Heraldic Alphabet 2026

Happy International Heraldry Day, and welcome to my annual batch of 24 lgbt+ coats of arms.

I won’t give an introduction to explain all the rules, terms and formats this time. Last year’s list, and previous ones, may give any information you need. Several things do need to be emphasised:-

1) Arms with a black surround are of people who have passed away in the past 18 months;

2) A diamond next to a letter indicates the arms are of an unmarried or divorced woman, used specifically in English heraldry;

3) Not everyone is aware they may be entitled to a coat of arms.

A) Max Adrian (1903-1973) – real name Guy Bor, Irish actor. Family arms. The Bors originate in the Netherlands and these arms appears on the tomb of Cornelis Bor (d.1561) of Dordrecht. His son moved to Ireland in the 1620s and gained Irish citizenship. His grandson registered these arms with the College of Arms in London on 17th February 1718. They were transferred to the Dublin Record Office on Irish independence. Max’s ancestor Humphrey Bor of Dublin adopted these arms though he had no direct link to Cornelis. The arms are still used by Humphrey’s descendants. The star indicates that Max descends from Humphrey’s third son.

B) Andreas Bruce (1808-1885) – intersex Swedish aristocrat. Family arms. The Swedish Bruce family are of Scottish origin and lairds of Lymlyn, Fifeshire. They bore the red and yellow Bruce arms to which they added a white cross. They moved to Sweden in the 1600s, and in 1668 were given Swedish nationality and created non-titled nobility. Andreas descends from them.

C) Dr. Tonya Chaffee – Professor of Paediatrics, University of California San Francisco. Family arms. The Chaffees originate in Exeter, Devon, England. These arms have been used by the family since the 1570s. One member of the family, Thomas Chaffee, migrated to New England in the 1630s. He used these arms on a seal on legal documents. Dr. Chaffee is one of Thomas’s direct descendants.

D) Maria Dulebianka (1861-1919) – Polish artist and women’s suffrage campaigner. “Clan” arms. Maria’s family coat of arms was adopted by ancient association rather than blood descent and are part of a “herb” (clan). The Dulebianka’s are believed to belong to the Alabanda herb whose arms are illustrated here. The design dates back to emblems used by an Italian bishop who was appointed to what is now Poland in 993 AD. The crescent was added before 1584 when the full design was included in a book on the arms of Polish knights.

E) Michael Ebling (b.1967) – Mayor of Mainz, Germany 2012-22. Arms of office. This is the coat of arms of the city of Mainz. There are several theories about how and when the design originated, ranging from being the emblem of St. Martin, the patron saint of the city, to that of a 10th century archbishop whose father was a wheelwright.

F) Sir John Finch (1625-1682) – English Ambassador to Constantinople 1672. Personal arms. The male line ancestors of the Finches were the FitzHerberts in the 12th century. Their arms of three lions were used by them from the 14th century. After the marriage to the Finch heiress, this branch of the FitzHerberts used both surnames for several centuries. Vincent FitzHerbert/Finch is recorded as the first to use the black and white arms. By the 16th century the family used the Finch name alone though retained the Fitzherbert arms. The crescent indicates that Sir John was the second son of his father.

G) Julian Gibbs (1932-2021) – English financial adviser. Family arms. Older brother of Christopher Gibbs (see Heraldic Alphabet 2025). Like his bother, Julian inherited a couple of cadency marks which would make the shield look cluttered, so they are omitted. Both were sons of a second son – Julian the 3rd son, and Christopher the 5th.

H) Hon. Esmond Harmsworth (1967-2025) – English literary agent. Personal arms as the 2nd son (indicated by the crescent) of the 2nd Viscount Rothermere. Esmond’s grandfather, the 1st Viscount, was a prominent newspaper mogul and pioneer of tabloid journalism. These arms were granted in 1904 when the 1st Viscount was created a baronet (hereditary knight). Although the meaning behind the design is not recorded we can make some guesses. The rolls of paper may represent newspapers, but also legal documents (as they are tied in red tape) because the 1st Viscount’s father was a barrister. The bees are often used in English heraldry to represent industry, reflecting the Harmsworth dynasty’s dominance in early 20th century British press journalist.

J) Sir Barry Jackson (1879-1961) – English entrepreneur, founder of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Personal arms. Sir Barry’s father, George, was granted these arms on 10 February 1917 by the College of Arms. The meaning for the design is unknown, but I guess the jackdaw is a pun on the family name.

K) John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes (1883-1946) – English economist. Personal arms. Granted by the College of Arms in May 1944. The design is a modified version of the arms used by the Keynes family of Winkleigh Keynes, Devon, since the 12th century. John had no known descent from this family so wasn’t allowed to use their arms, but because of the similarity in name he was entitled to modify them. He just added two fleurs-de-lys.

