WEBVTT - How Family Crests Work 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.560 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:16.479 from house Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:20.040 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.880 and that makes this stuff you should know the podcast 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:30.040 as I just welcome you to. Yeah, yeah, henceforth. Yeah, 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:35.880 I'm not quite a sick Chuck. That's good. You've recouped. Yeah. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:42.280 I've been on this sum orange lemon, grapefruit juice clans 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.960 and it's helped quite a bit, helped heal you. You think, 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.000 I think so. Yeah. I mean it's just like a 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:54.200 jam pack dose of vitamin C every day, something on 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.800 the order of like nine nine thousand milligrams. I think, 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.959 really it could be up there event drinking a lot 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.520 of vitamins, but it has helped. I strongly recommend it. 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.200 Good Ardent's Garden. I take a lot of vitamins anyway, Yeah, 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.240 the recommended amount. He's awesome too. Do you know Margaret 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.679 Thatcher took a B twelve shot to her bomb every day? Yeah, 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:23.360 that's popular. Yeah. Do you want to talk family crests? Okay, 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:25.600 have you just been waiting for me to ask that. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.720 Typically you intro the show somehow, so just stare at me. 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.960 Have you do you have a family crest? Uh? Yeah, 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.959 I mean I've got a you know, they're all different, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.920 but there is a Bryant Shield and I looked up 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:42.600 a bunch of them and they're pretty similar. So okay, 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.120 it's probably something like that, as do you. So if 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.760 you contacted a service, they would probably be like, here 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.640 you go, give us a hundred and fifty dollars, here's 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:55.360 your family crest. Go do whatever you want with it. 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.080 And now that we've researched this article, Chuck, we could 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:05.400 be like, Huck, sir, scammers. Yeah, I mean, I don't 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:07.880 want to say that these services are all scams, but 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:13.079 there's a very high degree of potential that these services 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:17.400 are all scams. Do you want to know why? Let 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.320 me tell you why. Whether you want to hear it 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.200 or not, Chuck, I'm gonna give you the straight facts. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:29.359 The family crest is so individualized and has been so 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:35.320 personalized over the last eight centuries that there's virtually no 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:40.200 way for you to find the family crest that you 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:46.960 um rightfully owned. So anybody at the mall or whatever 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.160 is probably taking you for something of a ride. Do 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.079 they have people at the mall? They really do. I've 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.800 never seen that they have kiosks at the mall that 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.000 you know. I'm sure you ran across the online. It's lousy, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.239 like it's a kind of a sub service of genealogy 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.920 sites like find your Family Crest or whatever. Maybe I 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.639 don't go to malls. That's a problem. Um, that is 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:07.120 a problem. I have to go into the mall to 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.919 see a mal chi ask. This is why the the 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.720 economic stimulus didn't work. You don't go to malls, chuck. 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.840 I buy things online, so chuck there. This is not 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.400 to say that there is no way to possibly find 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.480 a family crest that you're linked to, or that it 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.760 just simply doesn't exist. It's just that most likely the 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.280 one you're gonna get back for a hundred bucks online 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:33.280 is not necessarily legitimate. There are bona fide sources, the 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:37.960 very people who keep authority over these things, um, that 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.240 can help you, and we'll talk about them in a minute. 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.960 But this is kind of this article turned out to 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.640 be cooler than I expected. Yeah, I'm nothing about this 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:49.440 same here, and now I know a lot about it 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.840 same here, and that's kind of how well, let's talk 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.040 about the origin of family crests, right, Well, first, let's 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.320 talk about the difference. On Twitter last night, I asked 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.600 people if they had any questions about family crests, and 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.280 the number one question was definitely, what's the difference between 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.960 a family crest and a coat of arms? Yeah, there's 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.600 really no difference these days. I these days, yes, pretty interchangeable, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.560 it is. But if you go back further and further 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:19.680 into history, um, I found three explanations for the difference. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.240 Let's hear. So. One is that the coat of arms 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.520 was actually a coat for your armor and it basically 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.400 was a cloth tunic that had your crest on it, 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:36.560 um to keep your armor from heating up in the sun. Okay, 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:42.160 that's that's one. Another one was that the the crest 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.640 is the actual crest on top of your larger coat 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.520 of arms. That's true. Okay, that's like the College of 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:53.160 Arms definition or distinction, right, I don't know. And then 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.120 the third one is that the crest is belongs to 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.560 a family, while a coat of arms is an individuals. 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.560 I didn't see that, So those are possibly the three differences, gotcha? 