Kimon Andreou Idtg Blog

Kimon Andreou, his gentilitian coat of arms and his motto in Greek

Kimon Andreou edits, from November 2008 to July 2015, his interesting idtg.org on heraldry, genealogy, history and other related topics.

The name and domain of this blog idtg.org are the acronyms of Kimon Andreou's own Greek motto which says:

«Ischys Dia Tis Gnoseos»,
in Greek «ΙΣΧΥΣ ΔΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΓΝΩΣΕΩΣ»,
which could be translated into Castilian as «el poder del conocimiento».

This motto has led him to seek knowledge since he was young and he offers it to us with his enjoyable posts about biographies, books on heraldry, coats of arms that generate controversy, on how to design your own coat of arms (gentilitian), heraldic artists, nobility, orders of chivalry and merit, orthodox orders and many other topics that I recommend.

Categories: Link, Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, Party per fess, Parchment, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Heraldry and heralds, Azure, Argent, Saltire, Overall, Counterchanged, Barn owl, Regardant, Tree, Oak, Erased and Motto.

Root: Andreou, Kimon.

Andreou, Kimon

Party per fess: 1 Azure, a Athenian owl Argent, contourné, in chief; 2 Argent, an oak Azure, eradicated, in base; overall a saltire counterchanged.

Escudo cortado: 1^o de azur, una lechuza al estilo ateniense, contornada de plata, en jefe; 2^o de plata, un roble de azur, arrancado, en punta; brochante sobre el todo un sotuer del uno al otro.

Coat of arms interpreted with: its semicircular (round) base; the fields enameled in plain Azure and Argent; the saltire of traditional dimension, that is, 1/3 of the width of the shield; the figures outlined of the field and illuminated in Argent and Azure; and the ensemble with a raised-stroke finish.

A summary of the Blog Idtg de Kimon Andreou can be consulted within my section of recommended links. That summary is accompanied by another interpretation of Kimon's coat of arms, with the following differentiating characteristics:

Interpretation outlined in Sable.
It includes his motto «Ischys Dia Tis Gnoseos», written in Greek, which could be translated as «el poder del conocimiento».
With his saltire reduced to 2/3 of its traditional width, which is 1/3 of the width of the shield. In this way, the saltire is 2/9 of the width of the shield. The objective of the reduction is to give more space to both his owl and his oak. This reduction does not convert it into the diminished piece called flanque, which has a 1/3 reduction over 1/3 of the shield's width, therefore, 1/9 of the shield's width.

Blazon keywords: Party per fess, Azure, Argent, Saltire, Overall, Counterchanged, Barn owl, Regardant, Tree, Oak and Erased.

Style keywords: Freehand, Illuminated and Outlined in the field tincture.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and Heraldry and heralds.

Bearer: Andreou, Kimon.

Kimon Andreou, contourné

Party per fess: 1 Azure, a Athenian owl Argent, contourné, in chief; 2 Argent, an oak Azure, eradicated, in base; overall a saltire counterchanged. Motto: «Ischys Dia Tis Gnoseos» written in greek.

Escudo cortado: 1^o de azur, una lechuza al estilo ateniense, contornada de plata, en jefe; 2^o de plata, un roble de azur, arrancado, en punta; brochante sobre el todo un sotuer del uno al otro. Lema: «El poder del conocimiento» escrito en griego.

Existing coat of arms which I have interpreted with: its semicircular (round) base; its 2 fields enameled in plain tinctures Azure and Argent; its saltire with the traditional dimensions of 1/3 of the width of the shield, that is, the width of a bend; its figures outlined in Sable and illuminated in Argent and Azure; its illuminated motto; and the ensemble in lightly beaten metal.

Contourné ~ Contornado

There are authors who limit the use of the term contornado to turned heads that look to the sinister side of the shield. However, here I use contornado in a more general way, following [Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 61] who defines it as «contornados se dice de los animales ú de las cabezas de ellos, vueltos á la siniestra del Escudo».

There is another more specific use of the term contornado for the crescent moon: «bueltos se dice de los Crecientes que miran á el lado derecho del Escudo, porque mirando á el siniestro se dice contornados», [Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 52].

In English, the equivalent term that I have most frequently seen is «contourné», which comes from French.

Blazon keywords: Party per fess, Azure, Argent, Saltire, Overall, Counterchanged, Barn owl, Regardant, Tree, Oak, Erased and Motto.

Style keywords: Soft metal, Illuminated and Outlined in sable.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Andreou, Kimon.

Kimon Andreou, eradicated

Party per fess: 1 Azure, a Athenian owl Argent, contourné, in chief; 2 Argent, an oak Azure, eradicated, in base; overall a saltire counterchanged.

Escudo cortado: 1^o de azur, una lechuza al estilo ateniense, contornada de plata, en jefe; 2^o de plata, un roble de azur, arrancado, en punta; brochante sobre el todo un sotuer del uno al otro.

Existing coat of arms which I have interpreted in the following way: the semicircular (round) base; the fields enameled in Azur color and Argent metal flat; the saltire reduced to 2/3 of its traditional width, that is, to 2/9 of the width of the shield, to leave more space for the figures, but without becoming a flanque of 1/9 of the width of the shield; the figures illuminated in Argent and Azure and outlined in the field; and with a watercolor finish.

Eradicated ~ Arrancado

For the tree, in this case an oak with its acorns and sinuous-edged leaves, whose roots are visible, I use the term arrancado following [Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 28 and figure 12] when blazoning Vernade in France which says that «trae de gules, y un Árbol arrancado de oro, acostado de dos Estrellas de lo mismo».

In English, the equivalent term for arrancado is «eradicated», from the French «arraché».

Blazon keywords: Party per fess, Azure, Argent, Saltire, Overall, Counterchanged, Barn owl, Regardant, Tree, Oak and Erased.

Style keywords: Watercolor, Illuminated and Outlined in the field tincture.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Andreou, Kimon.

Institutions cited by name

~ A ~

Alcantara, Order of

~ C ~

Calatrava, Order of

~ E ~

Emblem of the Society of Heraldic Arts

~ M ~

Montesa, Order of

~ N ~

~ R ~

~ S ~

~ T ~

This list of academic or heraldic institutions is closed, because I only include those institutions that I cite.

Sea of the Mediterranean, plain tincture

Party per fess: 1 Sable, three mullets of eight points Argent, 1 and 2; 2 Azure, a ship in full sail Or.

Coat of arms designed by me, in plain tinctures, contoured in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a texturized finish.

Coat of arms of the Sea of the Mediterrean designed and emblazoned by me as imaginary heraldry. This coat of arms is one of my very first heraldic designs.

Blazon keywords: Sable, Argent, Azure, Or, Three, Eight, One, Party per fess, Mullet, Disordered, Ship and Full sail.