#heraldy

[yournextflame]

Elden Ring Sigils and Color Theory

Elden Ring magic sigils sorted by color. Long post about their lore, meanings of certain colors and what it can reveal about the story of Elden Ring under the cut.

In this post, I will be going over why it is important to have a good understanding of color and meanings associated with color in the context of lore. In a game, color is used by developers for more than just drawing the world, it’s about creating visual language, a bridge between writers and players. There are countless articles about usage of colors in videogames, but in this post I will try to reverse-engineer the process and find out the meaning behind visual symbolism and combine it with game’s equivalent of heraldic symbols - magic sigils.

In Elden Ring magic sigils have been used to represent origin of sorceries and power sources of incantations, usually they give us hints what kind of deity is worshipped by people or who created the spell. They are an invaluable source of information on history on the Lands Between. I’ve been already playing with idea of color sorting when I did the same thing with remembrances, but sigils revealed even more secrets about story and lore. How about origin of life on the Lands Between? Origin of the outer gods? But let’s not rush.

The first category, Blue Sorcery as I called it, already shows how color sorting method is supported by the game itself. With a help of descriptions we can place the sigils in the chronological order and track the change in design over the course of story such as replacement of flowing weapon in the sigil of Eternal Cities to Carian sword. Their sigils are incredibly similar to each other, solidifying connection between Nox and Carian royal family; both factions are associated with silver, sorcery, artifical life, moons and stars.

This talisman represents the lost black moon. The moon of Nokstella was the guide of countless stars (Memory Stone)

The young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked. She had always chased the stars every step of her journey. Then she met the full moon—and, in time, the astrologer became a queen (Stargaizer Heirloom)

Moons played a central role in Nox and Carian culture, the circle is a base shape for both crests, however, while Raya Lucaria sigil shares similar elements with Eternal Cities and Carian emblems (glintstone sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers, a fact that the Carians remain aware of, - Preceptor's Long Gown), this part was drastically redused in size and moved on top; the central place is taken by the star and framed by a pair of cuckoos. The hue of sigil is also significantly different from cold blue tones of Nox and Carians emblems, the warm greenish tint is close to the color of primeval current spells, which were banished once Rennala became rector of the Academy.

These scholars, who sought to master Carian sorcery, instead learned to see the moon as equal to the stars. This robe, in the hue of the full moon, signifies their heresy (Lazuli Robe)

(Cuckoo Greatshield) Boasting high magic damage negation, this shield is used to hunt down mages. "Our enemy is none other than Caria itself."

So far I’m not going to delve deeper in the roots of the conflict between Carian royal family and Academy of Raya Lucaria, it’s a mere demonstration of a method and how it works. But in next paragraphs I will use it as evidence for a few theories about worldbuilding.

(thanks for clarification about Malenia’s Crest, I rewatched fight on youtube and, yes, it’s a normal Raya Lucaria sigil)

Golden incantations is the biggest group on the list, in a way I can say that history of the Lands Between is a history of gold. Here we can see a symbolical depiction of the Erdtree, the central piece of the game both in a metaphorical and literal sense; we can track how portrayl of the Erdtree changed during Marika’s age until it was replaced altogether by the abstract emblem of the Golden Order Fundamentalism. I have a lot of to say about this group and currently working on post with a more detailed investigation, so far I will touch only basics: such as origin of life gold.

Gold in Elden Ring is more than than shine metal or a color, it’s prima materia of the Greater Will, a force of unknown origin (it’s never called 神  god or an 外なる神 outer god anywhere in EN or JP script and before jumping to conclusion wait until I’m going to observe confirmed outer gods) which is responsible for the creation of Elden Ring. From the description of Elden Stars, the most ancient incantation in this category, and Elden Remembrance we can figure out keywords associated with the Greater Will:

It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring/It was the vassal beast of the Greater Will and living incarnation of the concept of Order (I’d like to point that it’s “Order”, not “The Golden Order”).

(I believe we still can see remnants of the golden star in a form of meteorite ore in Divine Towers and Sealed Tunnel near Erdtree) 

In other words, the Greater Will is about gold, Order and everything Elden. However, a common mistake is to tie the Greater Will to the Golden Order, despite the name the latter is not representative of it, even more so... original gold from the golden star wasn’t yellow.

