For My Facebook Friends

I just started a new group on Facebook: New York City Heraldry. Log in, join the group, and post your photos of heraldry -- good, bad, surprising -- that you've encountered in the five boroughs. This is an informal group in which we can share our discoveries, questions, and comments.

More soon about Liverpool.

More from England

Here is another lovely example of heraldry from #1 Broadway, in two versions.

First, Plymouth in Manhattan:

Photo courtesy of Floyd Smith Sanford, III

and the full-blown arms of the City of Plymouth thanks to http://www.plymouthdata.info/CoatofArms.htm (complete description at that site):

The motto is 'Turris fortissima est nomen Jehova' translating as "The name of Jehovah is the strongest tower" and is taken from Proverbs.

Nice to see a direct correspondence between the two versions! Next post will deal with the puzzling arms of Liverpool on #1 Broadway. Stay tuned!

Over to Europe

As I reviewed our photos of the arms on #1 Broadway, I noticed that the only American example was that of New York City. I would like to have seen what the artist used as his models for San Francisco, Baltimore, New Orleans, and other ports.

Let's head over to Europe. The designer of #1 Broadway used the flag of the City of London as the model for this shield:

Photo by Floyd Smith Sanford, III

Here is the flag of the City of London, courtesy of Wikipedia:

An interesting contrast ...