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.840 But where they come from. Uh, well, they come from 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.400 a long time ago. Uh. Originally in medieval times, in 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.400 the mid twelfth century, they were used to distinguish knights 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.840 on the battlefield once they're all covered with armor, they 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.120 all looked alike. And then from that I think they 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.520 evolved to eventually putting them on the actual shield that 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.119 they used as protection, as just sort of a feather 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.800 in their cap slash being able to know the enemy 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.159 from one another. I think the cap with the feather 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.360 and it is a crest, it is actually Uh. Then 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.200 eventually priests, well, then it kind of filtered down to 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:43.800 people that worked with knights and noblemen like pages and squires, 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.279 and then eventually priests started using them, and then eventually 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:53.680 commoners and poor people peasants in the thirteenth century said 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.560 you know what, I want to use the crest. Yeah. 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:59.720 Apparently until the Middle Ages, most of the peasantry didn't 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:04.560 have surnames, so they eventually started taking the surnames of 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.880 the people who well their feudal lords. That's how a 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.279 lot of people are linked to prominent families that had 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.720 family crests. Oh yeah, yeah, I did not know that. Um. 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:22.000 And then after after Um, jousting and tournaments came about. Um, 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:26.720 the crests became even more important because that was how 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.880 your page would announce you, your herald would announce you. Sorry. Yeah, heraldry. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.400 That's what all this is really called under the big 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.599 umbrella name. Yeah, it's all heraldry. It's the crest, it's 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.960 the design of them, it's the registry of them. It's 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:44.159 the way you announced it. Like, um, when you were 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.920 at a joust, your herald would say, like, here is 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.679 Archduke Ferdinand a top his mighty steed. Um, he's ready 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.920 to crack some skulls, and his crest is as follows, 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.680 and that you know. Then they would describe what was 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:02.600 on the on the crest us on the coat of arms. Sorry, um, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.480 And that's called blazoning. Yeah, well well we'll get into 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.880 blazoning in a minute. That's uh, that's a whole different thing. 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.560 But yeah, well, I like it basically became like your 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.360 corporate logo for your family, and they would put it 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.480 on everything from swords and banners in your house to 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:24.960 burning it into bread for special dinners. That was neat, 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:27.960 I would think. So yeah, I couldn't find any examples 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.480 of that I don't think that photography in the Middle Ages, 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.440 but I'd like to see that. You can get um 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:38.200 little uh brands for your barbecue to see her into 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:42.520 steak with like your initials. Now, that's stupid. It's very cool. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.560 There's nothing cool about that there, it is. There's a 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.680 lot of things that is, but it's not cool. It 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.000 is very cool. You can get anything you want and 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.200 just branded in the steak when you're done and then 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:59.640 eat it with your initials. Right, it is cool. Are 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:03.200 you from Texas? I bet people in Texas do that. Yeah, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.440 I'll bet those are big sellers in Texas. Um, so 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.680 you've got you've got the family crest, you have the 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.480 coat of Arms, and we're going to use these interchangeably agreed. Okay? 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:16.480 Um from what I saw, the College of Arms uh 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:20.000 that originated all of these heralds us the Coat of 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.239 Arms the UK version of the United States UK. The 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.800 one in the United States is the American College of Heraldry, 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:31.720 where in the UK, UM it's the College of Arms. 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.000 And those are the best sources on the Internet for 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.520 stuff like this, by the way, Yeah, but you know 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:39.280 they cost you some coin. Yeah, but they just have 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.640 good info period. And I think it's the legit info. 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.960 There's a lot of other stuff floating around out there, UM, 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.120 so check the College of Arms. UM. These heralds, they 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.440 actually became part of the households of these you know, 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.760 royal families, UM. And they all banded together and formed 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.760 a corporation and was actually granted a charter in fourteen 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.920 eighty four, I think by Richard the Third UM who said, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.080 you guys are now the College of Arms. And they've 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.480 been around ever since basically keeping track of arms, registering 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:14.640 new arms, UM, linking you know, broken chain of title 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.959 um too. You know people who are alive today um. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.480 And they've been doing it NonStop since fourteen eighty four. Three. 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:28.479 They open on Christmas, No, they have. They're open eleven 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.439 a m. To four pm. I think Monday through Thursday 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:37.160 is what it's called. But it's self sufficient. They they 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:41.240 they subsist on funds they charged for this research. Um. 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:46.960 They don't. They don't exist on public minds. They say, yes, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:52.360 well that's good. Yeah, So chuckers, how was how are 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.480 these handed down? Well it gets kind of complicated, but 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.840 it's a man's world back then, and they're generally passed 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.840 on from male air to male air for the most part. