INTRODUCTION AND GLOSSARY OF TERMS

COATS OF ARMS ARE SPECIFIC TO INDIVIDUALS

By definition, there cannot be any official coat of arms for the surname "RIGGS", nor for any other surname. This is because they are granted initially to a specific individual and, thereafter, can only be passed down to legitimate descendants of that person in the male line.

The following is part of an article from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (Vol.6 No.26 - June 25, 2001) and is copyright 2001 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. I strongly recommend that you read his article in full, by viewing an archived copy of it. The title of the article is "Pssst! Want to Buy Your Family's Coat of Arms?" and it also warns against purchasing so-called 'authentic' copies of 'your family's coat of arms' from dubious firms.

"Most Americans seem ignorant of one very basic fact: in Western Europe and in the British Isles, there is no such thing as a "family coat of arms". A coat of arms is issued to one person, not to a family. After that person is deceased, his eldest heir may apply for the same coat of arms. Again, when he dies, his heir may apply...However, even the proper heir cannot display the coat of arms until he or she has received authorization (been confirmed) by the heralds. At any one time, only one person may rightfully display a coat of arms."

Dick Eastman relates his comments to Western Europe and the British Isles, but The American College of Heraldry issue similar warnings:

"While Americans are usually fascinated by the beauty of heraldry, they are rarely familiar with its meaning and traditions and, therefore, often misunderstand and even abuse this rich cultural heritage. They seldom understand that a coat of arms is usually granted, certified, registered or otherwise recognized as belonging to one individual alone, and that only his direct descendants with proven lineage can be recognized as eligible to inherit the arms. Exceptions to this rule are rare. It is highly inappropriate for one to locate the arms of another person sharing the same surname, and to simply adopt and use these arms as one's own.

The notorious "Coat of arms for the Name of Jones, Smith, or whatever," purchasable by mail order or in one's local shopping mall, represents no more than improper and illegitimate armorial bearings...Such infraction of armorial regulation and custom constitutes a flagrant abuse of arms which no knowledgeable and honorable person would intentionally commit.

Sadly, most of the heraldic abuse in this country is done by honest, well-meaning persons. They greatly admire the heraldic tradition, but in their desire to participate in that tradition they inadvertently abuse heraldic arms due to their lack of familiarity with heraldic regulations and customs. While such armorial abuse does not apparently violate state or federal statute in this country at this time, still to usurp the use of another person's coat of arms is highly improper and is a dishonest practice. Such conduct disregards the regulations of all recognized heraldry and violates the rights of the legitimate owners of the arms."

DISPLAYING COATS OF ARMS FOR A SURNAME

The following was written by J.P.Brooke-Little, the Norrey and Ulster King of Arms, of the Royal College of Arms which is the heraldic authority for England and Wales:[S1]

"Once arms have been granted they may be borne and used by the grantee, as his especial, personal mark of honour and likewise by his legitimate descendants in the male line. They may be used by none other than one who is entitled to them by grant or descent.

This does not mean that they may not be displayed by another. To display arms is simply to exhibit them in a way which clearly indicates that they are the arms of someone else. For example many people display the arms of towns ... they exhibit the arms of schools, colleges and institutions with which they have some connection; and frequently the arms of famous people are used as decoration. All this is permissible and indeed to be encouraged.

On the other hand ... to place on stationery arms to which no title has been proved ... is not only pretentious and vulgar but is legally indefensible."

My web pages could be considered a form of stationery, because they are used for me to communicate with you. Naturally, in no way do I want to appear "pretentious and vulgar". So I display the Coat of Arms in the headings of web pages in a manner which, I hope, clearly indicates that it is not an authentic one.

It is based on the predominant 'design' for the various Coats Of Arms For Riggs Families, as described on the corresponding web page. But to differentiate it, I've placed in the "fess" of the shield the surname "RIGGS" - or "WELCOME!" in the shield on the home page.