L1) James Lees-Milne (1908-1997) – English author and historian. Marital arms for the duration of this marriage to Alvilde (see L2). They both had same-sex affairs before and during their marriage. The main shield quarters the arms of Lees (the red and white arms) with the Milne arms (yellow and back). The white object in the Milne arms represents the iron brackets around the hole in a mill wheel and is a pun on their name. The Milnes also built and ran several mills. In 1890 the last of the Milnes died childless and left his fortune to his nephew, James Lees-Milne’s grandfather, on condition that he added the Milne arms and name to his own. The Royal Licence which confirmed this is dated 31 May 1890. The small shield is that of Alvilde’s family and is placed there because she was an heiress.

L2) Mrs. Alvilde Lees-Milne (1909-1994) – English landscape garden designer. Marital arms for the duration of her marriage to the 3rd Viscount Chaplin. Alvilde was the only child and heir of Sir Tom Bridges, Governor of South Australia. As the heraldic heir she could place her arms on top of her husband’s. The main shield shows the arms of Viscount Chaplin, which had been used since his ancestor became Lord Mayor of London in 1672. Alvilde was married to the Viscount when she met James Lees-Milne. They divorced and she married James.

M) May Morris (1862-1938) – English designer. Personal arms. May was one of the daughters and coheirs of Victorian artist and designer William Morris. Like Alvilde Lees-Milne (L2 above) that meant she could have placed her arms on a little shield on top of their husband’s (if he had a coat of arms), but before her childless marriage her arms were placed on a diamond lozenge. The arms were granted by the College of Arms to May’s grandfather on 15th April 1843. May spent her last years living with her romantic companion Mary Lobb.

N) Ilmari Nurminen (b.1991) – Mayor of Tampere, Finland, since 2025. Arms of office. The arms were officially approved by the city council of Tampere on 30th March 1960. They are a simplified version of the city’s previous coat of arms. The “T” represents the city’s name and also a blacksmith’s hammer symbolising industry. The caduceus (wing staff with snakes wrapped around it) symbolises commerce. The thick wavy like represents the river Tammerkoski which flows though Tampere.

O) Mark Ogilvie-Grant (1905-1969) – Scottish diplomat. Hypothetical arms (arms of the Earls of Seafield, Mark being a great-grandson of the 6th Earl). Scottish arms are not automatically inherited and must be registered with appropriate differences with the Lord Lyon King of Arms in order for them to be legal. In about 1437, an Ogilvie (whose arms are the red lion) married a Sinclair heiress (the black cross). In 1811 the Grants (three gold crowns) inherited the Seafield title and adopted the Ogilvie name and arms. The arms illustrated would have formed the basic design had Mark chosen to register any arms with Lord Lyon.

P) David Hume Pinsent (1891-1918) – RAF test pilot. Posthumous personal arms. David’s uncle was created a baronet (hereditary knight) in 1938 and was probably granted arms at the same time. As is customary, the arms could be used by descendants of the baronet’s father (i.e. David’s grandfather). Unfortunately, David was killed in an air accident a decade earlier. I show his arms as they would have been in 1938 had he lived. As the eldest son and heir of his father, David would have placed a label (the yellow device) to his arms to indicate this. The birds, by the way, are chaffinches, a much-loved bird in Europe.

R) John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647-1690) – English courtier poet, and blatant Libertine. Personal arms. Lord Rochester’s family arms (Wilmot) is the main white shield with the eagle’s heads and shells. His wife, Elizabeth Malet, was an heiress and, like Alvilde Lees-Milne (above L2) could place her family arms on a smaller shield on top of her husband’s. The Malets have used their coat of arms since the 1300s.

S1) Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) – English writer. Personal arms. The Strachey arms (red cross and little eagles) was granted to William Strachey of Saffron Walden, Essex, on 4 July 1587. His great-grandson and heir married the daughter and coheir of George Hodges of Somerset, thus enabling their descendants, including Lytton, to bear both arms in quarters. The Hodges have used their arms (yellow and black) since before 1610. Lytton was his father’s 4th son so could add a martlet (bird without feet) to his arms as a cadency mark.

S2) Tori Settle (née Hon. Victoria Leach) (b.1966) – British psychotherapist; Gay Games and EuroGames dance sport champion (with wife Yvonne Settle). Marital arms. Since 2014 female same-sex married couples in England and Wales have been entitled to place their arms on a shield. The main shield shows the arms Tori inherits from her father, Baron Leach of Fairford (a life peer, a non hereditary title). Tori’s wife Yvonne has no known family arms, so a plain lozenge is placed on her wife’s.

T) Christopher Tunnard (1910-1979) – Canadian landscape architect, garden designer and city planner. Personal arms. These arms were granted to Christopher’s great-great-grandfather, also called Christopher, by the College of Arms in 1810. The landscape gardener was the eldest son of another Christopher, who was a second son, which is indicated by the crescent.

U) Michael Unett (b.1997) – Mayor of Alsager, Cheshire, England, 2021-2, 2025-6. Arms of office. Michael is an elected mayor (by fellow council members) rather than appointed by length of service as a councillor. These are the arms of the Alsager town council which feature of the mayoral chain of office.

