Well well well I was not born from royal blood, nor I was descended from noble lineage, so what can a coat-of-arm be used for? It is a terrible myth, and yet has not been demythed, that many people assume heraldry to be connected with nobility. It was not true at all, as coat-of-arms for commoners, for example burghers, artisans, and even farmers, were widely practiced in Continental Europe through the Medieval period, so heraldry obviously is not restricted in noble classes, except when the regimes said otherwise (only in England and Portugal did we find such restrictions at some historical periods).
As John Locke hailed the rights of life, liberty and property, I also believe that the right to bear a coat-of-arm is also included in such fundamental human rights. Moreover, while the current oppressing regime of Vietnam prohibits the civilians to bear arms (so that they can not revolt to overthrow the tyrants), there’s no legislation to ban them from bearing coat-of-arms.
THE BLAZON OF THIS COAT-OF-ARM:
Quarterly:
- First: or three scallops gules, a label of three points azure;
- Second: gules a cross or fimbriated argent;
- Third: gules a lion rampant or;
- Fourth: azure bordure or, a sun and a moon argent.
This coat-of-arm is to represent myself, from my origin and background to my personalities and charecteristics, as well as my ideal and beliefs. It was the result of a lot of sketching and condensing of ideas. I had begun to work on it since the early months of this year, although scattered ideas, like the lion, the cross, the sun and the moon, had appeared much earlier. This could well be defined as a “canting arm” as it represents not only my lineage and profession, but also my name.
The first quarter represents my family, in which the label of three points show my cadency (eldest son). The second quarter is the combination of the design representing my religion (Christianity) and the colours representing my nation (Vietnamese). The third quarter’s charge is a lion rampant, which is not only my zodiac constellation, but also a symbol of my personalities, which – no one surprises – suits my zodiac sign very well. The fourth quarter is a pun on my name, using elemental ideograms of the Chinese equivalence of my middle name.
Anyone want to have a personal coat-of-arm? Anyone want to create one for his/her family? Please contact me directly and we can have a discussion on it. Free of charge for Vietnamese (in order to promote the culture of heraldry in this Eastasian country).