In Scotland the Court of the Lord Lyon is the heraldic authority. Similar restrictions apply there, except that a member of a clan is permitted to use the clan crest.[S17] Although "clan" is the Gaelic word for children, it is more accurately translated as "family" in the sense in which the word became accepted in the Scottish Highlands during the 13th century. A clan is a social group whose core comprises a number of families actually descended from, or accepted as being descended from, a common ancestor: one that has a recognised chief or head confers noble status on the clan or family which gives it a legally recognised status and a corporate identity. The chief or head of the clan is the only person entitled to display the undifferenced shield of Arms,

As regards tartans, there are no strict rules on who has the right to wear a particular tartan. People normally wear only the tartan (if any) of their surname, or a "district tartan" connected with where they live or where their family come from. Wearing a particular clan tartan, on the other hand, indicates that the wearer bears an allegiance to the chief of that clan, i.e. is a member of the clan or one of its septs.[S17]. A "sept" is a family name which can be related to a clan or larger family for various reasons, through marriage or by seeking protection from a larger and more powerful neighbouring clan or family: many names which are recorded as septs have since become clans in their own right and many can be related to more than one clan.

In the case of the surname RIGGS, however, all that is academic because there is no clan or sept - or even district tartan - associated with that name. Some websites may suggest that the Clan Dunbar tartan is associated with the name RIGGS, but that is only because Hempriggs in Caithness was one of the 5 baronetcies into which the House of Dunbar was subsequently split. Similarly, other websites may suggest that the Clan Ramsay tartan is associated with the name RIGG, but only because the seat of the Ramsays is Dalhousie Castle which is at Bonnyrigg south of Edinburgh.

GLOSSARY OF HERALDIC TERMS

The same source, Brooke-Little's "An Heraldic Alphabet" [S1], was
used for all of the following definitions, unless stated otherwise.

Within this Glossary, use the following keys to navigate through
this list by clicking the initial letter of the term you want to find.
Click on any "Up" hand on the far right to return to these keys.

A

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F

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ACHIEVEMENT

The complete armorial bearings. Used in contradistinction to its various parts - arms, crest, supporters, motto, etc.

ANNULET

A ring.

ARGENT

The metal silver. It is usually represented by white, as silver tarnishes. In engraving, the surface is left plain.

ARMED

Used to describe the offensive and defensive portions of a creature's anatomy when of a different tincture from that of the body. It comprehends horns, claws, talons, beaks and tusks but does not preclude the use of more specific terms, such as 'beaked' and 'horned', if these are preferred.

AZURE

The colour blue. It is usually represented by a bright blue such as cobalt. In engraving, it is indicated using horizontal lines.

BAR

An ordinary which, like the fess, traverses the centreof the shield horizontally. It differs from the fess inasmuch as it is narrower and several may be borne on the shield. Textbooks often state that it cannot be borne singly but this is not so as there are several examples of a single bar.

BAR GEMEL

Two narrow bars close together i.e. twin (Latin - gemellus) bars: rather like train lines. A bar gemel is seldom, if ever, borne singly. In fact, in early blazon the two bars were simply called 'a gemel'.

BASE

A division, corresponding to a chief but at the bottom of the shield; also the area at the foot of the shield.

BEND

A broad band extending from dexter chief to sinister base. When charges are placed on a shield in the direction taken by a bend they are said to be 'in bend'.

BIRDBOLT

A short, blunt arrow used for shooting birds. The ends of bird bolts vary in design, some being flat, some round, whilst others are forked.

BLAZON

To blazon arms is to describe them in correct armorial terminology so that they can be correctly rendered from the verbal description, which is itself called a blazon.

BORDURE

A border running round and up to the edge of the shield.

CADENCY

(see "Difference, Marks of")

CANTONED

Said of a cross placed between four charges.

CHAIN

Unless specifically blazoned a chain may be drawn with oval, round or square links, the first being the most usual.

CHARGE

Anything borne on a shield or on another charge. Anything which has a charge on it is said to be 'charged'.

CHEVRON

An ordinary issuing from the base of the shield shaped like an inverted V.

CHIEF

An ordinary consisting of the top part (usually about a third) of the shield. A charge in the top portion of the shield is said to be 'in chief'.

