[ANSTHRLD] Kate Middleton gets coat of arms

[Hillary Greenslade]

Of heraldic interest: 
Kate Middleton gets coat of arms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/19/kate-middleton-coat-of-arms

I wonder if the SCA will now want to protect this specific new device from SCA 
registration.   

Enjoy the article, Hillary


Kate Middleton has been granted her own coat of arms in advance of the royal 
wedding, St James's Palace has disclosed.
 
The medieval device which, although not strictly necessary, will give Kate 
Middleton heraldic parity with her husband-to-be Prince William, accompanies 
what will be the most hi-tech royal wedding in history, with Twitter feeds, 
Flickr, blogs and live streaming on the Royal Channel on YouTube all being 
deployed. There will even be a video wedding book for wellwishers to submit 
congratulatory messages, though that will be moderated to weed out any offensive 
or subversive entries.
 
The coat of arms, devised by the Middletons with the College of Arms, depicts 
three acorns and a blue and red background run through with a gold chevron: in 
technical, archaic French, terms "per pale azure and gules a chevron or cotised 
argent between three acorns slipped and leaved or".
The acorns – oaks being a common tree in the Berkshire village of Bucklebury 
where the family lives – represent the three Middleton children and also 
strength and England. Two white chevrons also incorporated in the design stand 
for hills and mountains in keeping with the family's outdoor pursuits.
 
The remaining symbols are esoteric jokes, the sort that perhaps only a medieval 
herald or Garter King of Arms could fully appreciate: the gold chevron is a pun 
on Kate Middleton's mother's maiden name of Goldsmith and the dividing line down 
the centre an allusion to the Middle-tons.
Kate Middleton's version is lozenge-shaped and hangs from a blue ribbon – 
symbols of her unmarried state. Once she is married the shape will change into a 
shield and in due course will be impaled into the centre of her husband's own 
coat of arms.
 
Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, said: "Every coat of arms has been 
designed to identify a person, school or organisation and to last for ever. 
Heraldry is Europe's oldest, most visual and strictly regulated form of identity 
... After her marriage Catherine Middleton will place her father's arms beside 
those of her husband in what is known as an impaled coat of arms. This will 
require a royal warrant from the Queen."
 
In keeping with tradition, next week's royal wedding will have its own official 
souvenir programme which will be sold in the streets of London on the morning. 
The A5-sized booklet, selling for £2, with proceeds going to the princes' 
charitable foundation, will contain the wedding order of service and a message 
of thanks from the prince and Middleton as well as new official photographs of 
the couple, taken by Mario Testino. Only 150,000 copies are being printed but 
the text will be available to download free online.
 
• This article was amended on 20 April 2011. The original headline and text 
said: Kate Middleton family gets coat of arms. In addition, it also said that on 
her marriage it will be skewered into the centre of her husband's own coat of 
arms.