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.800 And uh, cadency you talked about every like individual like 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.720 siblings can add their own little mark to their shield 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.280 or to their coat of arms. And that's cadency. That's 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:18.840 the little system they use for each person to have 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.679 their own individual coat of arms. Right, So you've got 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.000 your father's coat of arms. And if you have up 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.520 to nine sons, if you're a tense son, you're in trouble. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.280 But I bet they have a system you can take 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.920 the you take your father's coat of arms as your own, 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.400 but then you add a certain something and depending on 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.560 the order of birth. Um, let's say you're the fifth son, 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.320 You're gonna add an amulet to it, which is a ring. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.480 An annulet is a ring? Yeah, annulet, that's what I 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.199 That's what I find. What is an amulet? An amulet 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.360 is like, um, it's a watch that you swing in 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:53.880 front of somebody and say like you're getting get too confused. Um, 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.319 and and ulet I think it has two ends. It's 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.320 a ring. It's a ring like a gold ring. So 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.240 you add that to a family crest. You can be like, oh, 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.560 this is the fifth son's family crest, right, the third 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.880 son is a mullet. I know, I saw that too, um. 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.000 But when you can see very quickly, like if you're 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:16.440 the third son of a fifth son, the the you know, 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:18.960 over the course of several generations, these crests are going 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.240 to become different very quickly. And if you want to 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.760 claim title to these things, you have to trace your 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:30.680 your you're lying back to you know where this crest 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:32.920 left off, right, Yeah, and like you have to prove 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.720 it each time too. Yeah, I think it's at kinky. 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.000 I think the further back you go probably. Yes, Well, 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.080 that's one of the good things about the College of Arms, 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.440 as you go to them with a wheelbarrow full of 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.440 money and your birth certificate and your father's birth certificate 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.040 if you can get your hands on it and say 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.840 here you go, call me when you're done, and they 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.000 will do the research for you. Yeah. And the rules 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.960 get really complicated with the ladies, don't they. Yes, very 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:01.320 let's hear that. Well, if you are a woman and 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.200 you were born to a man who um had a 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.640 coat of arms, and by the way, if your family 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.880 has a coat of arms, it's called an our mid 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.400 dress family. So if you're born into an armadress family 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.480 and you're the only child and you're a girl, Um, 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.680 you can inherit the coat of arms, the family coat 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.960 of arms. But um, as a woman, it has to 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:27.800 be modified. Like, for example, UM, the shield in the 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.239 coat of arms has to be changed into a lozenge 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:35.199 which is a diamond shape or an oval, because shields 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.680 are thought of as a man's implement of war, they're 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.520 not appropriate for women. Yeah. And this article too said 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.760 the shield shape was important, but I didn't find that 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:46.280 to be true. I found it to be rare that 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.960 the shield shape matters, and like in some cases it might, 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.439 but usually it doesn't. Yeah. So and I think also 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.320 that it may have been important at one point in time, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.280 but then it's important was lost to the ages. Maybe. 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.360 But if you have if you see a circle or 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:05.480 a diamond, um coat of arms, then you're going to 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.560 say that's a woman's But um, this coat of arms 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.280 changes depending on the course of her life. Like if 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.720 she marries a man um who is also from an 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:19.880 armidrious family. Uh, they're going to combine them together, and 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.199 there's strict details on how they're going to combine them. 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.800 Like she can take her coat of arms and put 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:27.720 them next to his coat of arms on a larger shield. 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.520 If she's married, she can be on a shield, but 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.559 hers needs to be sinister, which is the left. If 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.360 you're wearing the coat of arms, it'll be on your left. 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:41.280 And then his is dexter, which is right. That's right. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:43.960 Have you ever heard that before? Dexter for right. I 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:49.080 haven't heard of any of this stuff. So that's passing 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:50.840 down the coat of arms. And in a lot of 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.040 cases these things were just kind of lost. They just stopped. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.080 And the point is now it's a backtrack to find 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.000 where your coat of arms left all and if you're 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.280 if you're allowed to inherit it, then you can pick 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.280 it up and start over again. Yeah. Well, Kate Middleton 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.840 just had one done for the first time because she 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:16.320 needed one to get married to Prince William, so she 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.440 had one designed by Well. First, she had to pass 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.600 an eminence test, which basically means you gotta prove you're important. 