COCK

This refers to the common farmyard fowl. He is frequently beaked, legged, combed and wattled of a different tincture from his body.

COLLAR

There are various collars used in heraldry but the unqualified word refers to a plain circlet.

COMB

The crest of a cock. If this is of a different tincture from the body he is usually termed 'combed' although 'crested' is also used.

CRESCENT

A half-moon with the horns pointing upwards.

CREST

An hereditary device, modelled onto the top of the helm and part of an achievement.

CROSS

An ordinary consisting of a broad cross throughout. Some authors state that there are over three hundred varieties of cross.

DEXTER

The right-hand side of the shield from the point of view of the bearer, but the left as observed from the front. Unless otherwise mentioned, all charges, whether in arms or crest, which are capable of facing a given direction, face the dexter.

DIFFERENCE, MARKS OF (or 'Marks of Cadency')

Small marks added to arms to distinguish the male members of the family one from the other. The eldest son has a label, the second a crescent, the third a mullet, etc., The third son of a second son will have a mullet on a crescent and so forth. English custom reserves argent marks to the royalty and gules marks are preferred for others.

ENGRAILED

A line of partition, which is curvilinearly drawn, with the points of the cups facing outwards.

ERASED

Torn off roughly so as to leave a jagged edge. The term is usually applied to parts of living creatures rudely severed from their bodies.

ERMINE

One of the two principal furs used in heraldry. It consists of black ermine tails (drawn in a variety of stylised forms) on a white field.

ESCALLOP

The scallop shell. That shown in heraldry is normally the back of the convex left shell with the point in chief and the 'ears' showing. The scallop...was favoured by pilgrims as an invaluable general service utensil. It was carried by a cord which passed through two holes in the 'beak' of the shell, which holes are sometimes found in heraldic representations. It is a very popular misconception that the incidence of a scallop shell in a coat of arm argues an ancestor who went on a crusade. In very ancient coats it could mean this but usually there is no connection.

ESCUTCHEON

A shield. When a shield is borne as a charge, it is normally termed an escutcheon or inescutcheon. An escutcheon of pretence is a small shield containing the arms of an heraldic heiress, which is placed in the centre of her husband's arms in their marital achievement.

FEATHERED

Referring to the feathers of an arrow.

FESS

An ordinary consisting of a broad horizontal band drawn across the centre of the shield.

FIELD

The surface of the shield on which the charges are placed.

FIELD, OF THE

If a charge is 'of the field', then it is the same colour as the field or surface.

FLANK

Fleshy part of side of body between ribs and hip. [S9]

FLEUR-DE-LYS

A stylised form of lily which can be drawn in a variety of ways.

FLORY

A cross with each arm terminating in a fleur-de-lys is sometimes described as 'fleuretty' or 'floretty', but such a cross is also sometimes blazoned 'flory' or 'fleury'. (See also 'patonce' below).

GARB

A sheaf of wheat, unless the blazon specifies some other type of grain. It is always banded, but the band is not blazoned unless of a different tincture from the garb.

GORGED

Collared. If a creature is simply blazoned as being gorged, a plain collar is implied.

GULES

The colour red. It is usually pure vermilion. In engraving, it is indicated by vertical lines.

GUTTÉ-DE-POIX

Gutté (or Gutty, Goutty, or Goutté) means strewn with drops. Instead of blazoning a field or charge 'gutté sable', 'gutté gules',etc., more picturesque descriptions are used: 'gutté de poix' is used to describe black drops. The current fashion in official armory is to use the spelling 'gutty' but the other spellings are frequently employed.

HEART

The stylised 'playing-card' type is always used. It is sometimes blazoned a 'human heart'.

HEIRESS

An heiress (or coheiress) is a daughter who has no brothers or whose brothers have died without surviving issue, and whose father is dead. If she marries, her husband bears her paternal arms on an escutcheon of pretence over his own. On her death, her arms are transmitted as a quartering to her issue.

