The American College of Heraldry

It was founded in New Orleans, state of Louisiana, in the year 1972 and, subsequently, was legally structured as a non-profit association in the state of Alabama.

The aim of the «College» is to contribute to the orderly development of the American heraldic tradition, whose origins go back to and are the same as those of the United States of America, and to meet the heraldic needs of its citizens.

The American College of Heraldry is governed by its Board of Directors, which elects both the directors of the «College» and its Advisory Council.

There are different ways of belonging to The American College of Heraldry, from members distinguished by their recognised prestige in the field of heraldry or by their contribution to heraldry from academic institutions to other persons interested in heraldry and, even, young associate members who are minors.

The address of its website is AmericanCollegeOfHeraldry.org, where the blazon of its arms is written as «Sable, a lion rampant, crowned with an ancient coronet, holding in the dexter paw a baton fleury Or, armed and langued Gules».

Categories: Institution, Interpreted, Socioeconomic, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Shaded, Parchment, Semi-circular, Coat of arms, Without divisions, Sable, Lion, Or, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Gules, Crown, Open royal crown, Crowned, Dexter, Grasping, Scepter and Flory.

The American College of Heraldry, parchment

Sable, a Lion Or, rampant, armed and langued Gules, crowned Or, holding in the dexter a Baton fleury Or. Motto: «Flourish in Honor».

Escudo de sable, un león de oro, rampante, armado y lampasado de gules, coronado de oro, teniendo en su diestra un cetro de oro, flordelisado. Lema: «Flourish in Honor».

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: a semicircular (round) base; the field illuminated in Sable; the charge illuminated in Or and Gules, outlined in Sable and shaded; the motto is illuminated in Sable on Argent and outlined in Sable; and with a parchment finish.

Armed

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; página 40] writes that «se dice de los animales por las uñas, y garras que la naturaleza les dio para su defensa, como de los Leones», as is the case here.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Sable, Lion, Or, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Gules, Crown, Open royal crown, Crowned, Dexter, Grasping, Scepter, Flory and Motto.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Shaded, Parchment and Semi-circular.

Classification: Interpreted, Socioeconomic and Coat of arms.

Bearer: The American College of Heraldry.

The American College of Heraldry, coat of arms

With the aim of aiding in the study and perpetuation of heraldry in the United States and abroad.

Sable, a lion rampant Or, armed and langued Gules, crowned Or, holding in the dexter a baton flory Or.

Escudo de sable, un león rampante de oro, armado y lampasado de gules, coronado de oro, teniendo en su diestra un cetro flordelisado de oro.

I interpret its coat of arms with: a Spanish base in semicircular (round) form; the field illuminated in Sable; the lion, its crown and its baton outlined of the field, shaded and illuminated in Or, except the claws and tongue which are Gules; and the whole with a lightly beaten metal finish.

Flordelisado ~ florenzado ~ flory ~ fleury ~ floretty ~ florenté

The baton ends in a fleur-de-lis, hence it is blazoned as «flory» and according to [Avilés, J.; 1780a; página 93] «flordelisadas, se dice de las Cruces, cuyos brazos se terminan en flores de Lis».

For a time I distinguished between «flordelisadas» and «florenzadas» crosses depending on the artistic style of the termination, but over time I found that the difference was, precisely, more artistic than heraldic, so I decided to use the term flordelisada in a general way.

Some authors consider them different terms and others equivalent. If they are considered equivalent then florenzadas ~ flordelisadas and, therefore, «cetro florenzado» ~ «cetro flordelisado». In English one says «flory» ~ «flordelisado» and it can also be found written as «fleury» ~ «floretty» ~ «florenté», for example, [The Heraldry Society; 2013; página 6] uses the term «flory» to describe the very arms of The Heraldry Society when it blazons them as «Quarterly Azure and Gules a Lion's Face crowned with an Ancient Crown Or within a Tressure flory on the outer edge of the same».

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Sable, Lion, Or, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Gules, Crown, Open royal crown, Crowned, Dexter, Grasping, Scepter and Flory.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in the field tincture, Shaded, Soft metal and Semi-circular.