V) Most Rev. Cherry Vann (b.1958) – 15th Archbishop of (the Anglican Church in) Wales since 2025. Arms of office. Bishop Vann appeared in my 2020 Heraldic Alphabet when she was Bishop of Monmouth. By being promoted to archbishop this means that of the 3 Anglican archbishops in the England (Canterbury, York, and Wales) only York is male and Vann is a lesbian. These arms are of the archdiocese of Wales, granted by the College of Arms on 9 December 1954, replacing an earlier design that had been used unofficially since about 1939.

W) Thomas Cuthbert Worsley (1907-1977) – English writer, theatre critic, and schoolmaster. Family arms. The Worsleys are said to be descended from an 11th century Norman baron called Elias de Workesley. Thomas is descended from several generations of younger sons from Thomas Worsley (1686-1750), which would clutter up his arms with so many different cadency marks that it would look as much of a jumble as the Progress Pride flag.

Y) Harriot Yorke (1842-1930) – partner of Octavia Hill, co-founder of the National Trust. Family arms. Harriot was a great-great-grand-daughter of the 1st Earl of Hardwicke. I’m not sure how long the Yorke’s have had this coat of arms, but the Earl quartered it with the arms of his mother, an heiress of the Gibbon family. He could not have done this before 1727 when his mother died.

Advent 1: A Seasonal Forest

This year’s 4-part Advent series covers several topics – Christmas decorations, music and literature.

Let’s start by decorating the Christmas tree. A quick history lesson first. The Christmas tree began life as the Paradise Tree that was set up in churches during the Middle Ages on Christmas Eve. This was the centrepiece of the Paradise Play, a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve, whose feast day is December 24th. The Paradise Tree represented the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden and could have been an evergreen, or a deciduous tree with fake leaves, it wasn’t important. The tree would also be decorated with apples (hence the original Christmas baubles invented in the 16th century in Germany were made of red glass) and communion wafers.

The common misinformation and propaganda from people who claim that the Christmas tree is a pre-Christian pagan symbol is not verified by any evidence – it is an unproven opinion based on only one fact, that there were sacred trees in pre-Christian times. The only pre-Christian evidence comes from Judaism, which isn’t paganism. Trees and plants have been used are decorative objects all over the world without any religious context. Do you have some in your home today – are they there as objects of worship? Its like saying Pride marches are pagan festivals because people paraded to Stonehenge thousands of years ago to celebrate the solstice.

The first secular Christmas tree, one erected by the people not the Church, originated in Latvia in the 15th century. There’s an excellent little book called “Inventing the Christmas Tree” by Bernd Brunner. It’s a most diligently researched book, and it is available on Amazon.

Today, Christmas trees start appearing in shopping centres and malls as early as the beginning of November, sometimes earlier. A lot of the trees are traditional, but occasionally you might see an imaginative twist on the usual fir or spruce tree.

For imaginative ideas for your own tree you can do no better than get inspiration from the Christmas trees erected in one of London’s poshest hotels, Claridge’s. The Creative Director behind most of them was Michael Howells (1957-2018), who was also responsible for the production design of films such as “Nanny McPhee” and the tv series “Victoria”. For Claridge’s he collaborated with a “Who’s Who” of designers, many of whom, like himself, were members of the lgbt+ community. The first two Claridge’s Christmas trees in 2009 and 2010 were collaborations between Michael Howells and gay Maltese fashion designer John Galliano. Claridge’s own website has a list and images of all their trees.

Another gay designer who has created a tree for Claridge’s is Guy Oliver (b.1967), but it wasn’t a Christmas tree.

In 2014, Claridge’s invited Guy to design the interior of Fera, their new restaurant. Guy removed some of the interior (non-original) walls which had created barriers in the area, and he brought in new lighting. In the centre of the restaurant he placed a sand-blasted tree, a real one.

Guy Oliver has also designed Christmas trees and decorations for other venues, stately homes, and private residences. Despite creating fabulous decorations which cost hundreds of pounds to make, Guy always tries to be economical with his materials wherever possible. In 2020, when the world was still in covid lockdown, Guy came up with several ideas for Christmas decorations which families and individuals at home could make for themselves without having to do a lot of shopping.

These ere simple ideas, ones that may be familiar to you. Some of them I have tried myself over the years, and they are much better than the commercial versions that cost too much. You can discover his ideas here.

I’ve written a couple of entries myself on Christmas decorations on this blog. Here are links to them:

Three Kings decorations.

Danish pleated hearts and silhouette shapes.

To end with, I’ll tell you about my own decorations. Since 2021, when I began in-depth research into Christmas, I’ve been buying or making figures of various characters associated with the festive season (all in proportion so that they matched in height). Figures of Santa Claus and angels were no problem as they are sold everywhere, but I couldn’t find figures of the Dutch Sinterklaas, the Russian Ded Moroz, or even Krampus, so I began to make my own. For figures I did not make from scratch, I bought dolls and action figures and modified them into the characters I desired.

Below is a photo of figures I had bought or made in time for Christmas 2022. From left to right they are (back row): Pelzmärtl (Bavaria, Germany), St. Lucy (from Sweden and northern Italy), an angel, Santa Claus, Snegurochka (Russian Snow Maiden). Front row: an elf, Tió de Nadal (Spain), Julnisse (Scandinavia). It’s easy to see which I’ve modified and which are as bought.

