2011-11-25

81. Coat of Arms with Stars

Right, today's final result has been the work of many hours over many months: I finally finished designing my very own coat of arms!


I must have been about 14 years old when I first wanted to do this. A few months ago, the idea resurfaced and I started working on it again. Not long after my star project began, I contemplated the possibility of adding a star (or several) to the design and I played around with it a little. I always wanted the whole design to be as close to the heraldic rules as possible while still being personal. Eventually, I found a way.

For a long time there were only the snakes in the middle still missing (apart from the stars), and the barn owl needed a colour change. So that's what I did today - along with adding the stars. The snakes still need some work and the colouring really isn't very neat yet, but I'm quite happy with the overall look. :)

There are some rather lengthy explanations about all the single parts, but I'm not going to start on about that now - I seriously need to get some sleep. Maybe some other time.

4 comments:

  1. I like this. I made us a crest, too. It is on my blog entry dated May 31st of this year. I want to comment quite often but I always seem to get it wrong! Did you compose it on the computer? I can't do that, either!

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  2. Oh, wow, that's gorgeous! (And I'm speechless so there's nothing else I can say...)

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  3. You finished!!! It looks amazing! :)
    Melanie

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  4. Thank you so much everyone! :)
    Yes, I made this only on the computer - not really my usual style, but I was just too worried I wouldn't get it right if I started drawing it myself. However, I want to do that some time soon.^^
    On a side note: I kept wondering about a possible difference between 'coat of arms' and 'crest'. Since I'm no native speaker I don't know how those two are used in everyday English language. But I learned now, that in hearldic terms the 'crest' is what sits on the helmet, while the 'coat of arms' is what is displayed on the shield. Makes sense to me: there's the same differentiation (and a lot more) in German.

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