Coat of Arms help

[MorganOfCalafia]

I've been working on my name and device for a few years now but I haven't really been able to come up with much other than I want my first name to be Morgan even though it's a mans name. I spent scriptorium last night doing a whole lot of nothing and decided to work on my device. I came up with a design I like better than any others I've done before and I was hoping you guys could give me some feed back on it



I can't remember what the division is called, but on the bottom is an Or dormant talbot on a vert field and on top is five vert dice surrounding a sable grenade on an Or background. I think I got all the colors right I'm a little rusty on my heraldic terms. I defiantly want to keep the talbot Or and I'd like Vert to be in there somewhere but other than that I'm open to any suggestions.  

[Divash]

I don't know for sure how one would combine the descriptions of each item into a really appropriate blazon, but I can tell you the individual elements. The division is called "party per chevron." The dice would be vert spotted sable. Grenade sable enflamed gules. Hound or.

If you wanted to combine the dice and hound, you'd call them counterchanged.

However, let's count the design elements in terms of complexity.

1. Party per chevron or and vert
2. Five dice vert spotted sable...
3. ...showing a single pip on their faces
4. Grenade sable enflamed gules
5. In base, a hound dormant or

I am NOT an expert, but I think that the maximum complexity allowed is eight elements. However, I can't remember whether

[MorganOfCalafia]

I've talked to a laurel in my household who is a herald but other than that I haven't got around to talking to anyone else realy. I just figured that while I was here I might as well run it by you guys.  

[Sir_Catherine]

I thought the limit for distinct parts was seven, not eight, but I haven't checked in a long while.

Color and pose don't count apart from the item they describe.

I'm not sure if the pips on the dice count separately or would be considered 'details left to the artist' and thus not officially emblazoned. Or if they would be emblazoned but in the same scope as color and pose, and thus still not count as an extra element.

Either way, you come in under the limit whether it be seven or eight.  

[MorganOfCalafia]

Here's my most recent design. I like it a little bit cause it's got less Or and it seems a little less cluttered to me. Plus it has more explosives. Morgey likes explosives twisted I may cut the number of dice, I was just doing five because that's the number they use for one of the games in the Wheel of time seriese. I think it's still under eight elements...  

[Out to the Black]

Ack! I just had a horrible, tabletop RPG, visual pun pop into my head. It would involve two dice with lit fuses leading out of one of the pips. Does anyone else here know what exploding dice are? Or am I alone in this bit of geekiness?


As to the actual shield, I think this on looks a bit more cluttered. There are more items and more colors and the whole thing feels very busy. I actually like the old one. The contrast of yellow and green (ignoring proper heraldic terms right now) is appealing, and easy to read at a distance. And even though it only has one kaboom, it's more obvious and attention grabbing than all three put together in the new one. And with 5 dice, 3 grenades, and 1 dog, you have nine items. As someone else mentioned, I'm not sure if those count as elements or seperate items though. I'm not sure about the field division and using both metals with the green (by the way, I do think the pips are part of the dice, not seperate items).

Personaly, I'd think about simplifying it. Why don't you consider what items you really want to keep and why. Why are they important to you and how do they represent you or your persona? Yeah, you want it to look cool but having a reason for all of the elements is nice.

Edit: If you want less yellow, you could still use that chevron division. Jut make it yellow, keep everything else above it as is, except you flip the green dice to yellow as well.  

[MorganOfCalafia]

Yeah I just thought it looked a little less like the dice and the grenade were just thrown together. The dormant Or dog definitely needs to stay. I'm currently raising my first dog and I want it to be part of my Arms. The grenade was because it fit well with the pirate persona and the cannon I'm building. The dice were because of a pirate competition our barony was doing where we were supposed to gamble tokens and stuff. I'll play around with it some more and try your suggestion. Thanks ^^

Edit: I've Edited the first post with the two I think I'll be choosing between. I really think I like the second better, so I'm going to talk to the heralds and see what they think. I appreciate everyone's help and feedback.  

[Runa Whynd]

You could keep the grenade in the first on black to make it pop from the dice. After that, I kind of like the first one better. But hey, it's your device, pick the one you like. I hope it works for you.  

[Divash]

Don't forget that the SCA won't register a grey tincture. They'll push you to make it either white or black; and especially with black bombs on it, there won't be enough contrast. You're better altering all the grey things to yellow/gold.  

[keetabirdy]

One of my friends is the local baronial herald. She said she'd be willing to look at your device and offer some help if you want. If you're interested, send me a pm and ill give you her email  

[MorganOfCalafia]

I changed it so that I'm not using the grey one anymore.  

[Divash]

What are you using right now?  

[HER0 PR0TAG0NIST]

honestly it just seems way to cluttered.  

[MorganOfCalafia]

I submitted my name and device with only the talbot and grenades at GWWXIII. Thank you all for your input ^^  

[Divash]

Good luck to you! You'll have to show us the final device when it's passed.