 |
Le franc canton |
Site dedicated to Canadian Heraldic or Crested China
Site dedicated to Canadian Heraldic or Crested China
|
|
HERALDIC CHINA ON THE PRAIRIES The Arms of Calgaryby Auguste Vachon, Outaouais Herald Emeritus The 1975 Wedgwood plate celebrating Calgary’s Centennial is fairly well known, but there were earlier and little known depictions of Calgary’s arms on china. (Fig. 1)
In an article entitled “Canadian Municipal Arms”, Howard M. Chapin writes
the following comment regarding the arms of Calgary: “The device of the chief
is doubtless derived from the device on the arms of Alberta which in the royal
warrant of 1907 is described as “Azure in front of a range of snow mountains
proper, a range of hills vert.”1 This statement is proven wrong by
a Wedgwood sugar bowl decorated with a frieze of oak leaves and acorns,
illustrated with the arms of Calgary in colour and inscribed on a scroll beneath
“CALGARY N.W.T.” Wedgwood also reproduced the arms of Calgary in full colour on a plate dated 1913. (Fig. 3)
In heraldic parlance. these arms could be described as: Arms:
Argent a cross Gules surmounted by a maple leaf Vert charged with a bison
on a crest wreath Sable and Or, on a chief Gold in front of a setting sun Or
mountain peaks Azure issuant from foothills Vert. Crest:
A sun in splendour Or issuant from a mural crown Argent. Motto:
1882 ONWARD 1894 Supporters: Dexter a
horse, sinister a steer both proper.
Under the shield is a spray of maple leaves, roses, thistles and shamrocks all
proper. Under the scroll bearing the motto are seen the Union Flag and Red
Ensign in saltire.3 While the design has some merit, it also contains
a number of obvious flaws. The crest wreath under the bison is rather unusual.
In this respect, it is interesting that the earlier sugar bowl arms do
not include a bison on the maple leaf. This raises a strong possibility that the
bison was a later addition.4 The chief is really a landscape, but
with a gold sun against a gold sky which creates an obvious problem of
visibility. One other oddity is the lambrequins Gules lined Argent emerging from
both sides of the mural crown although there is no helmet.
But all this can be fixed by some judicious adjustments. Chapin had tried to
improve the design by removing the crest wreath under the bison and making the
chief “…per fess indented azure
and the base of the chief per fess undy argent and vert.” thus getting away
from the landscape approach. With this revision, the gold setting sun could be
included since the portion representing the sky would now be Azure. The design
would no doubt be further improved by making the maple leaf Or instead of Vert,
thus removing excessive colour on colour. But perhaps an even better solution
would be to retain the Vert maple leaf and to make the bison and the supporters
Or. The mantling would have to be removed or a helmet added. Hargreaves’
article further points out that the dates in the motto are wrong since Calgary
was incorporated as a town in 1884 and as a city in 1893.
One most curious Calgary souvenir is a small plate featuring the quartered arms
of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick that were granted as a common
seal for the united provinces in 1868. The crest takes the form of a maple leaf
Vert. The Red Ensign and Union Flag in saltire that accompanied the Calgary arms
flank the shield, but in reverse position. Under the flags are roses Gules and
beneath a scroll inscribed CANADA are maple leaves Vert. Another odd feature of
this weird combination is that this particular plate bears a mark of Sutherland
China in use from 1936 to c.1941, some 15 years or more after Canada was granted
lawful arms.5 (Fig. 4)
A rare Delft Blue plate manufactured by Tichelaar of Makkum is dedicated to the
Calgary Regiment and to the town of Franeker in the Netherlands which was
liberated by Canadian troops on April 16, 1945.6 It is illustrated
with a version of the badge of the Calgary Regiment which consists of the arms
of Calgary with some modifications. The mural crown is replaced by the Royal
Crown. The steer has become a unicorn. There is no crest wreath under the bison
and oak leaves have been added to the floral spray underneath (Fig. 5). The arms of Calgary reflect a recurring problem with freely adopted arms. While every artist is encouraged to develop a distinctive style, this does not include changing the colours and content as is sometimes done. In 1937 Chapin noted such irregularities in Calgary’s arms: “The device of the chief which ‘shows the Rockies¾our pride and glory’ is drawn in various ways. Sometimes a demi-sun issuant also appears in the Chief.” Granted arms are not entirely sheltered from such innovations by creative artists who are ignorant of heraldry. But when it comes to the crunch, the original drawing and blazon are there to set things right. Heralds lecture, advise, sometimes drop hints, but they neither vociferate at people nor coerce them. It is up to the citizens of Calgary to decide whether they will want to petition for granted arms and accept such modifications as would make them grantable by the Chief Herald of Canada. Such modifications are always made in close discussion with petitioners. _______________ 1.
Howard M. Chapin, “Canadian Municipal Arms” in The Canadian
Historical Review, Vol. XVIII, No. 3,
Sept.1937, p. 252. 2.
T.G. Hargreaves “Guarding
our Armorial Heritage” in Heraldry in Canada, Vol. XXXVII, No. 2a,
Summer 2003, p. 10. 3.
On the Centennial plate,
the flag on the sinister is clearly the Canadian Red Ensign. 4.
Another basalt sugar bowl by Wedgwood inscribed “CALGARY ALTA”
(c.1905-1914) also displays the arms of Calgary without a bison.
5. The four-province shield
continued to be displayed on some ceramic items decades after Canada was granted
arms. 6. Makkum itself was liberated by Canadian troops on April 18, 1945.
|