I’ve added more each year, and now I have 27 different Christmas figures dotted around the room, including Sinterklaas, the Australian Wangkarnal, and Mrs. Claus. This year’s new additions (all made from scratch) are the Christmas Spider, Anguleru (Asturias, Spain), Staffan Ställegrang (Sweden) and the Biggeresel (Baden-Württemberg, Germany).

Next Sunday we’ll look at how a German gay rugby club contributed in creating a decorative Christmas Guinness World Record.

Star-Gayzing: Dressed For Space

I’m back. The history exhibition of my home village that I produced with my siblings was a modest success. It’s still creating a buzz on the village history Facebook page. But now I must return to this blog and reveal more hidden or forgotten aspects of lgbt history.

Earlier this year I wrote about lgbt costume designers in the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” franchises. Today we look at another science fiction television series, one which celebrates its 50th anniversary today. That series is “Space: 1999”.

“Space: 1999” is one of my favourite shows, and I saw that very first episode on 4 September 1975. What appealed to me most, apart from the theme tune and opening credits, were the costumes. In particular, the costumes of the crew of Moonbase Alpha, the protagonists of the series.

But first, I want to give an update on my Time Lord cosplay. I mentioned on May 4th that I was dusting off the costume and doing repairs. Well, one week before I was intending to wear it at EmCon I changed my mind. I was still going to cosplay a Time Lord, but now I wanted to cosplay Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who himself. Specifically, in the costume he wore in his final episode that was broadcast exactly a week before the convention. Below is a couple of screenshots I took to help me make the costume. All I had was a white, short-sleeved top, so I had 6 days to come up with something that looked like that.

A black pin-striped waistcoat and black trousers that I already had would be substitutes for the blue, denim ones Ncuti wore. All I needed was to buy enough denim material to make the kilt, and as I own a genuine kilt I knew that it required a LOT of material.

Below in the finished costume. I was very pleased with the end result, even though it wasn’t an exact copy, and I had enough material left over to make a denim waistcoat in the future. Unlike the purple Time Lord robes, I wasn’t embarrassed walking through the busy Saturday morning streets of Nottingham city centre to the convention half a mile away. The success of my endeavours was proven by people recognising the costume, including actor Jemma Redgrave who co-starred with Ncuti Gatwa in the final episode.

You may think all that was irrelevant, but you’ll be surprised just how much it isn’t.

Back to “Space: 1999”. The Moonbase Alpha uniforms were designed by openly gay designer Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985). Rudi was one of the most well-known fashion designers of the 1960s and ‘70s. He was born in Austria and, as a Jew, was forced to flee to the USA with his mother when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938.

Rudi’s talent in fashion was sparked as a child by visiting his aunt’s dress shop in Vienna. He would spend hours sketching the high society dresses that his aunt sold. These sketches caught the attention of Ladislaus Czettel, a costume designer who had recently returned to Austria after having found it difficult finding work in Germany because he was Jewish. Czettel offered Rudi an apprenticeship in London, but Rudi’s mother though he was too young to travel abroad (Rudi was only 12).

Rudi’s fashion career in the USA started in Hollywood, but he hated it. Likewise, he worked for various fashion designers and disliked the fact that he was required to follow “house design” and current fashion trends. However, during this period he was also designing and selling some of his own designs.

By 1960 he was able to found his own design house, G. R. Designs (later renamed Rudi Gernreich Inc.). Now he was able to let his own ideas about fashion turn him into a leading figure of the 1960s fashion revolution with daring experiments in fashion theory, design and colours. In particular he advocated the wearing of unisex clothing, something that seems quite normal today, but some of his ideas may strike us as being unusual (his monokini still attracts controversy among fashion historians).

It was the unisex look that Rudi came up with for the “Space: 1999” Moonbase Alpha uniforms. It was a simple plain, beige two-piece – trousers and long-sleeved top. The only indications or rank or occupation was in the colour of one sleeve and subtle rank markings (photo below). He also designed a vesion with a skirt. These were worn through the first sries, but another designer altered them for the second.

Rudi became something of a celebrity in the 1960s. He even appeared as himself in an episode of the classic television series “Batman”. A screenshot of that appearance is below.

But, wait. Haven’t I seen that orange and brown plaid combination recently? Actually, yes, I have, and it brings us back to Ncuti Gatwa’s costumes as Doctor Who.

The first costume anyone ever saw Ncuti Gatwa wearing was in the publicity photos released in 2022 to reveal what his Doctor would look like. It consisted of an orange sweater and brown plain coat (pictured below). It’s one of several costumes Ncuti wore it in his first full episode as the Doctor, “The Church on Ruby Road”, broadcast on Christmas Day 2023, and he wore in a later episode called “Dot and Bubble”.

This similarity may have been just a coincidence, except that I don’t believe in coincidence. The costume designer for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor was Pam Downes. Pam hasn’t admitted in any interview that I’ve read that the orange sweater and brown plain coat combination was inspired by Rudi’s costume in the “Batman” episode, but I’ll leave it up to you to make your own conclusion.

