's last two suggestions, the argent rings (with/without the double tressure) on the quarterly gules/azure. It's very striking. Including the escutcheon on the shield unfortunately makes either one look busier. (Why the last two designs don't look as busy, even with the double tressure, is beyond me.)
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Robyn Heisel

Alexander Liptak · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:49 am Post subject:

Claus K Berntsen · Joined: 27 Feb 2009 Posts: 8 Location: Lund, Sweden

Joseph McMillan · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:23 pm Post subject:

As a compromise between the elegant simplicity of the rings and the fussiness created by the ermined tressure, how about a plain orle argent?

Quarterly Azure and Gules three annulets interlaced within an orle Argent?
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Joseph McMillan

Peter Harling · Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject:

IMO the shield does look much nicer without the escutcheon. I personally like the plane quartered shield with the rings and without the double tressure. But that may not be Scottish enough for Steven!
Regards ............ Peter
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Peter Harling