Design of the Coat of Arms

Design of the Woodlandia Coat of Arms

1. History of the Coat of Arms Design

The Coat of Arms of Woodlandia was designed and gifted to the Principality of Woodlandia by HRH Prince Shawn of the Principality of Woodlandia on 12 March 2020, exactly one year after its establishment.

Official Coat of Arms

Uncompleted drawing of the Coat of Arms in close detail depicting a hummingbird and the Latin word Restituendam, meaning recover/rebuild.

The drawing was created on plain paper using a pencil and coloured pencil crayons.

Uncompleted half-coloured drawing of the Coat of Arms.

2. Elements of the Coat of Arms

Compartment

A compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount (mount vert), or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing. Care must be taken to distinguish true compartments from items upon which supporters are merely resting one or more feet, or, sometimes, mere heraldic badges or pure decoration under the shield. As an official part of the blazon, the compartment is derived from the need to have different supporters for different families or entities, often thought to represent the land held by the bearer; although sometimes the compartment is treated in the blazon separately from the supporters.

Woodlandia

Use - A grassy mount (mount vert) compartment is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located at the bottom of the coat of arms.

Colour - Dark Green, Light Green

Meaning - The lush green grass represents the growth of the nation of Woodlandia. The grassy compartment is the foundation of the coat of arms, like the grassy land of Woodlandia is the foundation for the nation of the Principality of Woodlandia.

Crest

A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating most likely as decorative sculptures atop the helmet worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after the 16th century.

Woodlandia

Use - The rising green phoenix crest is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located at the top of the coat of arms, above the crown.

Colour - Dark Green, Light Green, Gold, White

Meaning - The phoenix taking off in flight with a royal scepter firmly in its grip, symbolizes the freedom of the Principality of Woodlandia and its liberty to control a monarchy. The phoenix wears a golden pendant with a letter "S" representing the current ruling monarchical house of Stoner.

Crown/Coronet

A crown is often an emblem of a sovereign state, usually a monarchy, but also used by some republics. The crown can be a charge in a coat of arms, or set atop the shield to signify the status of its owner. A specific type of crown is employed in heraldry under strict rules. Indeed, some monarchies never had a physical crown, just a heraldic representation. Crowns can also be symbols of religious status or veneration, by divinities or by their representatives.

Woodlandia

Use - An oversized crown is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located on the top of the Helm. Above the crown sits the crest.

Colour - Blue, Gold, Purple, Red, Green, White

Meaning - The crown represents the stability and strength of the monarchy of Woodlandia, while the leaves and flowers represent the historic ties to Canada.

Escutcheon

In heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms (full display or depiction of all the heraldic components). The word is used in two related senses. First, as the shield on which a coat of arms is displayed; second, a shield can itself be a charge within a coat of arms.

Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields used by knights in combat, and thus are varied and developed by region and by era. The shape has been regarded as a war-like device, usually appropriate to men exclusively.

Though it can be used as a charge on its own, the most common use of an escutcheon charge is to display another coat of arms as a form of marshalling (combining two or more coats of arms into in one shield). These escutcheons are usually given the same shape as the main shield. When there is only one such shield, it is sometimes called an inescutcheon.

Woodlandia

Use - The escutcheon is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located roughly in the center of the coat of arms. The escutcheon is held up by two supporters, one on the left side and the other on the right. The escutcheon is used to represent collective symbols meaningful to Woodlandia such as, the Golden buffalo, the green feather, the blank double scrolls, and a hummingbird.

Colour - Red, White, Blue, Light Green, Dark green, Gold, Pink, Yellow

Meaning - The escutcheon is used to represent collective symbols meaningful to Woodlandia such as, the Golden buffalo, the green feather, the blank double scrolls, and a hummingbird.

Helmet

The helmet or helm is situated above the shield and bears the torse, crown, and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets. Open-visored or barred helmets are typically reserved to the highest ranks of nobility, while lesser nobility and burghers typically assume closed helms. While these classifications remained relatively constant, the specific forms of all these helmets varied and evolved over time.

Woodlandia

Use - The silver Knights helmet is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located underneath the crown and above the coat of arms.

Colour - Silver, Red

Meaning - The silver helmet of the Knight is topped with the monarch's Crown, symbolizing the loyalty and devotion the monarch has to the Principality of Woodlandia, in correlation with the loyalty and devotion a Knight has for a monarch.