However, Pam has said that she tried to experiment with the Doctor’s costume. One design element she was keen to include, as was the show’s producer, Russell T. Davies, was the use of kilts or skirts for he Doctor. Ncuti’s Doctor wore several kilts throughout his tenure. Pam said she was inspired by the look of the “men in skirts” of 1970s New York. Guess who was the leading advocate for men wearing skirts in the 1970s? Yes, Rudi Gernreich.

There are other lgbt costume designers in science fiction to write about and they will appear next year, where we will encounter the late Queen Elizabeth II and a long lost “Doctor Who” story (not together).

Heraldic Alphabet 2025

Happy International Heraldry Day, and welcome to my annual batch of lgbt+ coats of arms.

I won’t give an introduction to explain all the rules, terms and formats this time. I’ll try to keep it simple. Last year’s list may give any information you need. Several things do need to be emphasised:-

1) Arms with a black surround are of people who have passed away in the past 18 months;

2) A diamond next to a letter indicates the arms are of an unmarried or divorced woman, specifically in England;

3) Not everyone who is entitled to a coat of arms is necessarily aware of it, especially if it is inherited from an ancestor they’ve never heard of.

A) April Ashley, MBE (1935-2021) – British transgender pioneer and activist. Marital arms, being those of her 1st husband, Arthur Corbett (1919-1993), 3rd Baron Rowallan from 1977. Ravens (also called corbies) are a common heraldic pun for Corbett. The blue quarters are the Polson arms of whom the Corbetts were heirs. The red label across the top indicates that during this marriage Arthur’s father was still alive. April would have borne these arms before the marriage was annulled in 1970. Her subsequent remarriage removed this entitlement anyway.

B) Rev. Pat Buckley (1952-2024) – Irish Independent Catholic bishop. Personal arms granted by the Chief Herald of Ireland, 5th October 2000. Bulls are a common pun used in Bulkeley and Buckley family arms. The sheep is a variation of the Paschal Lamb (also L). Here the lamb (or rather, sheep) is black, probably because Buckley saw himself as a “black sheep” of the Roman Catholic Church (being excommunicated in 1998 for conducting same-sex marriages). The sheep holds a bishop’s crozier, indicating Buckley’s position as a bishop.

C) Colette (1873-1954), full name Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette – French author. Marital arms, being those of her 2nd husband, Henry de Jouvenal (1876-1935). These are arms of the old Jouvenal des Ursins family whose male line had died out. Henry’s family are not related to them, but his grandfather obtained a decree from the French Council of State granting him the right to adopt them arms for himself and his family.

D1) Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Bt. (1907-1980) – British baronet (hereditary knight). Personal arms. The green quarters are the arms of the Duffs. The others form a grand quarter (a quarter that is quartered), meaning that they should always be shown like this. The arms are those of Smith (blue background) and Assheton (white background) families. The Duffs inherited the Assheton-Smith estates and adopted their name. Sir Michael readopted the Duff name in 1948. His wife, Lady Caroline, is listed next.

D2) Lady Caroline Duff (1913-1973) – British aristocrat. Inherited arms, being those of her father, the Marquess of Anglesey. Her family, the Pagets, were originally called Bayly. In 1769, after the marriage of Sir Nicholas Bayly to heiress Caroline Paget, the family adopted her name and arms. The Pagets were granted arms on 21 March 1552 and are a variation of an unrelated Paget family. During her marriage Lady Caroline could also place her arms on the right half of a shield with her husband’s on the left.

E) Philipp, 1st Prince of Eulenburg and Hertefeld (1847-1921) – Germany statesman. Personal arms. The Eulenburg family arms are those on the small central shield and had been used by Philipp’s ancestors since the 14th century. On the main shield, the white quarters with the hart are those of the Barons von Hertefeld (“herte” being German for “hart”, another heraldic pun) of which Philipp’s mother was heir. The other quarters are those of the Swedish Counts Sandels, a title he acquired through his marraige.

F) Hon. Ismay Fitzgerald (1870-1946) – Irish aristocrat. Inherited arms, being those of her father, Baron Fitzgerald of Kilmarnock, granted to him on 8th June 1882. There is no established link between Ismay’s family and the Fitzgerald dynasty whose coat of arms is commonly called “St. Patrick’s Cross”. Having been granted by the Principal Herald of Ireland at the College of Arms before Irish independence, Ismay could also bear them after Irish independence (see J). They are registered in the official records of the current Chief Herald of Ireland.

G) Christopher Gibbs (1938-2018) – British interior designer. Family arms. The quarters with the black axes are the Gibbs arms, granted by the College of Arms in 1876 for the living male-line descendants of Anthony Gibbs (1756-1815). Granted with them were arms of his wife’s family, the Hucks (blue chevrons and owls), to which their children were heirs. The quarter with the cross and discs is that of the Durants family, whose heiress married Christopher’s grandfather. Christopher could have added several cadency marks. Often, multiple cadency marks are not used, as here, because they clutter up the design.

