This image of our coat of arms illustrates what "gules on a cross argent and five fluer de lis of the field" actually looks like. The words come from the 11th century French system of heraldry which greatly influenced the terminology used in Britain and all over Western Europe. They are generally defined as follows:
Gules - the heraldic name of the tincture red. The term is probably derived from the Latin gula, which in Old French is found as gueule, i.e. the "red throat of an animal." Or it may be derived from the Arabic gule, a red rose. Others, again, have tried to find the origin in the Hebrew word gulade, which signifies red cloth. Argent - the tincture silver; comes from late Middle English denoting silver coins; Old French from the Latin argentum. Fleur-de-lis - the lily; an ancient symbol that came to signify saintliness or divine right; adopted by the French Monarchy in the 12th century as a symbol of the king's divinely approved right to rule. Research shows that the family name Jewitt is also of Norman (French) origin and that our earliest ancestors probably arrived in England around the Norman Conquest of 1066. Early Jewitt ancestry has been traced back to Henri de Juatt, a knight of the First Crusade 1096-1099, and Henry Jewet may well have inherited the coat of arms through which he was later granted his office of "forrester and parker."
1 Comment
Andrea Comstock
11/14/2015 08:25:21 am
So what about the phrase at the bottom of the coat of arms: Toujours Le Meme? In heraldry, a motto is often depicted below the coat of arms. It is not part of the official armorial bearings and may be changed at will. In the Middle Ages, the vast majority of nobles possessed a coat of arms and a motto or rallying cry. Latin is very common for mottos, but in our case, likely due to our Norman heritage, ours is in French. Translated it means: Always the Same. Interestingly, it is the same motto as that of Elizabeth I only hers was in Latin: Semper Eadem. The deeper meaning is generally thought to contain the idea of constancy and stability, tradition and loyalty, to honor the way things have always been done.
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