From dialogue with Sellen we can learn that stars are containing amber, but golden stars are kind of special:

Golden amber contains the remnants of ancient life, and houses its vitality (Sellen)

And Hyetta’s speech supports futher that the Greater Will is responsible for creation of life in one way or another:

…すべては、大きなひとつから、分かたれた 分かたれ、産まれ、心を持った

けれどそれは、大いなる意志の過ちだった だから、戻さなくてはならない

All that there was divided from the One Great. Divided, born and given heart. But it was a mistake of the Greater Will (Hyetta)

So, Miyazaki pretty much unitied theories about meteorites being consensually considered to be involved in the origin of life and primordial soup:

Meteorites could have been responsible for delivering the basis of life's genetic code. Analyses of three meteorites suggest that nucleobases, the crucial components of DNA, could have formed in space and then fallen to Earth to provide the raw material for the origin of life itself

For nearly nine decades, science's favorite explanation for the origin of life has been the “primordial soup”. This is the idea that life began from a series of chemical reactions in a warm pond on Earth's surface, triggered by an external energy source such as lightning strike or ultraviolet (UV) ligh

Now if we check descriptions of Crucible Aspects and Crucible Knights items we can find out that original gold had rent tint.

Holds the power of the crucible of life, the primordial form of the Erdtree. Strengthens Aspects of the Crucible incantations (Crucible aspects incantations)

This sword is imbued with an ancient holy essence. Its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold, said to be close in nature to life itself (Ordovis Greatsword, the name itself is a reference to Ordovician Period, part of the Paleozoic era, a rich variety of marine life flourished in the vast seas and the first primitive plants began to appear on land)

Ancient Erdtree/Crucible emblem is slightly reddish too, however, the modern gold is more pure and yellow, the gold of the Golden Order. The sigil changed the color too and lost the root part just like the Elden Ring itself if we compare modern depiction with Farum Azula mural:

The Golden Order was created by confining Destined Death. Thus, this new Order will be one of Death restored

But a gold is a gold, even though it’s different, but as Turtle Pope said heresy is not native to this world and everything can be cojoined:

The worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the Erdtree. After all, this seal, and lighting itself, are both imbued with gold

Yes, the Greater Will governs everything what is golden. 

And yet, the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism, for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot. This was the beginning of unalloyed gold

I can already hear the raise of pitchforks from certain kind of Miquella fans, so let’s talk about outer gods and what exactly they are.

With a surprising exception of emblem from the Scepter of the All-Knowing (Gideon, I have a few questions for you) all sigils in Red Group are assigned to the deities: outer/ancient god of Rot, outer god Formless Mother, Rykard’s immortal serpent and Fell God, who is bit tricky, it’s ambitious if  古い火の悪神 “ancient” is applied to the god or fire. The only confirmed outer gods, who didn’t made it here is an outer god of Deathbirds and Frienzied Flame. Considering theory that removal of the Destined Death from Elden Ring drained color from the god-slaying Black Flame and eclipsed sun of outer god of Deathbirds, I can suggest that original color of their sigils was red too. 

Long story short: sigil of the outer gods and other unwelcomed deities are represented by red color and they are all related to the death, Formless Mother is about bleed, fell flame is burning, rot is decay, etc.

However, as stated in the description of Ordovis Greatsword, primordial gold of the Crucible had a red tint that was lost when Marika estabilished Golden Order by sealing away red Rune of Death; and this knowledge eventually leads to conclusion that...

Outer gods aren’t aliens. What a surprise.

They are natural powers that were screwed by the removal of Destined Death, when they got outed from the Golden Order. They are red tint of the primordial gold.

Once the concept of Death was banished from the Lands Between the elements and effects linked to it - death, decay, combustion, bleed became outer to the newly estabilished Order. There is a clear thematic difference between celestial Greater Will, who isn’t even presented on the Lands Between, and actual outer gods, who can be sealed or banished, more over there are no outer god of water, sunshine or happiness, they are all linked to the side-effects of death. When death was excluded from the Order, they were affected as well.

The thing is that gold in Elden Ring is a magical substance and changes the tint depends on the currently running Order, which is shown in the endings when Golden Tree (黄金樹 that’s how Erdtree is called in JP) acquires different hue. It’s another overlooked element of visual storytelling.

This Golden Order is something that the Elden Ring may have once represented, but not directly. It’s more about how you apply those rules and how you enforce them on the physical world and what effects they have on it, - Miyazaki in interview to gamesradar

(Golden Order isn’t direct representation of the Greater Will/Elden Ring as it was said by Miyazaki himself, it’s only one temporary set of rules)

Elden Ring consists of runes and even newly discovered mending runes (concepts) can be added to the system (regression is the pull of meaning; that all things yearn eternally to converge) ot removed and the gold will respond to it by changing the color and reshaping reality according to the Order (causality is the pull between meanings; it is the connections that form the relationships of all things). Elden Ring - Rune of Death = yellow gold and banishment of ancient gods, who were associated with death, Elden Ring+mending rune of a choice=see example aboive.