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.400 She's like, I'm marrying this exactly, So she passed that 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.880 pretty quick and she got uh. Mr Woodcock Thomas Woodcock 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:38.000 designed her her new crest, which was as you can 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:43.200 see here it is as the diamond and they asked 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:47.440 for acorns, the Middleton's did, so they got three acorns, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.880 one representing each of the children, Kate, Peppa and Jimmy, 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:59.800 Jimmy James. Okay, it's like we're close. Uh. There's a 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:02.400 go old chevron in the center which is sort of 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:06.800 like an inverted V, and it represents the mountains. And 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.480 it's gold because her mother's maiden name was Goldsmith and 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.440 it it repreences mountains because they're big, they're into skiing. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.200 It's a family, So this is what a modern that's 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:21.960 what you asked for in a modern face exactly. Uh, 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.000 there's a blue ribbon tied at the top, which means 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.280 she's unmarried, and um it's red and white because that's 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:32.280 the colors of the flag of the UK. And they 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.120 emerging them now is the married are maryl Arms? And 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:42.080 I think I think William is losing the unicorn then 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.640 the right. You can't lose the lion. I wouldn't lose 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:49.800 either of them. You have to. So what's what's what's 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.680 support is she bringing into it? Then? Well, I don't know, 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.520 but it's just tradition. Like basically you're messing with the 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.320 House of Windsor's coat of arms. So it's a pretty 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.240 big deal. I know that is a big deal. But 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.960 I'm saying, like, you're bringing her um shield in her 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.800 elements in but I didn't see a support on that picture. Well, 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:10.440 have we even said what a support is? No, we 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.400 should probably talk about this. There's some common elements to 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.640 any coat of arms um as hodgepodge. As they look 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.440 is often detail. They're as sparse as they look. If 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.480 you look closely, you're going to see certain elements about 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.080 five things that you're going to find on every single 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:30.240 European coat of arms. Right, yeah, take it, chuck. Well, 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.280 you got your shield. That's the main part in the center. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.840 Generally in the center. The background of the shield is 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.240 called the field, right, like it's a color. Yeah, right, 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.040 it's just the color of the shield, right, that's the field. 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:44.840 So if you have a red field and it's red, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:47.680 although they won't say red and the blazon, we'll get 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.760 to that though, supporters, if you'd sketch this out, they 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:54.040 have stick figures as my support. And that's like if 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.000 you look at a common thing, it will be like 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:58.960 like the house of windsor has a lion on one 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:02.480 side holding it up and then a unicorn for some 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.159 reason on the other side holding it up. It's a 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.160 cool unicorn, I know, and I'm sure there's a great 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:08.960 reason for it, which we will find out. But yeah. 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.840 Usually it's a human or an animal or something that's 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:16.520 on two legs and then has the front two legs 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.080 or arms holding up the shield. They're called the supporters, 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:22.520 and that means if they're on two legs, it means 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:26.400 they're rampant, which is another part of the blazoning process. Yeah, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.000 and did you notice how they when they describe them, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:33.080 it is you gotta you have a description to read, right, Yeah? Okay, good, 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.360 because this this is gonna be That's my favorite part 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:37.840 of this whole thing is a blazoning, is it Yeah? 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:41.160 I think so. I like the pictures. The pictures. So 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.520 atop of the shield you probably have a cornet, which 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.280 is a small crown sitting on top of that, you 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.160 have the helm, which is a helmet like a knight's 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.680 helmet with mantling coming off of the helmet, which is 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.480 sort of just flowery little stuff. It could be like 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.159 ribbons or something some adornment. Yes, And then you have 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:04.080 a small wreath called a torse on top of the 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.400 helmet and then the crest on top of that, right, 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.080 and the crest is the topmost thing. It can be anything. 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:13.560 It can be like a shaft of wheat, um, or 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:18.640 a lion, or um, a dude with his tongue sticking out. 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.920 It's a lot of lions, yeah, because lions are courageous, 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:24.240 you know, mess with lions. And a lot of times 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.720 you got a motto on the top or the bottom, 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.119 and that's on a scroll and the scroll is on 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.720 top of the compartment which the whole thing sits on. 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.080 So like there's a lot of physics involved in this. 