My "mon"

Long time followers of my blogs may know I'm fascinated by the aesthetics of mon (Japanese family or individual emblems). I decided to design a mon-like emblem for me.

Unlike flags and "Western" coats of arms, mon don't have fixed colors. Here I'll present them black in transparent background.

I think the ideal starting point would be my coat of arms. But I'd like something that remarked it, not a direct translation.

Looking at some Medieval and Tudor-age armorials, I noticed how the negative area of cross moline (the kind of cross in my coat of arms) resembled four hearts. With that in mind, I designed my first kamon:


Heart-like shapes are present in Japanese mon: examples are the petals of sakura (cherry blossom, five petals each) and katabami (wood sorrel, three petals each).

I improved the previous putting it on an octagon:


Eight is a very meaningful number, specially for a computing geek like me.

I think this look much better than previous attempt. However, I made one final design: make it look like a flower (obviously, in Japanese style), with the hearts being petals.


I think it's a lovely design, and I would surely adopt it, for instance, if I lived in Japan. (As living near the biggest Japanese community outside Japan wasn't enough...)

Your comments and suggestions are mostly welcome.
Sorry for absence. I had some urgencies last weeks.

My neighborhood...

Neighborhoods are a common wondering by flag designers [see examples]. The mine haven't a flag, although others in my city do. I had an almost clear idea about what it should be, but it's the first time I "formally" design a flag to it.

I live in a neighborhood (I'll translate "bairro" as this, although "borough" also sounds adequate) called "Cidade Patriarca" (translating, "Patriarch's City"), a proletarian neighborhood in the suburbs of São Paulo, yet too young: it was officially founded only in 1948, when a train station was inaugurated.

Firstly, I'd like the arms to be partly canting, making a tribute to the José Bonifácio, the "patriarch of independence", in effect to his importance in this event. So the flag is green and yellow (more details below). In fact, the anniversary of the neighborhood, September 7th, is also the date of Brazilian independence, and the public schools of the bairro are named after José Bonifácio and the viscount of Cairu (other important politician of the independence time).

It also should have an tree, as one of its key characteristics was being planned (what's an exception), and the large green areas and wide streets are still visible in the landscape. Other feature should be the red color, a reference to the red clay that existed before the region was totally paved: it's very remembered by the oldest inhabitants of the region, specially about how the shoes and pants hems were ruined by red mud after the rains!

My first attempt was the following:


I like how much the design is similar to Brazilian flag, but it's very generic, don't you think? I decided to keep the reference to José Bonifácio clearer. Although he and his relatives denied nobility titles and coats of arms more than once, there's city of Santos coat of arms, white a green and golden bend in reference to José Bonifácio. Based on Santos coat of arms:


My final design, that I like only a bit more than anterior, has a green tree:


Curiously, I once heard that there was a local football team called "Patriarca FC" (or something like this) whose colors were red (actually, maroon), white and green. Although all designs are good, I think the third is the most appropriate. All of them are based on principles of Portuguese vexillology, followed in many parts of Brazil, but simplified to a more striking effect.

Comments are welcome.
What about design a flag for your local community? If you do it, post a link on the comments.

My personal coat of arms

One year ago, I posted a draft of my personal coat of arms [link to post]. At the time, my personal coat of arms was approximately this way:




















After many tests, I developed a design that passes on test of time, and correct under heraldic rules. It's similar to design above, but with many slight corrections. Here's an emblazonment (depiction) made by myself:

l will explain it by parts (this quick glossary can be very useful):

Escutcheon (shield): Very similar to the draft, but with different chief (superior part). I blazon it this way (other variants are possible):

Per fess Or ermined Azure and Azure, on chief a lion passant guardant Pourpre armed and langued Azure, on base a cross moline Or.

The draft contained a ultra-rare tincture (color) called Amaranth, between the pink and the purple. To avoid it being confused with Gules (red) or Pourpre (purple), I adopted the Pourpre tincture instead.

The escutcheon is round in the bottom, the most used in Iberic Peninsula and Latin America.

The lion is canting or punning ("Leo" is also an abbreviation of "Leonardo") and the lion represents many virtues in most of cultures. The cross moline represents my religion (Christianism) and is also one of the most striking heraldic charges, in my opinion. The ermine spots grants that my design is unique, as they rarely occurs.

Crest: The same lion of the shield, but in a different position, holding the cross moline of the same escutcheon. The owl was removed in name of a more homogene coat of arms. I blazon it as follow:

A demi-lion rampant guardant Pourpre langued and armed Azure, holding between the paws a cross moline Or.

Mantling and wreath (torse): Azure (blue) and Or (yellow), the main dark and light colors of my coat of arms.

Helmet: A gentleman (or commoner) coat of arms, to don't claim honors that I don't possess.

Motto: "Homines Sumus, Non Dei" (translation: We Are Men, Not God). Represents the humility, one of the virtues I value the most, and the sense that we must be strong in all situations.

Standard: A simple banner of arms. The idea is use it in more ceremonial occasions. The ratio of 4:5 seems to a gentleman.

Flag: To be used in less formal occasions. The base of the escutcheon.

I know that a golden cross moline in a blue background was used in other occasions; for example, a Lord Molyneux used it on English Civil War, although the cross had a less modern design. Where ambiguity can occur, the banner of arms can be used.

Comments, suggestions, requests are all welcome with pleasure.
Very special thanks to Paul James and Samuel McKittrick from Flags Forum, of whom without the advices and guidance my coat of arms couldn't reach such quality.

Draft: My coat of arms

Coats of arms are a way created to represent somebody's identity, created during Middle Ages (but based in more ancient principles). They're extremely related to flags, because banner of arms, one of first types of flags, are nothing more than a rectangular representation of a coat of arms.

Currently, I'm creating my coat of arms. It's only a draft, so it might change if I like. I'm trying to make it based on heraldic rules. It looks like this, for now:

Now I'll describe my coat of arms. There's a specific language to this purpose, but I'll try to be clearer. I'll explain the elements of my coat of arms detail by detail, to be more didactic. To a fast explanation about the elements of a coat of arms, click here.

Shield: It's divided by horizontal stripes (per fess), being the first in amaranth, and the second in blue (azure).

• In the amaranth division, there's a lion in white (argent) profiled, with four legs in the floor (statant), and blue tongue and nails. I chose the lion for represent my name, Leonardo, being this canting arms.
• In blue (azure) division, a golden (or) moline cross. I chose moline cross because I use this in some web forum and other occasions, and representing my religion.

Mantling: In blue (azure) and gold (or).

Crest: A white (argent) rising owl, with blue beak and legs. I chose the owl because it represents Philosophy, one of my greatest interests.

Motto: "Homines sumus, non Dei". Translated from Latin, "We're men (humans), [we're] not God". I always thought humility is an important virtue, and I liked to set it on my personal motto. Also, my brother helped me to chose it, so it's someway special.

A potential problem I find in it is that amaranth is a rarely used tincture (color), so I might have to change it to red or purple. Basically, I said all I had to say.

Your comment is very important to me. Remember that my coat of arms is under construction, so your opinion can have influence in final result.
A little break to coat of arms... probably, next week I return with flags.