For futher evidence that gold changes metaphysical properties and in the current state (Golden Order) preserves things from not only from dying, but decomposing too, I want to bring a few descriptions:

Fresh beast blood, glinting with gold. Material used for crafting items. Found by hunting carnivorous beasts.This glimmering blood never rots or decays ( Beast Blood)

Someone's excrement. It has a golden tinge. Material used for crafting items. Gold-tinged excrement is a highly stable substance; it doesn't dry out, nor does it lose its customary warmth or scent. For better or for worse, it remains as it is (Golden Dung; I can’t believe I’m using description of literal sh/t to prove my point)

However, from what we know only Rune of Death was sealed, and while outer gods’ influence was seriously weakened, it still existed. This is why Miquella abandoned Golden Order and was working on development of his own gold, even more pure and untainted, before he got mohgged:

Unalloyed Gold Needle: An intricately crafted needle of unalloyed gold. A ritual implement crafted to ward away the meddling of outer gods, it is thought capable of forestalling the incurable rotting sickness.

Now let me clarify: community’s favorite boogieman “influence of the evil alien outer gods/the Greater Will” isn’t a thing in a sense that there is a group of invaders from the outer space trying to enslave the Lands Between. Even thought  外なる神 is used in Japanese media culture for lovecraftian beings, we should remember that history is fabricated by the Golden Order in Marika’s favor; "outer gods” are alien to the current Order”. Same goes for the influence of the Greater Will, it was never about mind-control or whatever was projected onto it, the influence of the Greater Will is simply how Order and gold are changing course of the nature. 

Last thing I want to add is that influence of the outer gods isn’t always about destructive powers (Order of Rot is about decay and rebirth), but I’ll leave it for a dedicated post.

In Mixed Group I put sigils with unique or unknown colors.

In my first draft Dragon Communion was placed in the Red Group for the intense hue of sigil, but upon futher research I decided to move it here. The power of Dragon Communion incantations doesn’t stem from any patron god or the assigned star (unless I missed something); they are scaling from arcane, an inner force of the caster. 

Violet is an interesting choice for Gravity sigil because this color, albeit with the less intence hue, is used for sleep status and associated items. 

I like how yellow color of Frenzied Flame is similar to the gold of the Greater Will, carrying the theme of duality, yet the shape of the sigil is distorted and assymetrical. In fact, designs of the ancient sigils usually is far less complex than intricate shapes of newer ones (with a few exceptions). Just to be clear, even though influence of the Flame of Frenzy can be cleared by Miquella’s needle, the game never calls it an outer god. It’s a matter of semantics, but I guess that unlike crew from the Red Group it was never booted from the Order since Chaos and Order can’t naturally coexist, but there are a lot ot of to speculate about, considering drastic changes in Frenzied Flame quest and lore.

Golden star in the centre of Bestial sigil reminds of Cinquedea dagger (Short sword given to high ranking clergymen of Farum Azula. The design celebrates a beast's five fingers, symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind), which shows beast’s arm holding golden slab.

So, Death spells. I believe that both Black Flame incantations and Death Sorcery of Deathbird outer god were affected by confining of Destined Death.

The black flame could once slay gods. But when Maliketh sealed Destined Death, the true power of the black flame was lost

Storied sword and treasure of Castle Sol that depicts an eclipsed sun drained of color.The eclipsed sun, drained of color, is the protective star of soulless demigods. It aids the mausoleum knights by keeping Destined Death at bay. Mausoleum Knight Armor: The wing-shaped ornaments on its back evoke the Deathbird

And, as I’ve been already pointing in a different post, death of Godwyn brought back forgotten death sorcery that almost ceased from existance during age of immortality, but was rediscovered

Death in the Lands Between is incredibly complex subject and deserves a series of posts, even though I believe there should be DLC because so far all lore related to it seems to be incomprehensible.

Unmarkered sorceries don’t have background sigil, but they all share something in common. They originated from the Mountaintops of Giants:

Zamor Ice Storm: Ice sorcery of the Town of Zamor.Strike the ground with the staff to create a freezing tornado. Charging enhances potency. Cloaked in icy tempests, the knights of Zamor have challenged the Fire Giants since ancient times.