H) Sir Arthur Hobhouse (1886-1965) – British local government official. Personal arms as senior member of his branch of the family. The background of the shield was originally all blue and probably not used officially. The College of Arms confirmed this blue and red version to Sir Arthur’s great-grandfather in 1812.

J) Mainie Jellett (1897-1944) – Irish artist. Not Mainie’s arms, but those of a junior branch of her family. These are a variation of the arms of an unrelated family, the Gilliotts of Nottinghamshire. The English College of Arms often extends the right to use arms to male line descendants of the individual’s paternal grandfather. However, when granted on 24th April 1904 by the Principal Herald of Ireland (see F) these arms were specifically limited to descendants the individual’s father. This excluded his uncle, Mainie’s grandfather. It is just possible that the Jellett’s were using a coat of arms unofficially before this which Mainie’s grandfather may have used. Research is continuing.

K) Olha Kobylyanska (1863-1942) – Russian author and feminist. Family arms. Although Olha’s ancestry cannot be traced with certainty beyond her grandfather the family is known to belong to the clan or tribe descended from the Sas (or Szász) family of medieval eastern Europe. These are the Sas clan/tribe arms, first recorded in 1548. One of Olha’s partners was Lesia Ukrainka (see U).

L) Tory (Victoria) Lawrence (1938-2024) – British artist. Marital arms, being those of her ex-husband John Lawrence, Baron Oaksey and Trevethin (1929-2012). Even after divorce, English law entitled Tory to retain her title and arms until remarriage (which didn’t occur). The arms includes a standard Paschal Lamb (see B). Before her passing, I had written Tory Lawrence into a future instalment in my “80 Gays” series with regard to number 78 on the list, Maggi Hambling. The instalment will appear some time next year.

M) Rory More O’Ferrall (1947-2024) – Anglo-Irish diamond industry executive. Inherited arms. The green grand quarters (see D1) show the arms of the O’Ferrall and More families who both use a gold lion on a green background. The only difference is that the Mores place 3 stars above the lion. Rory’s O’Ferrall ancestor married the More heiress in 1751. Their son Ambrose married the Bagot heir (white quarters with the birds). The crescent indicates Rory’s descent from Ambrose’s 2nd son. Rory’s male line ancestors were the Irish Princes of Annaly. In 1618 they were forced to surrender their title to that old “queen”, King James I. If we follow popular convention whereby titles abolished by republics are still used unofficially (e.g. current German, French and many European princes), Rory was Prince Rory U’Fhearghall of Annaly.

N) Philip Normal – fashion designer, Mayor of Lambeth 2020-21. Arms of office during his term as mayor. These are the arms of the London Borough of Lambeth, granted by the College of Arms on 22nd April 1922. The bishop’s mitre and staff on the central stripe represent Lambeth Palace the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

O) Kajsa Ollongren (b.1967) – Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands 2020-22. Inherited family arms. The Ollongrens descend from the Finnish/Swedish noble family of Ållongren. After fleeing Finland during the Russian Revolution in 1917, Kajsa’s grandfather arrived in the Netherlands. The family were admitted into Dutch non-titled nobility in 2002. These arms, used by the family for several centuries, show acorns, yet another heraldic pun on the first part of their name “Ollon-” - in Swedish, “acorn” is “ekollon”. The arms are recorded with the High Council of Nobility in the Netherlands.

P) William Plomer (1903-1973) – South African author and literary editor. Inherited arms. The design with the chevron and birds was granted in the early 1600s by the College of Arms to the family of the first Plomer baronet (originally coloured black and white). William’s family claim descent from the baronet’s brother. This red and yellow version first appears in relation to William’s ancestor, a Lord Mayor of London in 1781. The Lord Mayor’s grandson married William Pagan’s heir. Her arms have the red border. William Plomer descends from the 3rd son (indicated by the central star) of this Plomer/Pagan marriage.

R) Margaret Thomas, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda (1883-1958) – Welsh politician and suffragette. Personal arms as Viscountess Rhondda, a title and arms she inherited from her father. However, after her father’s death in 1918 the Viscountess attempted to take her seat in the House of Lords but was denied. Female hereditary peers were banned from the Lords until 1963. I haven’t located a date on which these arms was granted, but I assume it was around the time that Margaret’s father was created a baron in 1916.

S) Adrian Stephen (1883-1948) – pioneering British psychoanalyst. Inherited personal arms. The younger brother of Virginia Woolf, featured in the 2015 Alphabet. The arms are a variation of those used by their ancestors, the Stephens of Ardendraught, Scotland. The College of Arms permitted Adrian’s and Virginia’s father the use of these arms in England. The crescent signifies that Adrian was his father’s 2nd son.

T) Hon. Stephen Tomlin (1901-1957) – British artist. Personal arms as the 3rd son (signified by the star) of Baron Tomlin of Ash. These arms have been used by the Tomlins since the late 1700s. Stephen’s wife, Julia Strachey (1901-1979) was the niece of gay author Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) and her step-mother was Adrian Stephen’s (see S) sister-in-law.

