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Under its present leadership the Foundation seeks to inform American audiences about English heraldry by producing events featuring experts on the subject. Accounts and photos of these events, which started in 2001, may be found under the “Activities” tab on this site.
The College of Arms (www.college-of-arms.gov.uk) is the world’s oldest heraldic authority. It is not a “college” as the word is generally used today: it has no professors or students and does not offer courses. Instead it is body collectively made up of a number of Officers of Arms, popularly known as heralds. Heralds have a long history dating back to the Middle Ages.
As a department of the British Royal Household, the College is responsible for organizing official, or “state”, pageants such as coronations, funerals, openings of Parliament and the annual Garter service at Windsor Castle. In addition, the College possesses the largest repository of English, Welsh and Northern Irish family pedigrees. These have been accumulated over centuries.
Acting through the three Kings of Arms under the authority of the Earl Marshal, the College has long exercised the Crown’s function of granting armorial bearings to worthy English and Commonwealth subjects who seek them. American descendants of British subjects and individuals of any nationality who have been honored by the British Sovereign may also petition for honorary grants of arms.
The armorial bearings of the
College of Arms Foundation
impaled with
those of its President,
John McC. Shannon
A coat of arms by definition is unique and may only be borne legitimately by the grantee and his descendants. The College is renowned for the quality of its designs, which artfully adapt a historical art form to modern needs. New designs of armorial bearings – consisting of a shield, helm, mantling and crest – often contain visual references to the accomplishments or career of the person to whom the arms were originally granted.
Successful heraldry requires an understanding of the rules as well as a good sense of design. It also requires skilled craftsmen to render the designs in different media: vellum, metal, stone and wood. England today is renowned not only for the quality of its heraldry but also its heraldic artists.
Americans unfamiliar with heraldry imagine that it is “dead”. Nothing could be further from the truth. The College in England receives dozens of petitions for armorial bearings each year. Heraldry is very much alive and well and enjoyed by many. This is the fundamental message of the Foundation.
I hope that the information contained on the website is interesting. Please email me at john.shannon@coaf.us with questions or to request to be added to our email distribution list so that you will receive notices of meetings and events.
Sincerely,
John McC. Shannon
President
John.Shannon@coaf.us
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