Heraldry
So I've been looking into heraldry lately for a story I'm writing (it's too early to tell whether it'll be a shortie or a novel), and out of curiousity I checked out the coats of arms and mottoes for my ancestry. I'm still a total beginner when it comes to this stuff (after all, it's hundreds of years old and super complex!), but I learned that you go back matrilineally on your mom's side and patrilineally on your dad's side when you're looking for coats of arms.
So, my grandmother's maiden name is Gorman. It's an Irish sept from County Clare. The coat of arms is a silver lion passant on a blue field surrounded by three silver claymores, one each on the upper right and left and one on the bottom center. The lion means "waiting strength," the swords are associated with military prowess and their layout is associated with protection, the color blue signifies loyalty and hope, and silver signifies peace. All together, that means my family was charged with keeping the peace, known for not using force often but being very good at it when they had to, and being very loyal.
On my dad's side, the name is Springer (obviously). The Springers originated in Anglo-Saxon Britain, and were very widespread over the country. Eventually they consolidated in Austria-Hungary, which is where my grandfather's family was from. The coat of arms is a red chevron on a silver field, with three open-centered diamonds in the same places as the swords on the Gorman coat of arms. The chevron signifies military service (it's still seen in insignia today, for instance Sergeant's stripes), the diamonds are actually supposed to represent fortresses, so they signify great defensive capacity, the color red signifies bloodshed and also love, and silver, once again, is peace. So the translation means that my family was very strong defensively, probably the last line of defense in case of war, charged with keeping the peace when there was no other conflict going on, and peaceful unless provoked.
I also managed to find the mottoes for both families. The Gorman motto is something in Gaelic that I can't even begin to try to spell, but it means "The beginning and end of the battle." The Springer motto is, "Non mihi sed patriae," and means "Not for myself, but for my country." Country is also sometimes translated as "fathers," "ancestors," or "people (as in clan)."
Pretty cool, eh?
Check out the pictures. Isn't it weird that my mom and dad have families with coats of arms so similar that originated so far away from each other?
The Gorman coat of arms:
The Springer coat of arms:
So, my grandmother's maiden name is Gorman. It's an Irish sept from County Clare. The coat of arms is a silver lion passant on a blue field surrounded by three silver claymores, one each on the upper right and left and one on the bottom center. The lion means "waiting strength," the swords are associated with military prowess and their layout is associated with protection, the color blue signifies loyalty and hope, and silver signifies peace. All together, that means my family was charged with keeping the peace, known for not using force often but being very good at it when they had to, and being very loyal.
On my dad's side, the name is Springer (obviously). The Springers originated in Anglo-Saxon Britain, and were very widespread over the country. Eventually they consolidated in Austria-Hungary, which is where my grandfather's family was from. The coat of arms is a red chevron on a silver field, with three open-centered diamonds in the same places as the swords on the Gorman coat of arms. The chevron signifies military service (it's still seen in insignia today, for instance Sergeant's stripes), the diamonds are actually supposed to represent fortresses, so they signify great defensive capacity, the color red signifies bloodshed and also love, and silver, once again, is peace. So the translation means that my family was very strong defensively, probably the last line of defense in case of war, charged with keeping the peace when there was no other conflict going on, and peaceful unless provoked.
I also managed to find the mottoes for both families. The Gorman motto is something in Gaelic that I can't even begin to try to spell, but it means "The beginning and end of the battle." The Springer motto is, "Non mihi sed patriae," and means "Not for myself, but for my country." Country is also sometimes translated as "fathers," "ancestors," or "people (as in clan)."
Pretty cool, eh?
Check out the pictures. Isn't it weird that my mom and dad have families with coats of arms so similar that originated so far away from each other?
The Gorman coat of arms:
The Springer coat of arms: