American Heraldry Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American Heraldry Society is a learned society that promotes the study of heraldry and education of U.S. citizens about heraldry. The organization also advocates the legal protection of armorial bearings in the U.S. and the development of a distinctly American heraldic tradition. The Society was formed on 5 November 2003 by Thomas Shehan and others who followed a thread on the Usenet rec.heraldry newsgroup discussing the need for an American heraldic authority. Initial membership grew rather quickly as word of the organization's birth spread, and now includes members from around the world, including the United Kingdom and Australia; most member interaction occurs on the Society's internet forum. The current president of the Society is T.R. Griffith, of Texas.
The Society makes its educational material available on the internet. The Society published the first issue of its newsletter, "The American Herald," in May 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Society Coat of Arms
The coat of arms of the American Heraldry Society are shown to the right and are blazoned Gules an American Bald Eagle proper displayed on a Chief Azure three Escutcheons Argent. The eagle on the red field alludes to the Society's purpose of furthering heraldry in the U.S. and the escutcheons refer to heraldry; the tinctures gules, argent, and azure also allude to the U.S. (For a short time after the adoption of the arms, an argent fimbriation was included on the chief, but this has since been removed.)
[edit] Society Mission
[edit] Educational Goals
Heraldry continues to be one of those subjects about which people have a strong opinion without possessing much knowledge and is an often misunderstood (and even maligned) science in the American experience. The Society undertakes an education program to increase the heraldic knowledge of Americans and combat popular misconceptions that heraldry is snobby, pretentious and anti-egalitarian; its study and use belong to an "old world" sensibility that was shrugged off during the War of Independence; or that there is such a thing as a "family coat of arms" (i.e. a coat of arms which may be borne by anyone who has a particular surname), a fallacy promoted by bucket shops, businessmen who, for profit, provide unsuspecting people with bogus armorial bearings.
The Society publishes educational material on its website, and is currently conducting a survey of all personal coats of arms used by former U.S. Presidents. This series on Armigerous American Presidents has proven very successful, interesting, and well researched. These articles were alluded to in a June 13, 2006 New York Times article titled, "A Federal Office Where Heraldry of Yore Is Only Yesterday."
[edit] Legal Goals
Armorial bearings in the U.S. enjoy no legal protections to prevent the unauthorized use of the same coat of arms by more than one person. Since the American Revolution severed ties with the College of Arms in England, there is no government-sponsored heraldic authority to regulate armorial matters. (There are several institutions that have developed in the United States to register coats of arms privately, including the New England Historic Genealogical Society's Committee on Heraldry which has been publishing its Roll of Arms since 1928.) The Society encourages U.S. governmental authorities to provide protection for and recognition of American citizens' armorial bearings.
[edit] See also
- Académie Internationale d'Héraldique
- American College of Heraldry
- College of Arms Foundation
- The Heraldry Society
- Heraldry Society of Scotland
- Royal Heraldry Society of Canada
- Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland
