New Arminger

New personal coat of arms for a dear friend.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Now that Congress is over I have a little more time to pursue a few projects that I had shelved for some time.  One important project that I wanted to complete straightaway was to render digital emblazonments of arms for a close friend.  We jointly designed the arms back during the Summer '23 and it was time to get this off my list--and I'm thrilled that I can actually do this work digitally now too.

The blazon for these new arms:  

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”

A quick bit about the design rationale.  The arminger was born and lives in Richmond, Virginia. The new arminger is both a musician and a carpenter. In the days following the Christmas holiday, the arminger 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 arminger'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 arminger's profession.

Personal banner of arms, private arminger.  Left the field on this pure black.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I seen examples of using a faded black whenever the field is Sable (black) to avoid an otherwise stark heaviness.  I tried this with the arms and then left the field on the flag pure black to show the difference.  I'm waiting to see which the new arminger prefers.  I love this simple design.