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| Newly assumed arms for a dear friend, emblazoned by Dimitri Prica of Canada, October 2023. |
There is nothing more American, in my opinion, than armorial assumption. What exactly does that mean? Simply this: in the absence of any central government agency to grant or regulate the use of arms, US citizens can simply adopt their own coat and rightfully claim the design as their own. There are some provisions to this scheme; the ancient customs and rules regarding heraldry should be followed, and any future armiger should perform due diligence to avoid possible infringement. In other words, it would be unwise to copy an established coat of arms known to exist--registrations and published armorials help protect against infringement.
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| Adopted crest, created on April 2, 2023. |
What kind of friend asks, "do you have a coat of arms?" Well, I am one of those friends. When my close friend responded with interest in assuming arms, my creative side began bursting. Discussions of possible ideas began in earnest during April. The image of a possible crest immediately became apparent in my mind. With the armiger's German heritage and surname translated as deer, I knew I wanted to incorporate a stag, flames, and a six-stringed acoustic guitar. Once I sketched out the idea, the armiger quickly approved. The process of designing his shield, however, would take much longer.
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| The final sketch presented for approval. Click to enlarge. |
I worked out numerous ideas but nothing really took hold. In August, I was scrolling through a Facebook group on civic heraldry and found inspiration--the arms for the Village of Žárovná located in the Czech Republic. Since the village's arms are well established, it was important to avoid infringing on their beloved coat, due diligence prevents honest mistakes.
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| The arms of the Village of Žárovná, Czech Republic. Image source: Wikipedia. |
The new armiger is both a musician and a carpenter. In the days following the Christmas holiday, the armiger likes to collect the dead or dying Christmas trees for a ceremonial burning party--actually a nice get together of friends to celebrate the end of the holiday season. The fir tree engulfed in flames makes this reference clear.
Charging the tree with a guitar pick alludes to the armiger's passion for playing and writing music on the guitar. The addition of the chevron on the guitar pick, rendered as a carpenter's square, illustrates the armiger's profession. Overall, I believe the identification and carrying power of this shield works well and is simple.
Those readers following my research journey on Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) will no doubt recognize the rendering of the flames as well as the carpenter's square--two items from la Rose that I wanted to incorporate into the design.
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| Sketch showing the shield, crest, and motto. Click to enlarge. |
Arms: Sable, on a pile reversed argent a fir tree proper issuant from flames gules in base, charged with a guitar pick argent point to base with a chevron rendered as a carpenter’s square gules;
Crest: On a torse argent and sable, a stag salient guardant proper incensed gules, holding a six-string acoustic guitar proper;
Motto: Ich Geb Bestes, German for “I’ll try my best”
Designer: Chad M. Krouse, Ed.D. of Richmond, Virginia
Heraldic Artist: Dimitri Prica of Canada
Date of Assumption: October 27, 2023
I was thrilled to see Prica's emblazonment today, and the new armiger is over the moon with excitement as well. To learn more about the heraldic work of Prica, please click here. Keeping heraldry alive and relevant in the 21st Century is important to me, and I truly enjoy the opportunity to help design new arms. By all means, assume your arms (but please follow the rules).