Briars of Sin : An aberrant sorcery, discovered along with red glintstone by those exiled to the north for their crimes.The Academy reviles this sorcery, which draws its power from faith

Founding Rain of Stars: The eldest primeval sorcery, said to have been discovered by an ancient astrologer. A sorcery of legendary status.The glimpse of the primeval current that the astrologer saw became real, and the stars' amber rained down on this land. Sword of Night and Flame: Astrologers, who preceded the sorcerers, established themselves in mountaintops that nearly touched the sky, and considered the Fire Giants their neighbors.

Another interesting details to consider is that they are all in some ways are unwelcomed or straight up heretical. It reminds me of relationships between Golden Order and remnanats of the Crucible. Aberrant sorcery is a mark of sin, primeval current was banished and cold sorcery is veiled in occult mystery:

The snowy crone taught the young Ranni to fear the dark moon as she imparted her cold sorcery.

I guess Ranni’s secret mentor is called snowy crone for a reason.

That’s being said, everything I wrote is a subject to change as DLC may reveal more details or I will reconsider some parts under futher research. But overall I think it was an interesting experiment.

読んでくれてありがと

[docpiplup]

The Llor family: Etymology and heraldy @asongofstarkandtargaryen

In old catalan, llor meant "laurel", although in current catalan, llor is a way of saying "dark brown".

I have found that there's also a girl name Llor that in hebrew that means "My light".

Although during the series the Llor family don't have any banners, I have found some info about historical Llors from nobility:

Coat of arms: In field of gold, three bouquets of three leaves, of sinople, well ordered.

Catalan. Of gold, three shoots or bushes of laurel of sinople, well ordered. [J. R. Vila, ms] [J. P. Colomer, ms] [F. of Segarra]

Catalan. Gules, three gold tickets, and in each one a laurel of sinople. [J. P. Colomer, ms]

Catalan. Of gold, a bush of laurel, of sinople. Lords of the castle of Llor (Lleida)

“...The male line of this family was missing and the Copons family succeeded it, this is the main trunk and for this reason they call Copons de Llor, this is that the main house of Copons is the lady of the castle and place of Llor; owned today by Mr. Josep Mata y de Copons, son of D, Josep Mata y de Copons, which he acquired with his cousin Ms. Catalina de Copons, Lady and heir to the main house of Copons, del Llor.” [P. Costa, Mrs]

Catalan. Of gold, a bush of...

From the place of Llor (whose name it took), from the municipality of Torrefeta and judicial district of Cervera in Lleida. There was another house in the town of Montgrí. family crest Silver, with three trees uprooted from sinople placed in a triangle.

There was another house in the town of Montgrí. Based on references from historians of the time and others found by Araldis in the registered archives of cities and other private ones, we can affirm, but not guarantee, that this shield or another very similar to it initially appeared from the 11th to the 14th century, particularly in the campaigns against the Otomans in 1302 and seem to be cited in the victories at Artaki (October 1302), Philadelphia (May 1, 1303) and Mount Taurus (August 15, 1304). The references of this family seem to be specified more frequently from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, especially the events of Barcelona and Berga, on September 11 and 12, 1714, in which the dynastic war between the Austrians and the Bourbons tragically ended. All this seems to coincide with the family memory of some of the members of the family branch.

The Catalan, Valencian and Balearic solar, A and A GARCIA CARRAFFA, 1968

What if... Hugo and Caterina design a coat of arms for their family:

[aviruserothanatoguru]

Concept. Military emblem. Version 2/3 The concept of a coat of arms/emblem for a clan/squad. Gamedev, Game art. Version 3/3 You can see here https://boosty.to/alexeyvirus  

[frankhightower]

[Old art] Great seal of the mouse government

I made this way back in 2010 but had never uploaded it for many different reasons. The seal is overflowing with symbolism, starting with the mouse and the rat being almost the same size (the seal was created a few years after a war in which the rats invaded the mouse colony and lost). This means that the mouse is the dominant one in the picture, and yet is depicted in a frilly dress, to stress gender equality (a revolutionary idea from the human's point of view at the time!) The Union Jack, more than representing Great Britain, represents the mice's adoption of human language. The rat's flag, depicting Cinderella's slipper, represents heritage (the mice believe themselves to be descended from the ones in the original 1697 fairy tale).  The mouse government's motto (Honesty, Freedom, Justice) is obviously based on the French "liberté, égalité, fraternité" and are chosen as the values that truly make them not wild animals.

Posted using PostyBirb

[regalcoatsofarms]

A BUSINESS LOGO COAT OF ARMS I HAVE CREATED FOR A ROYAL GOLF CLUB FROM THE USA.

