"I don't want any boring old heraldry. I want something new, fresh."

May 3, 2018 3:02 PM

Historian Sara Öberg Strådal looks at some bizarre coats of arms on her Twitter [Threadreader]. All are found in Conrad von Grünenberg's Wappenbuch, which can be read in full online.
posted by Kattullus (12 comments total)

"just some nice normal snake heraldry, please"

Sara Öberg Strådal, I'm sorry but I'm stripping those cool pictures for my Decoupage cigar box teaching seminar.
posted by clavdivs at 3:53 PM on May 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

I guess this is as good a time as any to bring up my current favourite coat of arms, with a nice take on the heraldic helmet.
posted by giltay at 4:06 PM on May 3, 2018 [21 favorites]

Would this not strike fear in the hearts of your enemy - Lord Bath?
posted by unliteral at 4:32 PM on May 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Something something Second Amendment
posted by Quindar Beep at 5:17 PM on May 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

This is delightful

My fave is definitely when you’re nice and normal and classy but your friends insist on doing their own coats of arms, because that duckbill-man and that red dinosaur omg

giltay, that ... that has a lot going on
posted by alleycat01 at 6:05 PM on May 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Wow! I'd love to know the actual backstory of these. Some of the creatures make imaginary sense or probably have a mythic origin, but the lizard/duck/lady is super random to me. "Just a classic, you know, lion with an axe and busty lizard lady with a crown and ducks feet".
posted by perrouno at 7:35 PM on May 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

From the twitter, thread, apparently some of these weren't designed by who they were supposed to represent, but were designed by some other party and were meant to be insulting.
posted by dilaudid at 10:00 PM on May 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Client: I’ll draw it, you just copy my drawing, only make it like, proper art.
posted by Segundus at 10:36 PM on May 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm partial to Sir Christopher Frayling's coat of arms. He's a big Clint Eastwood fan, and the motto he chose translates roughly as: "Go ahead, punk, make my day".
posted by Paul Slade at 9:05 AM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I guess this is as good a time as any to bring up my current favourite coat of arms, with a nice take on the heraldic helmet.

Are those Space Maine Coons, or is she a Kilrathi sympathizer?
posted by FatherDagon at 10:11 AM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Really beautiful book to flip through and try to read the descriptions.
Bildnr 5 shows the heraldic signs of König David, Iudas Machabeus, König Alexander der groß, Kaÿser Iulius der erst, König Hector von Troÿa. Later on there are wappens of sultans and the king of Ethiopia f.i.
posted by jouke at 1:16 AM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Kilrathi sympathizer

I suspect that they might be lynx?
posted by porpoise at 2:35 PM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]