Artoonian Heraldry

Heraldic authority in Artoonia is delegated by the Crown to the Muzino King of Arms. Assumption of Arms is the right of all Artoonian citizens, though a few rules govern their use(1).

Form of Arms

Generally, men's arms are depicted upon a shield. Women display their own, their father's, or their husband's arms on a lozenge. Clergy in the Church of Artoonia (and other avowed pacifists who would not take up arms) display arms on a cartouche, rather than a shield (there are no ordained female clergy, but abbesses may elect a cartouche or lozenge at their pleasure). Women do, however, display their own arms on a shield if they are commissioned military officers or hold titles of nobility in their own right. Her Imperial Majesty Empress Sofia displays the Imperial Arms on their traditional shield.

The traditional heraldic tinctures are held to, but named in Artoonia Esperanto, rather than French, so that Or, Argent, Gules, Azure, Vert, Purpure, and Sable are blazoned Ora, Arĝenta, Gorĝa, Lazura, Sinopla, Purpura, and Sabla; to the furs Ermena (Ermine) and Vajra (Vair) is added the peculiar fur Vulpa, the fur of the red fox, to be found only in the Imperial Arms. Sabla against other colours is generally discouraged, but is not held to be a violation of tincture.

All blazons must include at minimum both a field and charge. Uncharged fields and simple ordinaries are not permitted except by special grant by the Empress herself; the Muzino King of Arms will either refer them to him or veto them outright.

One legitimate child may inherit a father's arms; absent a contrary will or public disownment, this would be the eldest son. A man with only daughters may pass arms to one of them, who may elect to marshall them with her husband's. If such a couple have only one child, he or she could inherit the marshalled arms; if they have multiple children, the second-eldest is heir to the maternal line. All legitimate descendents of a current bearer of arms (during his life) may bear them with cadency differentiations. Men cannot "marry up" by jure uxoris; while a woman may assume her husband's arms on a lozenge, a man without arms may not display his wife's own arms (if they are childless, her nearest sanguine relative being the heir). Marshalling is by impalement, husband dexter, wife sinister. If sole-child heirs with marshalled arms marry, quartering would be the rule, with maternal lines below paternal ones and reversed in their own dexter-sinister layout (QI, paternal grandfather; QII, paternal grandmother; QIII, maternal grandmother; QIV, maternal grandfather); once a bearer of marshalled arms produces multiple heirs, they marshalled arms would begin to split in the reverse of the order they were marshalled. Because all marshalled arms eventually either break up upon progeniture or multiple heirs, or dissolve upon intestacy, further quartering is thus far only academic, but would follow the same rules within the appropriate quarters. Alternatively, because plainer arms with simple ordinaries or single charges are considered more prestigious, an heir may elect to display only his paternal arms, or a limited subset of his most-senior quartered ancestors' (his children would still inherit the arms according to the aforementioned rules, irrespective of which are ordinarily displayed).

Supporters

Use of supporters in arms is legally limited to:

• The Emperor/Empress

• Queens Consort, Princes, Princesses addressed as "Majesty" or "Grace"

• Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons

• Imperial, Shire, and Municipal Governments and their Agencies

• Patriarchs of the Church of Artoonia

• Clan Chiefs

• Companions of the Orders of St. George and the Green Star

• Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Artoonia (GA)

• Flag Officers of the Imperial Navy, Army, and Air Force

• Naval Ships and Fleets, Army Regiments, and Air Wings. The commissioned Ŝipestro (Captain) of a ship may augment his own arms with his Ship's supporters (and retain them after promotion or retirement in good honour), but Army and Air Force Koloneloj (Colonels) do not enjoy this privilege.

• Corporate bodies granted Imperial Prestige(2)

The use of penguins for supporters is restricted to members of the Imperial Family. The Imperial Arms is supported by emperor penguins, but to avoid artistic confusion, all species are proscribed in other arms.

