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Some Distinctive
Characteristics of Scots Arms |
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So what are the characteristics of
Scots arms? Firstly the use of the lion rampant in many ancient
coats. The ruddy lion ramping in his golden field is well known as
the coat of the King of Scots, but we must also note this lion
rampant as the principal, often only charge, in the ancient earldoms
of Fife and March (Dunbar), also in Duff, Moncrieff, Home, Dundas,
Gray, MacDowall, Buchanan, Wemyss, Moubray, Spens, Wallace,
Abernethy, Crichton, Lyon, Lamont, Scrymgeour, and in Maitland,
where he is dismembered, in Ross, where he is triplicated and in
many of the Celtic coats, where the lion occupies the first quarter
of a shield composed of four indivisible quarters. |
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Fife |
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Wemyss |
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Abernethy |
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Cirichton |
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The national flag of Scotland is Azure
a saltire Argent. This flag doubtless became popular during the
crusades, which both internationalized heraldry and speeded up the
adoption of arms by knights. The colours of the St Andrew’s flag
settled as silver on blue in the seventeenth century, but it was
probably the basis of many arms which use a saltire as the principle
charge, eg Maxwell, Lennox (from which derive Napier), Haig,
Colquhoun and Dalrymple. |
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Maxwell |
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Lenox |
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Napier |
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Colquhoun |
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Haig |
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Dalrymple |
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The most famous family and one of the
widest spread is Stewart. The arms of Stewart, Or a fesse chequy
Argent and Azure, have been mirrored in those of a number of other
famous families, including Boyd, Azure a fesse chequy Argent and
Gules, and Lindsay, Gules a fesse chequy Argent and Azure. Also
derived from Stewart is Menteith, Or, a bend chequy Argent and
Sable. Menteith is in fact an offshoot of the Stewart earls of
Menteith. |
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Stewart |
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Boyd |
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Lindsay |
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Menteith |
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Another curiosity is the number of
arms composed of black and white, one of the simplest, but one of
the most eye-catching combinations. This group includes Erskine,
Cunningham, Maxwell, Sinclair, Armstrong, Balfour, Colville,
Colquhoun and Haldane. Campbell was also anciently blazoned Argent
and Sable. It has been suggested by Beryl Platt, in her books
Scottish Hazard, that this combination might imply an origin in the
province of Alost in Flanders, the colours of Alost being black and
white. |
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Erskine |
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Cunningham |
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Maxwell |
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Armstrong |
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Auchinleck |
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Balfour |
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Colville |
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Colquhoun |
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