BMJ No 7123 Volume 315
Education and debate Saturday 20/27 December Christmas 1997 issue
How to do it
How to acquire a coat of arms
John Thurston
The Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine was inaugurated on 2 November 1993. The new council decided that it would like a logo or badge to signify its identity and to adorn such items as headed notepaper and the president's badge of office. As registrar I was instructed to approach the College of Arms for letters-patent granting the faculty its own coat of arms.
Because of the multidisciplinary nature of accident and emergency medicine, the faculty is an intercollegiate one based on six royal colleges. The faculty has flourished, it has a steadily increasing membership, and the faculty board's examination committee holds regular examinations for fellowship of the faculty twice a year.
Achievement of armsThe first step was to approach the College of Arms in London and
the duty herald, who in our case was W We submitted the articles of constitution of the faculty to Portcullis,
who submitted them to the Kings of Arms. The faculty was then given
permission to petition the Earl Marshal for armorial bearings.
Portcullis had made it clear that the smaller the committee designing
the coat of arms the better. He favoured a committee of one. In the
event we formed a small subcommittee of three.
Figure 1 shows the principal elements of an achievement of arms, in
this case those of the Worshipful Company of
Drapers. Eight items form the main elements of a full coat of arms.
Shield - The shield is the essential element of the coat of
arms and with the banner is the principal means of heraldic display.
Shields are of many different shapes, largely reflecting the century in
which they were created.
Helm and crest - The helm is the heraldic term for a helmet
and the crest sits on top of the helm. For c
Wreath - The wreath is a band of twisted material that was
draped around the mediaeval helmet as decoration and to cover the base
of the crest where it was fixed to the helm.
Supporters - The supporters are figures, either beasts or
humans, placed on either side of the shield to support it. These
supporters are referred to as they are in medical terms - that is, the
one on the left as you look at the coat of arms is described as being
on the right - and the heraldic term dexter is used while sinister is
used for the left hand supporter.
|  | |
| Fig 1: Principal elements of coat of arms of Worshipful Company of Drapers |
Compartment - In a coat of arms the supporters stand on a base called a compartment. This is usually a grassy mound.
Motto - The motto is a short pithy summary, which may be written in any language, summarising the aspirations of the holder of the armorial bearings.
Heraldic badge
When arms and crests are granted it is possible for a badge to be included as well. Badges were used by retainers in the Middle Ages to show their allegiance. A good example of this is the Wars of the Roses, in which the Yorkist followers wore white roses and the Lancastrians wore red. Many organisations have badges in addition to the arms and crest. They use the full coat of arms on their seal and stationery while the badge is used for more general purposes such as adorning the ties of members.
Design
| This is the hardest part of preparing the application for
letters-patent. It was easy to see why Portcullis favoured a committee
of one. In the event we were able to produce a satisfactory design, but
only after several false starts.
Figure 2 shows the final design of our coat of arms. The crest consists of a waxing and waning moon on either side of a symbolic sun. This depicts the fact that accident and emergency work goes on by night and day. The shield is a conventional shape and is divided into two by a symbolic lightning strike indicating the use of electricity in accident and emergency, both for instrumentation and defibrillation. The two halves of the shield are symbolically coloured as night (purpure or purple) and day (argent or silver). |  |  Fig 2 Coat of arms of Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine |
On the sinister half, in the argent part of the shield is a poppy proper (proper indicates that it is painted in its natural form), representing the use of opiate analgesia. The dexter supporter is the wound man. This rather dramatic drawing shows the numerous types of wound to which man may be subjected. We thought that it was striking and unusual and made our coat of arms just that bit different from others. The supporter on the sinister side represents a healthy man. The compartment has on the dexter side nettles and on the sinister side dock leaves, indicating harm and the folklore cure for the harm caused by nettles.
Finally, we created a motto, which means "We always help the sick." We chose Latin because we thought that it would have the gravitas that an English motto would not.
Badge
 Fig 3 - Badge of the faculty | | Figure 3 shows the final design for the badge. Six poppies
interspersed with seedheads depicted proper, represent the six parent
colleges from which the intercollegiate faculty was formed, and
continue the theme of pain relief as depicted on the sinister half of
the shield.
The bee, again depicted proper and volant (flying), requires explanation. The bee was chosen for three reasons. Firstly, the bee is a busy energetic insect and represents industry. Secondly, the bee works best in a team and this is how a good accident and emergency department functions. Thirdly, the bee is the symbol of the City of Manchester, where the first chair of accident and emergency medicine was created. |
Letters-patent
The whole process cost about £6000. This is a reduced price because the faculty is a registered charity. Commercial bodies pay nearly £9000, whereas individuals pay a fee of £2575 for arms and a crest.
| At the banquet after the faculty's annual general meeting on 24
January 1997 Portcullis presented the letters-patent (fig 4) to
our first president, Dr David Williams. The final product has the
three seals of the Kings of Arms (Garter, Clarenceux, and
Norroy and Ulster). The letters-patent are beautifully written in
heraldic terms and the coat of arms and badge are painted by the artist
(Stephen Sandon) in full colour.
These letters-patent are presented for all time and if the faculty eventually becomes the Royal College of Accident and Emergency Medicine it will fly its coat of arms on a flag above the building. The letters-patent remain the property of the organisation even if it changes from faculty to college. | |  Fig 4 - Letters-patent of the faculty |
I am indebted to William Hunt, Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms, for his guidance; to Stephen Friar and John Ferguson, whose book Basic Heraldry inspired this paper; and my colleagues on the design committee, Mr Jonathan Marrow and Dr Evan Bayton.
Faculty of Accident and
Emergency Medicine,
London WC2A 3PN
John Thurston,
registrar
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