American Heraldry Society
Encyclopedia
The American Heraldry Society is a learned society that promotes the study of heraldry
and education of U.S. citizens about heraldry. The organization also advocates the development of a distinctly American heraldic tradition and encourages the legal protection of armorial bearings in the U.S. The organization's membership is primarily U.S. residents, although it has members in Europe, including the United Kingdom
, and Australia
.
The current president of the Society is Rev. William B. Henry, Jr., of Pennsylvania
. The Society is governed by a seven-member Board of Governors.
of the American Heraldry Society are blazon
ed Gules an American Bald Eagle proper displayed on a Chief Azure three Escutcheons Argent. The eagle on the red field alludes to the Society's purpose of promoting heraldry in the U.S. and the escutcheons refer to heraldry; the tinctures
gules, argent, and azure also allude to the U.S. For a short time after the adoption of the arms, an argent fimbriation
was included on the chief, but this has since been removed.
The last fallacy—that there are family-name coat of arms—is the most destructive to heraldic practice in America. The false pairing of coats of arms with surnames is aggressively promoted by hundreds of American heraldry bucket shop
s, i.e., businessmen who, for profit, provide unsuspecting people with bogus armorial bearings. For example, bucket shops will sell arms borne by someone named "Smith" to thousands of Smiths who have no direct ancestral relation.
The Society publishes educational material on its website, and is currently conducting a survey of all personal coats of arms used by former U.S. Presidents; the presidential series articles were alluded to in a 2006 New York Times article on the Army Institute of Heraldry. It also maintains an active Web forum for discussion of heraldic topics.
After extensive discussion and debate, the Society's governing board approved and published Guidelines for Heraldic Practice in the United States on its website and in its annual journal. This work outlines a uniquely American standard for creating and displaying coats of arms.
, the College of Arms
in England
served as the heraldic authority
for the granting of arms to American colonists. British heraldic regulation and protection in America effectively ended with the Continental Army
's victory in the war
.
Currently, United States law, including trademark and copyright law, does not adequately protect coats of arms used by individuals and organizations not engaged in business. Thus, many armorial bearings in the United States enjoy no legal protections to prevent their unauthorized use. There are several private organizations in the United States that register coats of arms. While private registration may prevent unintentional usurpation, it offers no legal protection.
The Society seeks to discuss and, if helpful, recommend new policies that will offer some protection to individuals and organizations who wish to prevent their arms from being usurped.
rec.heraldry newsgroup discussing the need for an American heraldic authority.
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
and education of U.S. citizens about heraldry. The organization also advocates the development of a distinctly American heraldic tradition and encourages the legal protection of armorial bearings in the U.S. The organization's membership is primarily U.S. residents, although it has members in Europe, including the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The current president of the Society is Rev. William B. Henry, Jr., of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The Society is governed by a seven-member Board of Governors.
Society Coat of Arms
The coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the American Heraldry Society are blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
ed Gules an American Bald Eagle proper displayed on a Chief Azure three Escutcheons Argent. The eagle on the red field alludes to the Society's purpose of promoting heraldry in the U.S. and the escutcheons refer to heraldry; the tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
gules, argent, and azure also allude to the U.S. For a short time after the adoption of the arms, an argent fimbriation
Fimbriation
In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation refers to small stripes of colour placed around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but perhaps just because the designer felt it looked better, or for a more technical reason to avoid what would...
was included on the chief, but this has since been removed.
Educational Goals
The Society's education mission is headed by the Society's Directors of Education and Research. The Society undertakes an education program to increase the heraldic knowledge of Americans. One of its primary concerns is to combat popular misconceptions about heraldry. These misconceptions include:- Heraldry is snobby, pretentious and anti-egalitarian;
- The study of heraldry and its use belong to an "old world" sensibility that was shrugged off during the War of Independence; and
- There are such things as "family-name coat of arms" (i.e. a coat of arms which may be borne by anyone who has a particular surname).
The last fallacy—that there are family-name coat of arms—is the most destructive to heraldic practice in America. The false pairing of coats of arms with surnames is aggressively promoted by hundreds of American heraldry bucket shop
Bucket shop (heraldry)
An heraldic bucket shop is a heraldry company that will "sell" a coat of arms associated with the customer's surname, regardless of whether the customer can actually claim a relation to the original armiger....
s, i.e., businessmen who, for profit, provide unsuspecting people with bogus armorial bearings. For example, bucket shops will sell arms borne by someone named "Smith" to thousands of Smiths who have no direct ancestral relation.