U) Lesia Ukrainka (1871-1913), born Larysa Kosach – Ukrainian writer and political activist. Inherited arms. Daughter of Petro Kosach, a member of the Korczak family, whose coat of arms these are. The arms are first recorded in 1142 and were originally used by the Princes of Slavonia. Their descendants and associated families across Hungary and Poland, including the Korczaks, adopted these are their “herb” or clan arms. Lesia was the one-time partner of Olha Kobylyanska (see K).

V1) Filipp Vigel (1786-1856) – Russian civil servant and memoirist. Inherited family arms. The Vigels descend from nobility in the former Swedish territory which is now Estonia. The region was invaded by Russia in 1710. Filipp’s father registered these arms in the “Noble Genealogy Book of the Kiev Province” in 1803 after his petition was accepted by the Noble Deputy Assembly in 1802.

V2) Ernst von Pfuel (1779-1866) – Prussian Chancellor, pioneer of the breaststroke. Inherited family arms. Family tradition says that these arms originate at the same time as their earliest ancestor is recorded in 1215. Variations of the design over the centuries include a blue background and the rainbows not touching the edges.

W) Rt. Rev. James Ingall Wedgwood (1883-1951) – Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. Personal arms. A cousin in Dame Veronica Wedgwood, featured in 2023’s Alphabet. As mentioned in 2023, these arms were confirmed, not granted, in 1576. This indicates that the family had been using them unofficially and that the College of Arms let them keep them. When James became bishop he changed the background from red to blue. I cannot find any official grant which confirms this, so it may have been “granted” by the authority of the Liberal Catholic Church. I’ll be going over the Wedgwood family’s links to the lgbt+ community in a future instalment of my “80 Gays” series.

Y) Kirstie Yallop (b.1986) – New Zealand footballer and Olympian. Possible family arms and marital arms of her wife, fellow Olympic footballer Tameka Yallop. Kirstie traces her ancestry back to Richard Yallop of Norfolk, England, before 1674. The only Richard in the records who matches the date was a brother of Sir Robert Yallop from the same area. Sir Robert and 3 of his brothers were granted arms on 10 November 1664 by the College of Arms. Their brother Richard wasn’t named, though he is known to have been alive. Was he disinherited? I believe the 2 Richards are the same, even though I don’t have proof. Research is continuing. The Yallop arms are the red quarters with the little rectangles. The Yallop brothers were also granted arms as heirs to their mother’s family, the Giles (the diagonal stripe). These arms first appeared in print in an atlas published by Thomas Blome in 1673.

Star-Gayzing: May the Force Be With You

This is a different Star-Gayzing entry in that I don’t look at queer stories of stars and planets, or at lgbt+ astronomers. Instead I turn to science fiction and fashion.

Today has become popularly known as Star Wars Day. I like to think that it is day on which we can celebrate all types of science fiction and science fantasy. I’ve watched “Doctor Who” from the day it began in 1963 (I was only 3, but my family always watched it). I’ve been going to Doctor Who conventions since 1978, and have met many cast members, past and present. For the past 6 years I have also been cosplaying as a Time Lord in the ceremonial robes from the 1976 story “The Deadly Assassin”. I wrote about my first time in cosplay here, and here’s an image from 2023.

As I am dusting off my costume and making repairs ready for EmCon in Nottingham next month, I thought about other science fiction franchises. I knew about a couple of lgbt costume designers from famous franchises and looked around to see if there were more. Here is a brief look at some on them.

For the purposes of this article I won’t be looking at monster or alien designs. I will concentrate on costumes worn by humanoid characters.

As this is Star Wars day, let’s start there.

Of the dozen or more costume designers who have made their mark on the Star Wars franchise since the very beginning, the most prominent among the lgbt designers has been Michael Kaplan. He has been designing costumes for science fiction films since 1982. The first film on which he was given screen credit as costume designer was for “Blade Runner”. It was a very illustrious start, because he received a BAFTA (UK film Oscar) for it.

Kaplan’s first venture into the Star Wars franchise was in 2013 when J. J. Abrams chose him as costume designer for the first film of the sequel trilogy “The Force Awakens”, released in 2015. Kaplan was invited back for the remaining two films in the trilogy.

As with all long-running franchises, Kaplan modified previous costume designs to reflect the times and fashions of the era in which the films were being made and to reflect his own style and interpretation of the characters.

Among Kaplan’s other film work are “Flashdance”, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Fight Club”. Perhaps it is best to gloss over one of his earliest films, “Can’t Stop the Music” (1980), in which he was credited as “costumier – men”. This film is almost universally panned and was intended to showcase The Village People at the height of their fame. It also featured Caitlin Jenner and the male lead.

“Star Wars” wasn’t the first major science fiction franchise for which Kaplan designed costumes. He had worked for J. J. Abrams before on the first rebooted “Star Trek” film in 2009. One interesting fact merges from this film concerning Mr. Spock actor, Leonard Nimoy, which I’ll elaborate on later.

As with “Star Wars”, there are many costume designers in the “Star Trek” franchise, and there are two lgbt designers who deserve special recognition.