Helms

Barred helms are reserved to GAs and above on the above list. Burgher arms display a tilting helmet, except those of avowed pacifists, who display no helm. Crests are borne above the helm; when a coat has right to multiple crests, the most senior or pertinent is displayed alone (e.g. in the marshalling case above, above the marshalled arms the cadets would bear the paternal crest; the mother and the junior cadet, presumed heir to her arms, would bear the maternal crest; more-junior cadets would need to assume their own crests). If a torse is blazoned, mantling exudes from it; if no torse is blazoned, mantling may be assumed in the principle tinctures, either from the assumed torse or continuing from the crest.

Helms are usually depicted in a steel-grey colour; the Imperial Arms features the gold Imperial Helm.

Crowns and Coronets

The Imperial Crown is reserved to the Empress and surmounts the helm; Princes, Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons may display their appropriate coronets beneath the helm, as may Queens Consort and Princesses their tiaras. (Her Imperial Majesty granted a special exemption to her husband the Duke of Akra to use a Prince's coronet.)

Though not technically crowns/coronets, active and honourably-discharged members of the armed forces may display their uniform caps in the same position.

Insignia

Any grade holder of the Order of Artoonia, St. George, or the Green Star may display the insignia of that Order below the shield. Additionally, current and honourably-discharged members of the armed services frequently display a ribbon (blue for the navy, red for the army, sky blue for the air force) with their current or retired rank on it in the insignia area.

Mottos

Mottos may accompany arms, but are never included in blazons. When included, they generally appear at the bottom of the achievement (above, in the Scottish style, is rare but permissible); Esperanto and Latin are the usual languages for their inscription.

Ecclesiastical Heraldry

Clergy in the Church of Artoonia either bear arms by inheritance or assume their own. Bishops impale their own arms sinister of their Diocese's.

Patriarchs, bishops, and ministers of the Church of Artoonia use chapeaux, mitres, and a doctoral cap, respectively. Patriarchs and bishops display the Patriarchal or Artoonian crosses (the cross seen on the Artoonian flag) and a crosier behind the cartouche. Ecclesiastical arms bear no crests, but clergy with inherited arms may pass crests to their issue (outside of monastic orders, C of A clergy are not celibate and are expected to marry).

The Empress, as Defender of the Faith and Supreme Head of the C of A, bears ecclesiastical arms in appropriate contexts, with a Mitre and Salem Cross in place of the Imperial Helm and Crown. A holder of the Order of the Green Star may display the badge of that Order, but other Orders are considered improper in an ecclesiastical context.

The CofA's arms are blazoned Arĝenta, Kruco Salema Purpura (Argent, a Salem Cross Purpure).

The Imperial Arms

The Imperial Arms belongs to the Empress and is blazoned Malbende Gorĝa kaj Sinopla Kruco Artunia Lazura franĝita Arĝenta; por Juvelo, sur l'Imperiakasko l'Imperiakrono, sur tiu Narciso ciuj Propraj, Kovrilita Ora kaj Vulpa; Portanta por Kronitajn Imperiestraj Pingvinoj Proprajn, sur Kupeoj hordeaj. (Per bend sinister Gules and Vert an Artoonian Cross Azure fimbriated Argent; for a Crest, upon the Imperial Helm the Imperial Crown, thereon a Narcissus all Proper, Mantled Or and Vulpine; Supported by Crowned Imperial Penguins Proper, upon Compartments of barley.)

The traditional achievement is to use two supporter penguins flanking the shield, but occasionally a single penguin, in the traditional behind-the-shield-position commonly seen of eagle supporters, may be used.

The Empress, as Supreme Head of the Church of Artoonia, may also impale the Imperial Arms with those of the C of A.

Footnotes
(1) It is the Muzino King of Arms's duty to monitor and enforce assumption of arms. He has the authority to issue cease-and-desist orders to any Artoonian citizen who violates the Artoonian Laws of Heraldry (such as usurpation of earlier arms or use of supporters by a commoner); persistence in bearing illegal arms after MKA notification is legally grounds for criminal prosecution for fraud.

(2) "Imperial Prestige" is a letter patent granted by the Empress enabling a body to affix the prefix Imperia- to its name. It is traditionally granted only to institutions that represent the pinnacle of their respective fields and cultural significance to the Artoonian people (e.g. L'Imperialigo, "The Imperial League", the top tier in the Artoonian football system).