HELM OR HELMET

The helmet is included in an achievement of arms simply because the crest was anciently fixed to the top of it; it is therefore the appropriate vehicle for the display of the crest. Different types of helm were assigned to different ranks of people. Knights and baronets have steel helms shown facing the observer and with the visor raised. Esquires, gentlemen and corporations have steel helms with closed visors facing the dexter.

HERALDS' VISITATIONS

Pedigrees of people who had a right to Arms, collected by the officers of the College of Arms between 1530 and 1687, and printed from their records or from early "improved" copies of them.

IMPALED

Division of the shield per pale (vertically in half) with one coat placed on the dexter and another on the sinister side. A husband, when showing his marital coat, impales his wife's arms unless she is an heraldic heiress, in which case he places them on an escutcheon of pretence.

LABEL

A horizontal band from which depend three vertical pieces.

LAST, OF THE

If a charge is 'of the last', then it is the same colour as the last colour previously specified in the blazon.

MANTLING

The short mantle fixed to and flowing from the helmet. Where a helmet is shown in an achievement of arms, the mantling is an essential concomitant.

MULLET

Originally the mullet was a spur rowel, from the French word molette, but it now has a stereotyped form and more often symbolizes a star than a spur rowel. Unless otherwise blazoned it is five-pointed and unpierced. If pierced the colour of the hole must be indicated, but if the field shows through there is no real need to state that it is pierced 'of the field' for it is reasonable to assume that this is the case.

OR

The metal gold. It is frequently represented by yellow, a pale yellow ochre being favoured. In engraving, it is indicated by small dots.

ORDINARY

Certain basic geometrical charges are, for convenience, termed ordinaries.

PASSANT

Used to describe beasts who are walking along with the dexter fore-paw raised.

PATÉE

(or Paty). The cross formy was frequently so termed but today the older blazon is generally used.

PATONCE

A cross with each arm terminating in three crown-like prongs is described as a 'cross patonce'. Frequently no distinction is made between the cross flory (see above) and the cross patonce, although some draw a distinction between the ways in which the traverse of the two crosses are drawn, with the patonce tapering towards the centre.

PLUMED

Synonym for 'feathered', referring to the feathers of an arrow. [S9]

PROPER

When a charge is shown in its natural colour it is so termed...It is abbreviated ppr.

PURPURE

The colour purple. It is usually shown as mauve rather than a deep purple. In engraving, it is indicated by diagonal lines in bend sinister.

ROSE

The heraldic rose is a five-petalled rose of the common sweet briar or dogrose variety. The sepals show between the petals and the centre of the seeds, as in the natural rose, is large.

SABLE

The colour black. It is usually a slightly greyish shade. In engraving, it is indicated by cross-hatching.

SALTIRE

An ordinary consisting of a cross placed diagonally on the shield. Charges on a saltire are normally placed erect but sometimes, without it being mentioned in the blazon, saltirewise.

SECOND, OF THE

If a charge is 'of the second', then it is the same colour as the second colour specified in the blazon.

SHELDRAKE

Bright-plumaged coastal wild duck. [S9]

SINISTER

The left-hand side of the shield from the point of view of the bearer - the right as observed from the front.

TALBOT

The heraldic dog. It has a mastiff's body with hound's head and bloodhound's long drooping ears.

THIRD, OF THE

If a charge is 'of the third', then it is the same colour as the third colour specified in the blazon.

TINCTURES

This term refers to all the colours, metals and furs in the heraldic paint-box.

VAIR

One of the two principal furs used in heraldry. It consists of small animals' skins joined together head to tail. In early armory it was drawn like jointed cups ('vair ancient') but later the pelts were drawn like ugly shields with 'ears' and a pointed base ('vair en point'). The skins are always alternatively argent and azure.

VERT

The colour green. In engraving, it is indicated by diagonal lines in bend.

WATER SPANIEL

Large spaniel of variety used for retrieving water-fowl. [S9]

WATTLED

Referring to the wattles (fleshy appendages on the throat) of a cock. 'Jelloped' or 'jowlopped' are synonymous.

WOLF

The wolf is a rare device in modern heraldry. Though common throughout Europe in medieval times, he is not often found. [S8]