I have added a new menu item and page. In addition to being able to search for a coat of arms by the first few letters of someone's last name, you can now also browse them all by selecting "Services," then "Browse Arms" from the menu or navigate directly to the page here:

http://assumearms.com/Browse-Achievements.aspx

I have also just completed the arms of HIH Roberto Jesus Hildalgo  Carrillo, Prince of Kholm. They can be found here:

http://assumearms.com/Armorial-Achievement.aspx?id=1000075

For completing this very special set of arms, I have been knighted by Prince Robeto of Kholm. Here is the Grant:

I have also been made an official Heraldic Artist of the Princely and Grand Ducal College of Heraldry. Here is that Grant:

So as you can see, we've been quite busy. Next up! I will be doing the arms of state for Kholm.

Until next time...

Yours In Arms,

Sir Michael C. Richards, Kt. OPD

I've been neglecting the blog because I've actually been really busy designing Armorial Achievements. So I wanted to give you a glimpse of the latest ones.

Let's start with one I did for free and I only did the blazon (written description), not the emblazonment (the actual illustration). Here's the back story: A guy called and wanted to register his coat of arms that someone else designed which is perfectly free and cool with me. The problem was, the company (Fleur De Lis) did not blazon if for him. As a matter of fact, they wouldn't give him the original art files or even a pdf and they told him the blazon was extra. Crazy huh? So I said, no worries, send me the file and I'll Blazon it for you. Now there aren't many rules in blazoning, but if something has never been done, I would consider that at least a guideline. The first thing I noticed was that the mantling was Azure doubled (inner lined) with Argent and Or. I can find no historical instance of a mantling doubled with two metals. If someone knows of a case, please hook me up. Anyway, other than that (and not giving the customer the digital files) they did really nice work and it can be found registered here:

http://assumearms.com/Armorial-Achievement.aspx?id=1000070

So enough about other people's art, my latest finalized design was commissioned for His Excellency Patrick McCleary and can be found here:

http://assumearms.com/Armorial-Achievement.aspx?id=1000064

I also did another comissioned work for a gentleman in New York who had a rough idea of what he wanted (a hand drawn sketch which he sent via mail) and I then went through it and made some suggestions (which he liked) and then wrapped it up and I sent him the CD of the original artwork as well as a wax sealed and tagged original copy (which I include with all commissioned works). It can be found here:

http://assumearms.com/Armorial-Achievement.aspx?id=1000066

And the last one (for now anyway) was for a dear friend and was done pro bono just because. It can be found here:

http://assumearms.com/Armorial-Achievement.aspx?id=1000065

I've got two more in the pipeline, one for a Prince and one for a very nice gentleman in Pennsylvania. I'll fill you in when they are done.

Until next time, yours in arms,

Michael C. Richards

Assume Arms .com was proud to receive a letter of patronage today from H.E. Baron Patrick McCleary of Malinovka Kt.GC.OPD, the Head of The Noble House of Malinovka.

Here is what it said:

Letter of Patronage

To all it may concern,

I H.E. Patrick McCleary being the rightful Baron of Malinovka do herby grant patronage to Mr. Michael Richards. This person has exemplified himself within the field of heraldry and I am honoured to be the Patron of his organization, Assume Arms .com. This Patronage is at the leisure of the Baron of Malinovka.

This appointment is given on the 4th June 2009.

H.E. Baron Patrick McCleary of Malinovka Kt.GC.OPD
Head of The Noble House of Malinovka

So what is a coat of arms? Originally, the heralds, who were in charge of recording and maintaining the systems of arms, wore a surcoat that had an embroidered version of what was placed on their master's shield. Surcoat is where the "coat" in coat of arms comes from. Arms were originally and still rightly just the shield and its charges. Hence, Coat of Arms. The English language, being what it is, started to use that term to include the entire Achievement.

So what is an achievement? The proper full name of what most people call a coat of arms is an armorial achievement. Armorial, pertaining to arms or armory and achievement, still holding the same meaning. It includes, the shield and all its charges, the helmet, mantling and crest, the supporters and motto (if any) and the compartment (almost exclusively unique to Scottish heraldry).

One term that is absolutely incorrect is family crest. There has never been a crest granted without an accompanying shield. A crest sits atop the helmet, period. And although an achievement may be passed to a direct descendant, usually it is modified to some extent. There is no coat of arms for the family Richards. Achievements are just that; achievements of a specific person, not a family. So family crest as a term is completely wrong.

So what we end up with is that the full, proper name is armorial achievement, or achievement for short. The most common term that is acceptable in the modern language is coat of arms or arms for short. Arms is actually more correct than coat of arms, because except for royal coronations, there aren't too many people running around wearing a surcoat. Arms also has the advantage in being short and easy and that what you will see most of the time here at AssumeArms.com, though we sometimes use coat of arms because that is far and away what most people call it here in the US.

Yours In Arms,

Michael C. Richards

Today I finalized and registered the first fully commissioned, complete Armorial Achievement for Michael Mims Roberts. You can see it here: Roberts Coat Of Arms (New Window).

I wanted to use this opportunity to talk a little about the design process and what is involved. Michael purchased the Unlimited Design Consultation and Creation package for $300 dollars and it's probably a good thing he did as we went through about 15 revisions before finalizing the design. And he had a very good idea of where he wanted to go and was very articulate. The whole process took me about 8-10 hours not including some extra design time I took to get a few things just right.

It started when he called me and asked some basic questions. I gave him the answers he was looking for and we talked about basic shield shape and colors. we tried a couple of different sets of colors and finally found one he wanted to use. He told me some of his family's history and from that we gleaned some ideas for the charges we wanted to use. This is where most of the changes took place. I would try an arrangement and we would talk about what he like and disliked. This back and forth process, sometimes by email and sometimes by phone took about a month all told.

When we were all finished, I zipped up his master files and made some common sizes for use in various mediums and emailed them to him. Sizes for print, some for email, etc. I also color laser print the final product on fine parchment paper. It is hand signed, then framed and shipped.

Michael now has a completely unique coat of arms that he can be proud of and can be passed down to the next generation and you can too...

Yours In Arms,

Michael C. Richards