Topic: Paul´s Art Corner
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John Hawkwood is as famous a mercenary boss as they come and his coat of arms is according to all regulations:
Federico da Montefeltro, a famous condottiere, same:
Black Army of Hungary, a known mercenary army, also according to the rules:
So yea. They also didn’t slap a random white skull on a blue and green striped background, just cause it seemed badass, but adhered to certain standards. I mean even the good ol’ pirate jolly roger is, after all, pretty much according to heraldic concepts, a white (metal) skull on a black (colour)background :)Basic colours, basic partitions, basic patterns, even charges (main symbols) as diverse as they were, from fists to unicorns, swords to dragons, had certain rules of facing, positioning, etc.
Even medieval peasant uprisings saw the peasants adapt symbols, such as “Christ the just ruler” or certain patron saints, on their flags, but again, the colour of the flag and the charge (in that case the saint) were properly set.
In your current set, most are fine. But some are just really off, according to basic heraldry rules of how to combine colours (usually avoid colour on colour, or metal on metal), or positioning of the charge, or charge combinations. Even if you consider going “with the most “awesome” design they can come up with” it can still follow some of these very basic heraldry rules such as how to combine colours and where and how to place the charge.
It’s not a massive issue, nor one that would require you to rework a ton of things, but if you’re already at it, why not do it right?
I rather liked how (the otherwise relativelay lame game) Stronghold Kindoms allowed the player to play around with setting up their coat of arms with a bunch of heraldically correct elements.
These ones in particular seem odd.First two practically the same, but the motto banner on first (and the one with the scythe), why a motto banner without a motto? Particularly since the motto banner is really a late medieval thing…
Why a muslim crescent in Europe? The European crescent would look like this:
Also, the lines are patterns and I think it a bit strange to have the charge over the pattern. If the banner was partitioned, and one partition would have the pattern the other the charge, it would make more sense. The colour combination blue, black, white is otherwise my favourite so I actually use this shield just for it, but heraldically it makes no sense.A crown was a simbol of royalty (usually yellow on coats of arms). Would a king not chop of a mercenary leader’s head if he dared to present himself with a “royal” symbol? And this one also is the charge over the pattern…
The last two are just odd colour combinations, although from a personal perspective I like the idea of both. But the sword one again, charge over pattern, which is unusual, so would be better to split the shield in half, with one half having the stripes, the other half the sword, while the last one the green stripe rather breaks it. A plain golden purse on a red or black background would be better.
It’s important to note that the kind of codified heraldry being talked about here only started to take shape near the tail end of the period that you are dealing with – that is 1100 and upwards, so not early medieval. Some of the ideas that were to result in heraldry taking shape were most likely already around before that, considering the history of war banners, but the rules mentioned above didn’t exist yet.
I also agree with how a newly formed mercenary group would not necessarily care about heraldic rules, even if they knew them. They could also be using a banner with local importance or a traditional symbol of strength. Adding some wouldn’t hurt though for the purpose of playing someone who does care and there are some really nice heraldic banners to be found. However, it’s not an absolute necessity in order to make your mercenaries come across as believable.This game has the warhammer (bec de corbin) and the billhook, the kite shield and some high medieval helmets, so it’s not early only. Therefore it must span 900-1200, possibly 1300 even. By 1100 the heraldry was pretty codified according to the basic rules, although the device itself, the charge,t he symbol, was left to the discretion of the noble to chose. Check Norman coats of arms from William the Conqueror’s times… I am not against using outrageous devices, severed orc heads, skeleton necromancer birds, werewolf claws, whatever, but the positioning and colour combinations should have some basic heraldic sense is all.
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