This is a digital painting business logo coat of arms. It was commissioned by the Royal Golf Club from the USA. In this green coat of arms, referring to the green of the golf course, we see the shield in the form of the winning cup. In the centre of the green shield, we see a golden golf ball. On both sides of the shield, there are a man and a woman in nineteenth-century golf clothes. They are carrying golf clubs placed in special bags. The same golf clubs (crossed) can be seen right behind the shield. Above the shield, there is a golden crown. Above it on a scroll the year of the club’s foundation: 1895. The whole coat of arms is surrounded by a wreath made of laurel leaves – a symbol of victory.

More and order: https://www.coatofarms.design

[gamyo2022]

ELDEN RING  is now 28% off

[lunarsigilart]

Heraldic griffin. My art inspired by a medieval manuscript

[useless-catalanfacts]

Valencia CF be like: 🦇⚽🟡🔴

Love the bat. It's been a symbol of València for centuries and is part of city's shield and the logo of many institutions.

Shield of the city of València.

The reason is that it's associated with king James I (Jaume I el Conqueridor), who conquered València in 1238. The legend says that there was a Muslim prophecy that said that as long as bats flew over València, the city would not fall to Christian rule. When King James and his troops were stationed outside the city walls, a bat stopped on the king's tent. The king knew the prophecy, so he ordered everyone to treat the bat the best way possible so that the bat would feel comfortable and want to stay there instead of going back to the city.

Some nights after that, the Moorish troops tried a surprise attack on King James' camp while everyone was sleeping. Luckily, someone played the drums to wake up everyone and they could fight back and throw them out. After the battle, the king wanted to reward the soldier who had played the drums to wake everyone up, but then he saw that it was a bat who was banging his wings against the drum.

As a reward for the bat, he made the bat the symbol of his helmet and added it to his royal shield, which after the conquest became the city's shield.

The truth is less romantic, though. The bat wasn't part of the city's shield until the year 1377, a century after King James' death. James' successors had included a "víbria" (female dragon in Catalan mythology) to the shield, and slowly through time the drawing changed and ended up being interpreted as a bat.

Right: Drawing representing the king Alfons the Magnanimous wearing the royal helmet in the book Horse armoury of the Toison d'Or, 1433-1435.

Left: crest of king Martin (Martí l'humà)'s helmet, traditionally called king James' crest. Late 1300s-early 1400s.

Left: Statue representing James I in València, 1891. Right: statue of James I in Castelló, 1896.

The bat was officially adopted as the animal on the city's shield in 1503. Back then, in the 1500s, it was already believed that it had been James I to install the bat symbol.

[mando-of-esverr]

Tycho blinked up at the man towering over him. He drew himself up and folded his hands behind his back, expression carefully bland as the other man's extreme emotions washed over him.

"...If this has nothing to do with the recent trial, or my history before the Rebellion, then this must be a personal issue and I am at a loss as to what that could possibly be."

Darius had been jubilant! Tycho had been acquitted of all charges and made famous as bait for real Imperial spies. Though the Mandalorian wanted to string up the intelligence head who came up with this idea, it was still a relief to know Tycho was, for the moment, out of harms way. Though he knew he might not be remembered, he'd hoped to perhaps catch Tycho in passing, make his greeting and introduction. He’d even thought about asking if Commander Antilles would be willing to arrange it.

But it seemed Lavinia had beaten him to the punch. She’d been all smiles when she’d given him his own invitation to the Rogues’ private celebration of Horn & Celchu’s acquittal and return. He could’ve been walking on the cloud cities of Bespin for how light he felt! He’d even brought his friend and pilot, Theo, as his plus-one!

More importantly… he’d come without his armor. Well, most of it. He didn’t exactly have dress clothes, as his wardrobe was mostly casual clothes, his flight suits, and his armor. With very little in the ways of nice clothing in his closet, he had intended on wearing the nicest thing he had that wasn’t armor, but the sight of him had made his pilot balk. Theo had insisted on making him wear something nicer, and though he could appreciate some of the pilot’s choices, most of them left Darius looking less like a Mandalorian and more like a Corellian spacer!

As much as he appreciated Theo’s efforts, playing doll for the pilot was not on his itinerary for the night. Still, he utilized a few of his style suggestions, with only a few modifications. Dark boots and pants were easily accepted, but he was determined to wear something of his Mandalorian heritage. So he’d managed to commission a unique vest with which to wear his chest armor; a valid compromise to avoid having to wear the whole flight suit.

