The Gauntlet - November 2008

November 2008 Gauntlet

A Publication of Armorial Gold Heraldry Services

HERALDRY RAMBLINGS

Lots of New Art...

This month, a collection of Arms embowed, vested and holding; a series of oval bordures, a wonderful new angel template, 4 new mantles, some attractive new shields, a Trillium flower and more. Those who would like the Santa for your website, please email the office and indicate the file format you would like...

Next month we will feature a mixed assortment of symbols requested by some of you, including a new bookplate template, and an angel playing the harp.

Angels are religious symbols, of purity, protection, guardianship, and suffering. They have been used in heraldry, around the world. The Cherub appears to be the most popular, and its symbolism follows that of the Angels

STAFF NOTES

Furs in Heraldry....

John Guillim's 17th-century work is an early attempt to explain the rules and history of heraldry. Here is an excerpt from his book as it relates to “furs” (ermine, vair etc).

"Furres (used in Armes) are taken for the skinnes of certaine beasts stripped from the bodies, and artificially trimmed, for the furring, doubling, or lining of Roabes and Garments, serving as well for state and magnificence, as for wholesome and necessarie use".

"A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist".

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Cross Pattee undy and a Cross Pattee Indented: next month

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LADY'S SLEEVE

(maunch, manche)

Used in heraldry from the custom of knights who attended tournaments wearing their ladies' sleeves as a pledge of love and loyalty. Over the years. it has also be used to symbolize allegiance, likely because of its original use. The Maunch can have patterns (like ermine) and also lines of division (like most charges do). It is believed the First Baron Hastings, John Hastings b. 1262 d. 1313 was first to use the charge.

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DAS WAPPEN ADDITIONS

We have 10 new arms added to the Das Wappen collection, they are free to all. Need them? email the office with file format preferred.

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TRILLIUM FLOWER

Trillium literally means "three parted lily, and it was Linnaeus (the naturalist) who created this fitting name to describe the tripleness of this forest wild flower. The State wild flower of the Ohio and the Provincial flower of Ontario (Canada), the Trillium can reach heights of 18 inches. With age they can turn to pink. Popular folklore says that if a Trillium is picked off a mountain, it will cause rain. The white trillium is a symbol of beauty, purity, healing and is often associated with the Trinity, a Christian doctrine, stating that God exists as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but is one being. The root was used by native North American Indians and the early settlers, for medicinal purposes. The Trillium is referred to by some as the Wake-Robin, likely because its an early spring bloomer, and by others as the Western lily, the latter resulting in the adoption of some of the symbolism associated with the European lily.

THE WORLDS LARGEST PROVIDER OF HERALDRY ART

We are leaving this help tip up, as more and more of you are upgrading

your Corel Draw software to X3 or X4

Corel Draw has changed some default settings in X3 and X4 that can render your vector images black, do the same for your F9 preview and in the case of X4 display your image excessively dark.

Fixes:

Top Command Bar/View Select “enhanced” and not “enhanced with overprints”;
Top Command Bar/Tools/Color Management Color Mode for Effects-should be set at RGB (not CMYK);
Top Command Bar/Tools Select “Save Settings as default” ;
When importing AG graphics into X4, make sure you first group your image before using the F9 full screen preview (X3 imports the graphic already grouped).