Mantling

Mantling or "lambrequin" (its name in French) is drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. Often a protective cloth covering (usually of linen) worn by knights from their helmets to stave off the elements, and, secondarily, to decrease the effects of sword-blows against the helmet in battle, from which it is usually shown tattered or cut to shreds; less often it is shown as an intact drape, although this is usually the artist's discretion and done for decorative rather than symbolic reasons. The blazoned cloth having two sides, one of a colour and the other of a metal.

Woodlandia

Use - The blue and gold mantling is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and is located around the helmet.

Colour - Blue, Gold

Meaning - The mantling is usually in the main colours of the shield, or else in the livery colours that symbolize the entity bearing the arms, though there are exceptions.

Motto

A motto is the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group or organization. Mottos are usually found predominantly in written form (unlike slogans, which may also be expressed orally), and may stem from long traditions of social foundations, or from significant events, such as a civil war or a revolution. A motto may be in any language, but Latin has been widely used, especially in the Western world. The motto is often found below the shield in a banderole; a placement which stems from the Middle Ages, in which the vast majority of nobles possessed a coat of arms and a motto. In some cases the motto appears above the crest. Some mottos are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will, while others can only be changed by re-matriculation.

Woodlandia

Use - The Latin words "Iure Vincimus Restituendam Libertatem Nobis" are used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia for its motto. The words are printed in gold across an open blue scroll with gold trim. The scroll is located across the middle of the compartment.

Colour - Gold, Blue

Meaning - By right we conquer, With liberty we rebuild (Latin: Iure Vincimus Restituendam Libertatem Nobis) means that the Principality of Woodlandia has a right to exist and the liberty to self govern.

Left Supporter

In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as attendants, are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coronet or helmet and crest, supporters were not part of early medieval heraldry. The figures used as supporters may be based on real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or other inanimate objects. Often, as in other elements of heraldry, these can have local significance, or a historical link. Letters of the alphabet may be used. Human supporters can also be allegorical figures, or, more rarely, specifically named individuals. There is usually one supporter on each side of the shield, though sometimes a single supporter is placed behind the shield. The context of the application of supporters may vary, although entitlement may be considered conditioned by grant of a type of augmentation of honour.

Woodlandia

Use - The Grizzly Bear is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia as the left supporter and is a national animal of the Principality of Woodlandia.

Colour - Brown

Meaning - The Left Supporter (Grizzly Bear) is balanced by the Right Supporter (Eastern Wolf) on each side of the coat of arms, each bearing a crown. With both animals as Kings of the forest/woods, respectively, in their own right, they represent the relationship between the two monarchies of the Principality of Woodlandia and Canada.

Right Supporter

Woodlandia

Use - The Eastern Wolf is used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia as the right supporter and is a national animal of the Principality of Woodlandia.

Colour - Grey, White

Meaning - The Right Supporter (Eastern Wolf) is balanced by the Left Supporter (Grizzly Bear) on each side of the coat of arms, each bearing a crown. With both animals as Kings of the forest/woods, respectively, in their own right, they represent the relationship between the two monarchies of the Principality of Woodlandia and Canada.

Torse

A torse or wreath is a twisted roll of fabric laid about the top of the helmet and the base of the crest, with the dual purpose of masking the join between helm and crest, and of holding the mantling in place. The torse is blazoned as part of the crest. The tinctures of the torse are generally not mentioned in the blazon, as they are assumed to be of the principal metal and colour in the shield. Like the mantling, the torse must always be of a metal and a colour; usually the torse and the mantling have the same tinctures. In Woodlandia heraldry, the torse is generally shown with six twists of material, alternately metal and colour. Occasionally the torse is replaced by a crown or coronet, which is then termed a "crest-coronet". In the past this practice was widespread amongst all ranks, but today usually denied to those outside royalty and the peerage, except in special circumstances. Some have bypassed this rule by placing a crown/coronet on top of a torse, rather than in place of it, such as the Principality of Woodlandia, which has two torse. The torse is also often used as a decoration on a heraldic animal, either across the brow, as a form of circlet, or around the neck.

Woodlandia

Use - Two torse are used in the official coat of arms of Woodlandia and are located above and below the crown.

Colour - Blue, Gold

Meaning - The two colours on the torse (blue and gold), mirror the relationship of the monarchy with the people. The gold bands represent the monarchy and the crown, while the blue bands represents the people, or the commoners.