When he came to the party, he wore dark dress pants with polished brown dress boots, matching gloves, and a dark shirt and vest with his bronze chest plate half hidden beneath a short shoulder cape in the same style worn by Lando Calrisian. He felt… awkward, almost naked without the rest of his armor, but at least with his chestplate he could breathe easy. And he could justify leaving his helmet as he was meeting with family. Sort of. However, all thoughts of awkwardness vanished when he saw Tycho Celchu enter the party with Lavinia Heraldy.

She was beautiful.... Her warm, brunette curls had been done up just for the party, their ends resting elegantly on the high collar of dress. It was a two part gown, a dark undergown with a high collar with in a long, elegant, white wrap-around dress that fanned at her shoulders. A vivid red sash wrapped around her waist, accented by a white headband in her hair. Small rubies trimmed with silver hung from her ears and ornamental necklace, while her wrists jingled lightly with silver bracelets. She was a vision of beauty and high society, vibrant and assertive... And she was on Tycho Celchu’s arm.

Beside her, Tycho’s dress uniform shone as well as hers. He wore a brilliant white blazer over black dress pants and boots, the collar of his black body stocking reaching nearly halfway up his neck. Slanted down across the front of his blazer was his own red sash with a golden pin or buckle, and across his waist was a smooth, white belt. 

Darius’s jaw and fist clenched. Where he could have forgiven them simply showing up together, clearly only as friends. But the cut of their clothes, the matching of their styles, how Tycho held her arm with the firm gentleness of his own… It was enough to make his blood boil.

So setting his glass down, Darius fixed a hard expression on his face as he approached the pair.

Unfortunately, his helmet didn’t hide his expression and Lavinia was quick to catch on and deftly moved to intervene by greeting him with a warm, open smile.

“Darius! There you are! I was wondering if you’d made it.” She grinned up at Tycho, tightening her grip on his arm. “Tycho, this is Darius, an old friend of mine from Esverr before the war. He’s the one who arrived with you after your time on Akk’ritar. Darius, this is Tycho, RA fighter pilot, hero, and my beau of five years.”

Darius had opened his mouth to tell her that they’d met before, but hearing her last words left him stunned. He blinked, his expression that of someone who’d just been slapped. “Five years?” he asked, bewildered. “You’ve known him for five years?”

“Yep, five years,” Lavinia replied, her smile becoming a little more firm. “We met met not long after Alderaan. I was one of the Y-wing pilots at the time and was the one who welcomed him after his defection.”

Darius looked from Tycho to Lavinia with disbelief on his face before he narrowed his gold-green eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only had she met him before Darius even knew she was alive but had been an item with him since??? 

“And you know who he was, right?” Darius asked, “What he did to us and your brothers?”

Lavinia’s back straightened and she fixed Darius with a firm, diplomatic gaze. “Yes,” she said firmly. “I know exactly who he was and what he did, and he’s not the first defector I forgave for what happened on Esverr, and he won’t be the last.” She fixed Darius with a hard look and he turned his gaze to Tycho.

Several emotions flashed across Darius' face as he looked between the two; Shock, outrage, betrayal, and uncertainty. She had known him–of course, she’d known him! He’d seen her on the Mercy when he’d still been there, even before he was cleared to go home with Tajur and Mathafew. He’d learned she was one of Tycho’s emergency contacts. Her own videre even admitted that she had come for Tycho and had only learned that he, Darius, was still alive when he’d turned up with the pilot. 

Finally, he straightened, took a breath, and swallowed. It was a hard pill to swallow… jealousy over a first love… but even as his jealousy burned, Lavinia smothered it with her cool gaze. Darius composed himself and tried to put on at least a mask of civility. 

“I see,” Darius murmured, glancing around as if to look for an escape. “Well, I’m glad you made it, I hope you… enjoy the party.” With a curt nod, the dark-haired Mandalorian turned on his heel and strode away. He didn’t see the hand Lavinia extended to stall him, or the look of utter confusion on the other man’s face. He didn’t see the confusion or concern on Theo’s face. All he saw was the small crowd part for him and the door he took on his way out.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Do you know anything more about MM coat of arms and how she can use them? I think I've read that she actually can use them however she wants and that the BRF has no say anymore, unlike her HRH title. Can she marchandise them? It would be very tacky but, for example, if she were to launch a skincare or clothing line and use her coat of arm on it, would it be illegal? Because that's pretty much what she's doing now with her website.

I've honestly not been able to find much in the way of rules governing how someone can use their coat of arms. Most of the rules I've found about heraldy are about the designs themselves and inheritance.