The Society publishes educational material on its website, and is currently conducting a survey of all personal coats of arms used by former U.S. Presidents; the presidential series articles were alluded to in a 2006 New York Times article on the Army Institute of Heraldry. It also maintains an active Web forum for discussion of heraldic topics.
After extensive discussion and debate, the Society's governing board approved and published Guidelines for Heraldic Practice in the United States on its website and in its annual journal. This work outlines a uniquely American standard for creating and displaying coats of arms.
Legal Protection of Arms
Prior to the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
served as the heraldic authority
Heraldic authority
For the purposes of this article, an heraldic authority is defined as an office or institution which has been established by a reigning monarch or a government to deal with heraldry in the country concerned...
for the granting of arms to American colonists. British heraldic regulation and protection in America effectively ended with the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
's victory in the war
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
Currently, United States law, including trademark and copyright law, does not adequately protect coats of arms used by individuals and organizations not engaged in business. Thus, many armorial bearings in the United States enjoy no legal protections to prevent their unauthorized use. There are several private organizations in the United States that register coats of arms. While private registration may prevent unintentional usurpation, it offers no legal protection.
The Society seeks to discuss and, if helpful, recommend new policies that will offer some protection to individuals and organizations who wish to prevent their arms from being usurped.
Publications
In addition to its Web site, the Society publishes The American Herald, an annual journal, and Courant, an electronic newsletter. Originally published as a PDF, The American Herald will be published in a physical format beginning with its fourth issue in 2009.Organization History
The Society was formed on 5 November 2003 by Thomas Shehan and others who followed a thread on the UsenetUsenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
rec.heraldry newsgroup discussing the need for an American heraldic authority.
See also
- Académie Internationale d'HéraldiqueAcadémie Internationale d'HéraldiqueL'Académie Internationale d'Héraldique is a prestigious body that was founded in Paris in 1949 to bring together experts in heraldry representing the various areas of the world. Admission is by election, and the number of active academicians is limited to 75. There is no limit to the number of...
- American College of HeraldryAmerican College of HeraldryThe American College of Heraldry was founded in 1972 with the aim of aiding in the study and perpetuation of heraldry in the United States and abroad...
- College of Arms FoundationCollege of Arms FoundationThe College of Arms Foundation is a non-profit body whose mission is the promotion of heraldic knowledge in the United States. It was first incorporated in 1983 in the state of New York. The purpose of the original foundation was to raise funds for the College of Arms in London...
- The Heraldry SocietyThe Heraldry SocietyThe Heraldry Society is one of the leading organizations in the world devoted to studying heraldry. In 1947, a twenty year old John Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries. This title was changed to The Heraldry Society in 1950. It was incorporated in 1956 and is now a registered...
- Heraldry Society of ScotlandHeraldry Society of ScotlandThe Heraldry Society of Scotland was founded in 1977 with the objective of promoting the study of heraldry and encouraging its correct use in Scotland and overseas....
- Royal Heraldry Society of CanadaRoyal Heraldry Society of CanadaThe Royal Heraldry Society of Canada is a Canadian organization that promotes the art of Canadian Heraldry. Founded as the Heraldry Society of Canada, the mission of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada and its branches is to promote the art of heraldry, particularly Canadian heraldry, and to...
- Office of the Chief Herald of IrelandOffice of the Chief Herald of IrelandThe Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland , the authority in the Republic of Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Herald authorises the granting of arms to Irish bodies and Irish people,...
- Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical SocietyCommittee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical SocietyThe Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, established in 1864, is the world's oldest non-governmental body primarily concerned with heraldry. It authenticates and records coats of arms rightfully borne in the United States or by U.S...
- United States Army Institute of HeraldryUnited States Army Institute of HeraldryThe United States Army Institute of Heraldry furnishes heraldic services to the Armed Forces and other United States government organizations, including the Executive Office of the President...
- United States Heraldic RegistryUnited States Heraldic RegistryFounded in 2005, the United States Heraldic Registry is a private, American enterprise that offers free registration of contemporary and historical heraldry.By early 2010, the USHR had compiled information for over 900 coats of arms...