Greenaway Coat of Arms
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first posting of a Greenaway Coat of Arms to the world wide web. My son did the research and came up with the above coat of arms which we hope is reasonably accurate.
A Short Discussion On Coats of Arms Research
Depending on where you look for the description of a coat of arms you can get variations in both design and color properties. Additionally, the research can get a little complicated because you usually have to interpret the unique language that the heraldic artists of old developed to describe coats of arms and because there are parts of a coat of arms that are literally left open to the herald or artists discretion (This is further discussed in the next section). The first variation that my son came across in his research indicated that the chevron (that part on the shield that looks like the pointed section of a roof) was to be red but it gave no color for the main body of the shield. To give you an idea of the unique language that you will encounter, below is the wording that describes that coat of arms which comes from Burkes' General Armory, one of the two best known and most commonly used dictionaries of arms, also known as Ordinaries. As a point of information, the second most well known publication is Boutell's Heraldry.
Coat of Arms: "Gu. a chev. betw. three covered cups or, on a chief ar, three griffins' heads erased az. beaked gold."
Crest: "A griffin's head erased az. pendent from the beak an annulet or."
This literally translates to:
Coat of Arms: "Red a chevron between three covered cups gold, on a chief (a horizontal strip across the top third of a shield) silver, three griffins (a creature with the head, breast and claws of an eagle and the hindquarters and tail of a lion) heads jagged (as if torn from the bodies along the neckline) blue beaked gold."
Crest: "A griffin's head jagged (as if torn from the body along the neckline) blue hanging from the beak a ring gold."
In doing your research you should know that Burkes' General Armory has been accused by some historians, genealogists and heralds as having many errors and as being the repository of some heraldic fairytales. In fact, Burke was accused by some of his colleagues of having no scruples and pandering to the popular hunger for fabulous medieval romanticism of his time by creating histories, mottos, crests and coats of arms for names that did not truly have any associated with them. For this, and other reasons, it is usually a good idea to consult with multiple sources and ordinaries before deciding on a design that you will feel is accurate.
Doing a little more research on the internet, my son came across a website called HouseofNames.com which has a surname search engine that allows you to type in your surname and get back a description of the origin (country) from which your name originates, a description of your coat of arms and a description of your crest. Upon typing in the name Greenaway into the search he was given an origin country of England, and a coat of arms and crest that matches Burke's description with the exception that the chevron is gold, the main body of the shield is red and the chief is gold.
As is often the case in this type of research, it comes down to which Ordinary you believe is more accurate and/or which arrangement you like best (as mentioned below many of the parts are left to the discretion of the artist or herald doing the research). In this instance my son decided to follow the Burke's description with a minor change based on the HouseofNames.com information. He changed the chevron to gold and made the body of the shield red. The result is the crest pictured at the top of this page. The design as originally described in Burkes is available to view and download via a link at the bottom of this page.
Parts of a Coat of Arms
Motto: This would be a motto or battle cry historically associated with the family (e.g. "He lives twice who lives well," or "He conquers twice who conquers himself"). The placement of the Motto is traditionally on a banner either above or below the crest. The placement, banner style and typeset are all at the artist's discretion. Lacking a family motto there should not be a banner either. There was no motto found for the Greenaway name.
Crest: This appears above the helmet.
Wreath or Torse: A rope, usually with five or six windings showing, colored alternating using the two major colors in the shield.
Helmet or Helm: Rarely is the style of helmet identified or even mentioned in the description so it is up to the artist's discretion. It serves to join the shield to the Crest.
Mantle or Mantling: Not traditionally a part of the official description although sometimes the colors are specified. The mantle is said to represent the bearers cloak or it sometimes looks like the leaves of a plant. The mantle surrounds the shield on the top and sides and can be very ornate. Generally up to the artist's discretion including coloring.
Supporters: Not very common in a coat of arms, the supporters are usually two animals, birds or people that stand on either side of the shield, supporting it.
Shield: Generally the shape of the shield varies dependant on the era in which the coat of arms was established, the geographic region and even the whim of the artist. The shape of the shield is not a part of the official description of the coat of arms and can be up to the artist's discretion.
Name: The family name is either at the top or bottom of the coat of arms. The placement and typestyle are at the discretion of the artist. The name is occasionally placed in a banner if a family motto does not exist.
For a really great visual and written explanation of all of the parts of a coat of arms I recommend going to the website Fleur-de-lis Designs at http://www.fleurdelis.com/coatofarms.htm
I hope you have enjoyed the Greenaway Coat of Arms and the discussion on coats of arms. For your enjoyment, I have uploaded both versions of the coat of arms. One version is the coat of arms exactly as described in the Burke description and the second is the combined version that you saw on the index page and above. By clicking on the appropriate link in this paragraph you can download a 300 dpi version of either crest in case you want to print them out on a color printer. If you would like a 1200 dpi version of either please drop me an email and I'll forward it to you as quickly as I can as an attachment via email.