I did find some unofficial guidance that a coat of arms is meant to represent one individual person and that a new coat of arms is created for a married couple that combines (or impales) their coats of arms together into one piece.

Meghan and Harry have never gotten that combined coat of arms (called a conjugal coat of arms). So there is no one combined coat of arms that represents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the way there is a conjugal coat of arms for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. (Small wins, I guess!)

I'm betting they use Meghan's coat of arms on the website because it's the only one where they are both represented in the heraldry because they don't have a combined arms (in addition to a subtle claim of ownership by Meghan).

So I don't think there's anything prohibiting her from using her coat of arms as a brand logo or for merch. If there are rules, then the College of Arms would be the authority on that. It would be incredibly tacky for them to do that, but hey. Tacky is their middle name.

That said, however, if Meghan did want to merch her coat of arms as a branding emblem/logo here in the US, I'm pretty sure she has to get it trademarked or copyrighted. (Technically she doesn't have to but I guarantee you, if people are squatting on domain names and social media handles, someone's going to squat on the trademark for a coat of arms.) The trademark/copyright laws of the UK or the UK's heraldry laws don't extend to the US so while Meghan's coat of arms is already protected by the law of arms in UK and the Commonwealth, she still has to apply for protections here in the US.

I haven't looked it up yet on the PTO website whether her coat of arms has been trademarked but there's the link if anyone else wants to give it a go.

[docpiplup]

Irati: Heraldy & Etymology

@asongofstarkandtargaryen @isadomna @queenmiriamele @luceirosdegolados

So I went to the cinema to watch Irati a week ago and I wanted to make something about it.

In some outfits of some characters who are part of the nobility it can be seen some elements like brooches or pendants in which there's elements that represent the sigils of those characters, and some of them are related with the etymology of the names of these characters.

Eneko Aritza

Like I said in this post, his outfit there's some details of oak leaves, and that could be a references of the etymology and meaning of his name.

Eneko is form by the words ene (my) and ko (little), and it's often traslated from Basque as "my little one/ dear", and its Spanish from is Iñigo.

Arizta is a derived form from the word haritz, that means oak. Hence, that's why sometimes he's refered as Eneko the Oak in some sources.

But its sigil isn't related with oaks, it's an eight-pointed star, in his brooch it's golden with an orange detail, although by the end a shield with Eneko's sigil, but this one is a yellow eight-pointed star in a red field. Red and yellow, it could be a reference to the colors of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Navarra.

Also in one part of the script of the film it's confirmed that Eneko's sigil is a bit inspired by the Eguzkilore (the flower of the sun), it's an important flower linked with Mari and pagan beliefs. The thing is that this sigil is wore by Eneko since we firstly meet him as an adult, and that point he just believes that Mari and the other criatures are just child tales. Although his father Eneko believed in Mari and in the end although Eneko Aritza is a Christian he starts respecting the pagan beliefs after meeting Irati and Mari and finally understanding what his father did.

Apart from that, Eneko had 4 children, Assona, Garztia, Galindo and Nunila. For example, Garztia comes from (h)artz->(h)artzea->kartzea, that means bear, and in Spanish was adapted as García, a name that was popular during the Middle Ages, but later it became very common as a surname.

Belasko

And now I'll continue with the antagonist of the film, Belasko.

Talking about etymology, Belasko comes from Bela or Bele "crow", and the diminutive -sko meaning "little crow". In Spanish was adapted as the names (and later surnames) Velasco and Vasco, that derived into patronymic surnames like Velázquez and Vázquez.

And that is reflected on the sigil of his pendant, two crows with two towers and a cross.

Otsoa

The last of the three, indirectly accomplice of Belasko, there's Otsoa.

This one is very direct, otsoa in Basque means wolf. So, yeah, this man is literally named Wolf. Although it's not used nowadays as name, kt's mainly common as the surname Otxoa or the Spanish adaptation Ochoa.

And that is reflected on the sigil of his brooch, a black wolf with two crosses.

[aviruserothanatoguru]

Concept. Military emblem. Version 1/3

The concept of a coat of arms/emblem for a clan/squad. Gamedev, Game art. Concept. Military emblem. Version 3/3 You can see here https://boosty.to/alexeyvirus

[mootmead]

omg the moot's heraldy is a rooster-dragon 😳 . I absolutely NEED to embroider that

[hms-tardimpala]

Ficbinding: A Poison Tree by @mildredmost

A year and a half ago (ish), I was getting started in bookbinding and one of my first projects was A Poison Tree, a Poldark fic I loved. I was proud of it at the time, but I've learned a lot since then and thought it was time to have another go at it. (long post ahead)

The fic: Poldark, Ross Poldark/George Warleggan, E, 50.6k

What happened between Ross and George at school that began their life-long feud?

