Arms of the Czech Republic

Thanks to Sandy Sanford for grabbing a photo of the shield on the outside of the Czech Mission on Madison Avenue, Manhattan. Aren't these lovely?

The English translation of the label reads: "Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations."

Heraldry Night at the Movies

For those of you who love to go poking around to find heraldry on film, Turner Classic Movies has a quadruple threat tonight (5/8), starting at 8 p.m. Eastern: The Lion in Winter, then the Errol Flynn Adventures of Robin Hood, followed by Robin and Marian. And if you can last until 2:30 a.m., tune in to Becket. Happy viewing!

Hamburg and Antwerp

Hello again! I'm back to posting photos of the arms on #1 Broadway. Today's feature is the double arms of the port cities of Hamburg and Antwerp. Amazing that these were done in mosaic tiles!

Photo by Floyd Smith Sanford, III

Regarding Hamburg:
The shield pictured above seems most closely related to the city's seal from the year 1245, here:

Courtesy Wikipedia.

As with so many heraldic creations, the seal changed over time as did the arms. But I am glad that the artist for the mosaics at #1 Broadway chose to model his design upon this lovely and gracious 13th century piece.

According to Wikipedia, "The oldest coat of arms of Hamburg has been retained on a city seals int the 12th and 13th century. During the centuries the towers, walls, pinnacles and symbols of the coat of arms of Hamburg changed several times, without changing in character. The central castle was shown with opened doors sometimes with closed doors and with a portcullis."

There must be a moat in front of that door, don't you think?

The mosaic shield of Antwerp is a faithful representation of the city's:

Courtesy Wikipedia.

I found a full description of the arms -- in Dutch -- here: http://www.felixarchief.be/Unrestricted/Folder.aspx?document_id=09041acf800008be&format=pdf. The arms are fascinating and have gone through several iterations.

In the article, at least you can see the arms broken down by elements and perhaps make out bits of the text here and there. Translation, anyone??

More shields soon!

New Heraldic Beast

Greetings and welcome to my revivified NYC Heraldry blog!

I am pleased to share with you a fresh new example of heraldry from a young artist: Brianna Rivera.

Artist: Brianna Rivera

I have dubbed the beast (with apologies for my errors in Latin) Quadropedia Puella Fugens (“four-footed flying girl”). Brianna tells this blogger that the Quad Puella has the wings of a butterfly, humps of a camel, and wings of unicorn. She also has a dolphin’s tale and an extra “stumpy” tail, added for no particular reason.

The feet are those of the dragon, alligator, giraffe, and a bird. The Quad Puella is most likely passant fugens, if there is such a thing.

The colors and patterns, which break the boundaries of heraldic conventions, include gules, azure, rose, argent, purpureus, and or. The field is argent. The rest I leave up to the many experts among us! Feel free to add your descriptions in the comments field or on Facebook – New York City Heraldry page.

I hope you all enjoy this lovely work from Brianna. And look for more updates right here, on a weekly basis.

-- Terrere Nolo Timere Nescio (from the Dering Arms)

Upper West Side Heraldry

I'll be poking around the neighborhood for more examples of heraldry (and almost heraldry) and will post photos soon.

The Arms of Portugal & a Cement Mixer

Big smile! As I mentioned on Facebook today, I just saw a bright yellow cement mixer with the arms of Portugal painted on its side, driving east on 59th Street in Manhattan. Here is the shield:

Photo by Douglas Kiddie

Here are the full arms:

Thanks to Jorge L. Rivera, III, for supplying this image and the following information:

First documented coat of arms dates from the eleventh century, during the time of Sancho I and Sancho II. That coat showed these same five blue escutcheons charged by silver dots. Ca. 1252, under Alfonso II, the shield was added with the red border and golden castles, as seen here.

From 1385-1816, elements were added until this coat of arms (above) was adopted in 1911. As you can see, it is based on the arms (especially the shield) in use since the eleventh century.

Brilliant Shields in St. Thomas Church

On Monday evening, 11/9, I was honored and pleased to present a program about the 16 heraldic shields that hang in Saint Thomas Church, 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. They are the shields of America's World War I allies.

Here are a few of them:

Leo Belgicus, the Lion of the Kingdom of Belgium

New Zealand

and one of my favorites,

the Lesser Arms of Imperial Russia

If you would like to see all 16 shields in person, visit St. Thomas Church and look for the World War I Memorial on your left facing the altar, as you enter the church. If you would like more information about specific shields, please email me at mariadering@earthlink.net.

My deepest thanks to Douglas Kiddie for photographing all of the shields so beautifully.