I’m reading the Song of Ice & Fire series (Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, etc.) and it is constantly describing the banners and sigils of the noble houses of the land. Started me thinking- if I were raised to the nobility, what would I choose as mine?
I always wear a gold ankh ring on my pinky- I have for more than 20 years, it’s probably my single favorite possession (lots of sentimental value plus I like the ring itself). I could do an ankh as a sigil, but that’s used by Death in The Sandman series, plus I’m obviously not Egyptian.
So maybe a centaur. I’ve always liked them and my sign is Sagittarius, so there’s some basis. But then I recall that my astrological sign is disputed with some saying I’m the new 13th sign of Ophiucus, which is a serpent sign and I hate snakes with a passion.
So I’ll backtrack to a gold ankh against a field of whatever shade of blue is closest to my eyes (medium?).
Something like this, with a needle and thread couchant, maybe. Ooh, I know; it would be on a shield with needles and thread scattered across an acid green ground. Acid green is my favorite color.
I’ve designed several shield emblems for my D&D characters, as they became eligible (in the game world) to carry their own devices. One of them was azure and or, gyronny. Another was azure and erminois on the bend, a bend vair, issuant an axe or hilted argent.
I don’t know what sort of emblem I’d devise for myself, though. Probably a barred owl proper, on a field azure.
I think I’d go with a Bull. I’m a Taurus and while I’m not much of a believer in any of that stuff I am big, bullheaded and proud. Plus bulls can be pretty bad-ass and would look tough charging into war. It doesn’t hurt that as a Chicagoan I already identify with the Bulls logo. Maybe if I wanted to go with a hardcore Chicago sports theme I’d blend the Bull and Bear. There’s a bar in Chicago that did that but I think their logo is a poor execution.
When I was a kid I always had a thing for big cats, tigers and cheetahs were always favorites and my school’s mascots were always Wildcats which had a few cool logos. They wouldn’t have the symbolism that the bull would though.
I’ve got an engineering degree and have always had an affinity for building/tinkering so something symbolic of a builder would probably work too. The masonic symbol with the compass and square is a pretty good one, but I’m not a mason and I’d do without the god stuff.
If I wanted to go all evil about it it might be cool to use the all-seeing eye and pyramid from the back of the dollar bill. Something about that eye, while originally intended to be the eye of God reminds me more of the eye of Sauron and all his malice. In a world like Westeros being an all-seeing asshole could be good clean fun and the pyramid kind plays into the builder vibe.
As for colors, probably green. Don’t have a strong reason for it other than it’s a good color on me. Maybe a golden bull on a dark green backdrop. It sounds like it’s be regal and powerful and green is of the earth which isn’t a bad angle to play up.
OK, in heraldry, the noun comes first, then the color. Or means “gold” in heraldry. Argent is silver. So it woud be “a golden axe with a silver hilt”. So no, there isn’t a noun missing.
Erminois is an ermine variant. Ermine and vair are both considered furs, and the character who had this emblem was known as the mad skinner, because he’d skin ANYTHING, if he could do it in a reasonable amount of time. If the party had just killed a dinosaur, for instance, he would reluctantly agree that it was not really worth the time it would take to skin it. Instead, he’d content himself with taking a couple of teeth.
Purpure, three suns in their splendor and on a chief argent, three frets azure. I’m not totally convinced that this discription makes it clear that the suns are also white (argent - silver), rather than the default for suns, which is yellow (or-gold). But that’s the way the heralds blazon it. Talk to them if it’s wrong.
My device is the second one down. Look for my name.
Plain-speech translation. Purple with a big white stripe across the top (that’s the chief - it can take up to 1/3 of the shield or banner) and three white suns with smiling faces under it. Across the stripe are three blue frets (wickerwork interlacings).
The device is a cant (pun) of “I have three sons and, in chief, I fret over them.” It’s a pity that the suns end up being so fiddly when they’re shrunk to make a computer icon. It’s only slightly busy when full-sized. When putting it on a long banner or scarf, I just line the frets and suns up single-file and it looks fine.