The reason I like this fic so much is that it surprised me. I was looking for Ross/George fics and this is one, but not only. George's character is so well-explored here that you can't help but be on his side (while understanding why the things he does offend Ross) and wish him to be happy. I'm not usually into OCs, but the one in this story is so good I loved him as much as the other characters. I went in expecting something specific, the author went another way midway through, and I loved it. The atmosphere is perfect too, it's faithful to the time period and the show/books.

The bind: I kept some ideas from the original bind, such as the color of the cover, headbands and bookmark, and the paper type, but I improved the general quality and added details. I used blue and green because they're the Warleggans' heraldy's colors in the books. The endpaper is a florentine design with golden touches, the kind of luxurious-looking stuff a 1780s nouveau riche would love. I added the Blake poem the story takes its title from at the beginning because it's one of my favorite poems ever.

New things I tried:

This is the first time I combine several elements for a cover. The green strips scared me because MATHS but they turned out good in the end. I'm still not interested in putting titles on my binds, but I think I'll keep exploring decorations of that kind.

Real endpapers. Up until now, I used paper that wasn't made for bookbinding because the thinness of true endpapers scared me, but it holds up perfectly. The book still feels strudy. And look at it, it's so FANCY.

Free vector images to make decorations. There's a wealth of free resources out there!

Huge positives:

I printed, folded, sewed, glued and trimmed this a first time, but wasn't satisfied with the cut. If you've read more than one of these posts, you know I'm desperately wrangling my guillotine into compliance. The second time, I trimmed the texblock before sewing and gluing, which is scary because the signatures are LOOSE, but it worked perfectly. The result is so fucking neat. I was ready to sandpaper the edges but didn't have to.

Look at this snuggy fat boy. This is the thickest book I've made at the A6 format, and it sits very nicely in the hand. The spine is round, the leather is smooth, and it's still very light. A pretty baby.

Details:

The typesetting: I tried many fonts (what's new) before I landed on the right one. It had to have serifs to fit with the period context. I already mentioned the decorations (I looked up georgian-period books to get inspired and discovered they weren't all that decorated, so I made those up). The drop caps are very nice.

The tree: I decided to get the most out of my printer and, after fiddling with the settings a little, got it to print in color with magnificent quality (which you can't see because of the cold light. It's cloudy today, I'm sorry).

Negatives:

The cover boards should have been wider. The pages are very close to sticking out from the edge of the cover. They're not, but it's a tight fit. I think that from now on, I'll use a 5mm "overhang" (is that the word?) instead of a 3mm one like I've learned. I like my spines too round, 3mm are not enough to compensate.

That's it this time. I don't want to brag, but I'm getting good at this (it's been a year and a half jesus).

Characteristics: Fonts: Castellar (title), Colonna MT (author name), Bell MT (text), Apex Lake (drop caps) Materials: blue and green apple leather and endpapers from Schmedt, 80g/m² Clairefontaine ivory paper, pre-made headband and synthetic ribbon.

Feel free to ask me more about materialsand fonts (or whatever), it won’t bother me at all to tell you what I used, but I’m too lazy rn to write it in this post that’s long enough already.

--

Comparison (because why not):

[regalcoatsofarms]

Coat of arms I designed for the Santa Maria oceanic yacht club from the USA This is a custom coat of arms I created in a digital painting technique for the Santa Maria yacht club from the United States. On the shield we can see: - a sailor's cap - a compass - an anchor The supporting animals: a heraldic dolphin and a seahorse. On top of the helmet we can see a naval crown and in the crest the Neptune emerging from the foamy depths of the ocean. More and order: https://www.coatofarms.design/ #crest #shield #coatofarms #heraldry #heraldic #familycrest #art #illustration #heraldy #collageofarms #heraldicartist #heraldicart #emblem #nobility #heritage #artist #art #blason #blazon #customcrest #genealogy #ancestry #yacht #yachtclub #ocean #sea #naval #neptun https://www.instagram.com/p/CgkonNxKp3Z/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[achirding]

Gawain Design!

Freckles gawain makes his comeback! C: I made heraldy for him, too! Combination of master emerald on a pattern isnpired by Tikal’s skirt. 

Also, I like the idea that the master emerald is like, a treasure of Orkney and Lothian, so Gawain gets a shard he wears like a necklace. All the Orkney kids do. C: