Today, I'm really excited to share my latest honor: a coat of arms that was designed for my by the Chief Herald of Flandrensis!
Flandrensis is one of the micronation projects that I've been learning about over the past few weeks while stuck inside in quarantine. A micronation is a sort of simulated country. They have varying degrees of seriousness. Flandrensis is a cool project because it's dedicated to protecting the environment, especially in Antarctica.
Over the past few weeks, I've been working with the Chief Herald to design my coat of arms. After some back-and-forth, he sent me a few designs, which we tweaked together in order to make something that really represents me. And here it is; my Flandrensian (Flandreniaan) Coat of Arms:
Flandrensis Coat of Arms
It has been a fantastic process to work with the Chief Herald to develop my personal Coat of Arm! And I would like to take you along with me on the journey that I took in developing my coat of arms. In heraldic language, my arms are:
Tierced per pall reversed, first Azure three fleurs-de-lys Or, on the fess point a white rose of York proper; second, barruly undy of eighteen Argent, Gules, Argent and Azure; third, Sinople, a three-headed elephant Erawan Argent armed Or. The mantling Argent doubled Gules. Upon the barred helmet Cendrée, a wreath Argent and Gules, the dextrochere of the Archangel Michael proper vested Or holding a sword Argent surrounded with a garland of roses Gules. Motto “A coeur vaillant rien d’impossible”
The development of my coat of arms:
1) Original draft of the design
2) Design utilizing green on the field behind the elephant instead of red in order to distinguish my arms
3) Design flipped so that the Side of Honor would display my heritage
The arms depict the Rose of York and a triple fleur-de-lis to represent my mixed English / French heritage. The right side of the shield depics wavy lines representing tropical waves, harkening back to my Westarctican ams but with alternating red lines. The red, white, and blue waves are patterened like the flag of Thailand, but also stands for my American nationality. The lower part of the shield shows the three-headed Erawan, or the Airavana Elephant which represents my life in Thailand. Originally the elephant was presented against a traditional red background, but the Chief Herald recommended that I instead present it against green to make my arms my own. The green can thus represent that I am a foreigner living in Thailand, but it can also be thought of representing the color of Baylor University, which ultimately led me to take my first job in Thailand!
Next, I had to decide upon a crest. The crest is the symbol that sits atop of the help on a coat of arms. At first I tested out a palm tree to represent my life in the tropics. However, the Chief Herald suggested a wreath of roses to represent my surname "of the roses". The second draft included the Arm of St. Michael wreathed in roses to represent my full name: Michael Desrosiers.
The two drafts below erroniously featured a baron's corronet. I am not a noble in Flandrensis, so the final version does not have the coronet.
It's been an interresting process to develope my coat of arms with the Chief Herald. I'm thrilled with the results, and am so proud to diplay my Coat of Arms within the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis!
Throughout this process, I've learned a lot about the rules and traditions of heraldry! It's been a wonderful process.
 |
| my official Grant of Arms from the College of Heraldry |
No comments:
Post a Comment