Heraldry, and hoopla. There are many examples of Crests or Coats of Arms floating about in our daily lives: Teams we like, Family symbols and Organizations to which we belong or lend our allegiance. Coats of Arms date back to the late 11th and early 12th century and were used on the Mideaval battlefield to distinguish one's allies from one's enemies. Later, these symbols were used to show other organizations including Civic and Ecclesiastical groups and continue to this day in our own Great Seal of the U.S. and the Sports teams we follow and the Universities we attend.
Some of the examples displayed here represent things from my orbit. For instance, the Coat of Arms with the chest in the main field is of my Mother's maiden name. The purple and yellow example is from a certain Greek organization of which I am quite fond. Then we have some Sporting elements such as the Jockey Colors crest representing the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup and the Symbol for the Indy 500 (which is coming up in just a few weeks and is very close in orbital range) and West Ham United, my favorite "football" team from the English Premier League. The lacrosse crest is the local team I coach for and for whom my son plays attack.
Then we have examples of one fan expressing his affinity for his team by having it permanently etched in his epidermis in ink with a needle. Perhaps this is too far? On balance, we have the lovely Kate Perry merely wearing the crest of "the Mighty Hammers" in a less permanent but more aesthetically pleasing medium. Above that we have the crest I designed for my firm...which is a great conversation piece and gets uniformly positive feedback.
Whether it is T-Shirts or tattoos,flags or signet rings, these 800 year old contrivances are still ubiquitous and interesting....but not tattooing anything thank you.
P.S. Do not get me started on the lame psuedo-crests that Ralph plasters all over anything that ain't moving...such poseur patches do not enter into this discourse.
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