Quote:
Originally Posted by MsDGP007
Actually, there is a lot more to it than that. "Geniune" (read traditional) coats-of-arms can be blazoned.
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I don't think genuine and traditional can be equated. Just about any coat of arms
can be blazoned, whether its design is traditional or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by muphigammaLOVE
What makes a coat of arms more "genuine" than another?
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In this country -- nothing. MsDGP007 is right that there are many heraldic rules and conventions in the design and blazoning of arms. These rules can vary from country to country, even in Europe, where heraldry developed. For example, German, Spanish, Italian and Scandanavian conventions (even color usage) may vary from each other and from the British usage that is most familiar to Americans. But all of these conventions are generally intended to produce arms that are unique and that "read" well (are easily identified).
But as for "genuine," there is nothing in the US that makes one coat-of-arms more "genuine" than another. There is no authority here to regulate the use of coats of arms, so there is nothing to make them "genuine" and opposed to "not genuine."
The same is not true of some other countries. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for example, the College of Arms is the governmental authority (not just an organization) that grants heraldic designs and regulates their use; the Lord Lyon King of Arms has this authority in Scotland. In these and some other countries, arms are not just symbolic designs, they are property that can be inherited and their usage is subject not just to convention but to law. In these countries, a coat of arms can only belong to an individual (legally speaking, there is no such thing as a family coat of arms) or a corporate body.
So, the bottom line is that in the United Kingdom, a coat of arms is only "genuine" or "authentic" if it has been granted and registered by the College of Arms or the Lord Lyon. (I believe the Canadian Heraldic Authority fills this function in Canada, but I'll admit to not really knowing whether it has quite the exclusive jurisdiction of its British counterparts.)
But in this country, anybody can adopt any design they want, and it's "authentic" and "genuine." Whether it abides by traditional rules of heraldry may be another matter -- much American heraldry does not.