A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

The Wild Rose Connection

The heraldic Rose until a much later date than its first appearance in armory-it occurs, however, at the earliest period-was always represented in what we now term the "conventional" form, with five displayed petals. Accustomed as we are to the more ornate form of the cultivated rose of the garden, those who speak Of the "conventional" heraldic rose rather seem to overlook that it is an exact reproduction of the wild rose of the hedgerow, which, morever, has a tendency to show itself "displayed" and not in the more profile attitude we are perhaps accustomed to.

It should also be observed that the earliest representations of the heraldic rose depict the intervening spaces between the petals which are noticeable in the wild rose. Under the Tudor sovereigns, the heraldic rose often shows a double row of petals, a fact which is doubtless accounted for by the then increasing familiarity with the cultivated variety, and also by the attempt to conjoin the rival emblems of the warring factions of York and Lancaster.

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It's been a tough year for the Heraldry industry.

We wish everyone a better one, with good health and prosperity.

THE FLEUR DE LIS

As old as the 5th Century

To France and the arms of France one must turn for the origin of the heraldic use of the fleur-de-lis. To begin with, the form of the fleur-de-lis as a mere presumably meaningless form of decoration is found long before the days of armory, in fact from the earliest period of decoration. It is such an essentially natural development of decoration that it may be accepted as such without any attempt to give it a meaning or any symbolism. Its earliest heraldic appearances as the finial of a sceptre or the decoration of a coronet need not have had any symbolical character. We then find the "lily" accepted as having some symbolical reference to France, and it should be remembered that the iris was known by the name of a lily until comparatively modern times. It is curious-though possibly in this case it may be only a coincidence-that, on a coin of the Emperor Hadrian, Gaul is typified by a female figure holding in the hand a lily, the legend being, "Restutori Gallise." The fleur-de-lis as the finial of a sceptre and as an ornament of a crown can be taken back to the fifth century.

HERALDRY RAMBLINGS

This month we will be providing additional Families of Britain (Garter Series) renderings due to popular demand. Many of you have this collection and requests have been numerous.

January will feature some new lion styles that will sure to please.

Popular Free Graphic Software Serif Draw for Windows has introduced some changes worth noting. The software was in disfavour when Vista came out as the Free version of Serif would not work with the Vista operating system nor its offspring Windows 7. The new free version is now called the Draw Plus Starter Edition and works with Vista and Windows 7. We should further note that when you have Serif ready to go, to open a wmf file you don't select "open", you use "insert" from file. For those who want to try it out, click on the Serif logo.

Free software for Windows and Mac. Tips: Use "open" to open a wmf file. To ungroup the image, click once on it and choose "modify" (top command bar), then "break". To group an image you select the image with your mouse, then choose "modify" then "Group. To download software click on the Logo.

THE HORSESHOE

The Devil's Promise

Signifies good fortune and in ancient times was used as a safeguard against evil spirits. There is very little evidence of nailed-on shoes prior to AD 500 or 600, though there is speculation that the Celtic Gauls were the first to nail on metal horseshoes. Dunstan, the patron saint of blacksmiths, is said to have nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof. Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after he promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is over the door. Legend has it.

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