Classification: Interpreted, Socioeconomic and Coat of arms.

Bearer: The American College of Heraldry.

Wooten, David Robert

Azure, fretty raguly Or.

Escudo de azur, un fretado ecotado de oro.

Coat of arms interpreted with: a semicircular (round) base; the field in plain Azure tincture charged with the shadow of the lattice; and the fretty with cut branches illuminated in Or, outlined in Sable and with a beaten metal finish.

Fretado ~ fretty

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; página 94] describes fretado, which he writes with a double «t» as «frettado», as «se dice del Escudo y de las piezas principales cubiertas de cotizas, ú de bastones, cruzados, y entrelazados, en sotuer, que dexan espacios vacíos iguales en forma de Losanjes, y su figura es enrexada, como una celosía» and it can indeed also be found defined with the term «celosía» and, in turn, I have seen it written as «celosiado», and of all of them I have settled on the term «fretado» from José de Avilés, but with a single «t».

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; página 228] defines fretes, which he writes with a double «t» as «frettes», as «no son otra cosa, que las Cotizas, que forman el cuerpo del Frettado, que es quando un Escudó se compone de seis Cotizas, tres en Banda, y tres en Barra, que enlazadas las unas en las otras, dexan unos intervalos, como Losanges de diferente esmalte, que tienen lugar de campo».

Ecotado ~ raguly

[Avilés, J.; 1780a; página 75] writes on the term ecotado or in the plural ecotados that «se dice de los troncos, y ramas de los Árboles, quando parecen cortados los ramos menores, como en La Cruz de Borgoña.».

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, Fretty, Raguly and Or.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Outlined in sable, Plain tincture, Illuminated, Shaded and Metal beaten.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Wooten, David Robert.

David Robert Wooten

Azure, fretty raguly Or.

Escudo de azur, un fretado ecotado de oro.

Coat of arms interpreted with: a semicircular (round) base; the field in plain Azure tincture, shaded by the fretty and with a raised-stroke finish; and the lattice of cut branches outlined in Sable and illuminated in beaten gold metal.

The American College of Heraldry

The arms of David Robert Wooten, as he himself recounts on his website davidwooten.com were registered on 6 November 1992, with number 1,073, in The American College of Heraldry, an institution of which he is a platinum patron. The registered blazon was «Azure, fretty raguly Or», with fretty ~ fretado and raguly ~ ecotado, which in English I have also seen written as knotted.

Lema ~ motto

Of his complete achievement I have here limited myself to interpreting his shield and his motto «Melior nullo nullus melior» which can be translated from Latin as «no soy mejor que nadie, pero nadie es mejor que yo»

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, Fretty, Raguly and Or.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Outlined in sable, Plain tincture, Illuminated, Shaded, Freehand and Metal beaten.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Wooten, David Robert.

David R. Wooten, shield on chinoiserie

Azure, fretty raguly Or. Motto: «Melior nullo nullus melior».

Escudo de azur, un fretado ecotado de oro. Lema: «Melior nullo nullus melior».

Coat of arms interpreted with: a semicircular (round) base; the field in plain Azure, watercoloured and shaded by the fretty; the said fretty and its cut branches illuminated in beaten gold metal and outlined in Sable; and the whole mounted on a warm golden chinoiserie.

Vicente Cadenas y Vicent

As can be read at davidwooten.com, the arms of David R. Wooten are certified by protocol 3/1995, folios 149-151, of the Cronista de Armas Vicente Cadenas y Vicent, of Madrid and, therefore, by the Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of Spain.

The complete blazon, crest included, written by Vicente Cadenas y Vicent for his coat of arms is: «Escudo de azur, una celosía ecotada de oro. Timbrado de un yelmo con bordura, grilletas y clavos de oro, forrado de gules, sumado de un burelete y lambrequines de azur y oro, sumado de una cabeza de sátiro, sanguino, barbado al natural, orejado con alas de murciélago de azur y sumado de una corona de hojas de olivo de sinople» and his motto is «Melior nullo nullus melior».