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.640 Even though you know unicorns show up in it. They 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:41.200 all follow the laws of Newtonian physics, like everything's resting 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.119 on something else. This actually I didn't notice this. This 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.600 is a belt. That's a belt around the shield on 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.080 the House of windsor now that chuck, it's one of 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:55.320 those cheesy old braided belts to that in um that 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:57.960 is actually Scottish in origin. That means that they are 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.680 followers of a clan leader. They're members of a clan 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.919 Um Scotland has their own set of crests and they 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.760 have their own authority. The Lord Lion King of Arms 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.160 is responsible for registering them in Scotland. But that means 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:14.440 they're members of a clan and followers, not even leaders. 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.240 The belt um looped in like that means you're a follower, 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:22.639 a clan member. So complicated it is. Uh. The shield, 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.720 we also should mention is many times uh divided into 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:32.600 different compartments or panels. Yeah, many times it's quartered. In 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.680 the case of the House of Windsor, you've got panels 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.879 representing Ireland, Scotland too, for England. I think there used 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:43.040 to be one for France that they were placed like. 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.159 It's changed a lot over the years, and a lot 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.240 of times when it changes it's because of marriage that's 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.439 bringing in elements from the um the wife's family crest 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.640 and adding it in, right. So I guess the House 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.800 of Windsor will have acorns. I guess maybe that'll be 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:02.399 the port of a giant acorn instead of a universe, right, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.399 but a mutant one that's like growling or something like 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.200 the fun So those are the elements. Those are the 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.040 I guess aspects um that you're gonna find in any 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:15.920 European shield, right or coat of arms. Yeah. And by 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.040 the way, Mr Woodcock who designed the Middleton's. He he 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.080 does this a lot. And he said he had a 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.720 surgeon contact in one time that wanted a colon on 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:28.399 his and he said it looked rather like a red worm, 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:32.640 but he did it. Good for him. I was gonna 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:36.359 say the same exact thing, old Mr Woodcock. Um. So 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.719 there are certain rules that these things have to follow. 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:40.840 Like you said there there has to be a helmet, 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.480 there has to be a crown. Um, the the helmet 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:50.520 that's showing. If you are a knight, Um, then you 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:52.919 can have the helmet a certain way like usually the 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:58.359 visors open and it's facing forward. Um. If you are royalty, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.840 your helmet is gold. It's golden helmet. Um. And so 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:04.919 like if you're designing your own, which will get to 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.520 in a minute, Um, there's just certain elements you can't use. 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.240 Like you can't be like, well, I want a gold helmet. 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.000 It's like while you're not royal, so you can't have that. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.159 Um this if you want to be bonafid, right, I'm 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:17.880 gonna make my own and it's gonna have a gold 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:22.119 helmet and it's also gonna be colored with crayon. Um. 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.920 The speaking of the colors, one that kind of transcends 0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:31.120 all nobility or commoners. Um, there's you can't have and 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:33.399 I went and double checked this, but this is true. 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:37.960 You can't have color on color in a field or 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:39.960 metal on metal in the field. Do you see your 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:45.080 you're coat of arms R See how it's yellow on 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.840 the shield? Yellow on blue. I guarantee you that originally 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:52.560 that yellow was gold. It's supposed to be golden. Yeah. 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:54.439 If you look at every single one, there can be 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:56.960 white on the color. There can be black on the color. 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.800 But there's um there can't be like red on bluetch 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:03.280 so though there but there can be like metal like 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:07.800 silver gold or bronze on blue or yellow or whatever. Um, 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:09.920 but there also can't be like silver on gold. And 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:12.520 if you go look closely there, you're not going to 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.199 find a crest that has metal on metal color or 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:18.960 color on color and authentic one at least. Yeah. Right, 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.280 did you know yours has ducks? Has was it ducks? 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:25.280 That those geese? I don't know those geese. I think 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:28.280 they're geese. Yeah, that's a goose for sure. And it's 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:30.480 fun when you just look up the generic Google image 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:34.000 or image search for your own. If you find the 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:36.439 case that there are a lot of them look pretty similar. 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:39.800 Then that's probably a good idea that that's what years 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:43.120 may have looked like. But I wouldn't necessarily like print 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:45.080 that out on a T shirt and say this is mine. 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:48.439 For sure. My family has a long history of mistreating geese. 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:53.280 For flag scott three geese right now. This is the 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:57.639 English version of it. Um the there's a Scottish version, 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.479 in an Irish version. All of Clark probably same with me, 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:02.560 And the English version is the one that has the 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:06.840 geese on it. Every time I was oh Bryant at 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:10.680 some point probably well now it's because I come from 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:14.399 my land. But the brant Ones all look about the 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:18.199 same yellow cross, kind of classy. I wish I had 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:20.159