What relaunched “Star Trek” back onto our television screens in the 1980s was “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979). The costume designer for this film, and the three that immediately followed it (“The Wrath of Khan”, “The Search For Spock”, and “The Voyage Home”) was Robert Fletcher (1922-2021).

Fletcher’s designs for the Star Fleet uniforms were quite different to the original distinctive, bold, colour co-ordinated uniforms of the original series. Fletcher’s uniforms were in pastel shades. This was deliberate. The film’s director, Robert Wise, didn’t want the old, bold, colours of the original uniforms to upstage the return of the original cast. For Fletcher’s subsequent three films the Star Fleet uniforms began to regain some of their colour-coding.

For the costumes of many of the alien humanoid races, Fletcher used a lot of fabric that had been used by blockbuster pioneer Cecil B. DeMille that had been in storage since the 1950s, including some of the redesigned Klingon uniforms.

With the success of the films came the return of the television series, starting with “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. For this, the creator of the franchise, Gene Rodenberry, turned to the costume designer from the original 1960s series, William Ware Theiss (1931-1992). The colour-coding of the uniforms came back with a vengeance.

Theiss’s only pre-Star Trek science fiction designs were for the comedy series “My Favourite Martian”. It was another “Star Strek” legend, the writer D. C. Fontana, a close friend of Weiss, who recommended him to Rodenberry when the pilot was being produced.

Which brings me back to Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock. He is the only original “Star Trek” character to have worn costumes by lgbt designers in the original series, the original film series, “The Next Generation”, and the Abrams reboot.

I was going to continue with designers in other well-known science fiction franchises, but there are a couple of things I need to fact check first.

Vexed in the Islands

Today is VexiDay, or World Vexillology Day, a day to celebrate flags of all types (vexillology is the study of flags). With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics still floating around in our memory I thought it would be appropriate to look at a couple of national flags designed by lgbt people.

A quick word about national flags. National flags do not necessarily represent an independent nation. The term has also come to be used for any flag adopted by a constituent nation, dependent territory or autonomous region that is recognised and used by them nationally and internationally. Wales, Guam and Hong Kong have national flags, even though none of them are independent.

Long-time readers may remember that I wrote about Prince George of Greece and Denmark (1869-1957) and his involvement with the first modern Olympics in 1896. I also mentioned how he became the High Commissioner and Governor General of Crete in 1898. In fact, he was often just referred to as the Prince of Crete.

During the years of fighting between Cretan Christians and Ottoman Turks over control of the island several flags flew over Crete, all claiming to be its national flag. Crete was part of the Ottoman Empire, so the Turks supported the flying of the Ottoman flag. Conversely, the Cretan Christians who wanted to become part of Greece supported the Greek national flag. There were also several other flags used by both sides.

The Ottoman Empire had reluctantly agreed to let Crete by governed by the Great Powers (UK, France, Russia and Italy) as a sort of peace-keeping force. As such they didn’t support the use of any of the flags. The Great Powers flew their own national flags over the areas where they had particular control, like Berlin after World War II partitioned in 1945 between UK, USA, France and the Soviet Union.

After the Great Powers appointed Prince George as High Commissioner the race was on to design a new national flag to be raised on his arrival to take up his position. The main concern was to choose a design that did not upset any of the ethnic or religious communities.

Prince George designed his own flag (labelled A below). Almost immediately, his design came under criticism, primarily because it contained a common symbol of Greek nationalism – a Greek Orthodox Christian cross. In fact, it had 2 of them. The white cross on a blue background was also used on flags by Cretan Christian groups attacking Muslims and Turks. There seemed to be an obvious bias by Prince George to promote Crete joining Greece.

The Russians proposed flag B above, but this went the other way – the crescent, red and green are Muslim and Ottoman symbols. With just 3 days before Prince George arrived on Crete the Great Powers decided on flag C, a variation of Prince George’s idea. Red and the star were intended to represent the Ottoman Turks and Cretan Muslims. They refused to fly it. However, the design stayed and was used on Cretan banknotes right up to the day Crete eventually fulfilled its desire to become part of Greece in 1913.

The flag of Crete was never displayed at an Olympic Games, but in 1906 the so-called Intercalated Olympic Games (which until 1949 the IOC regarded as official) took place. Although Crete was still officially part of the Ottoman Empire, 8 athletes were listed as competing for Crete, though in the official report they were counted as part of the Greek team.

Even if Prince George didn’t see his flag fly at the Olympics, one lgbt artist did, and it was there again in Paris 2024.

From a vexillo-historical point of view the national flag of the United Kingdom is the one that has appeared at the most Olympics due to its inclusion in so many past and present other flags of its colonies and territories. Though the UK’s flag wasn’t designed by someone in the lgbt community (as far as anyone knows), the original design which excluded the red diagonal cross was chosen by King James of England and Scotland, who certainly was.

The biggest increase in the creation of distinctive national flags came in the 1950s and 1960s as many current nations were attaining their independence from colonial powers (plus one or two nations, like Canada, who decided to change theirs).

The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago gained independence in 1962. Prior to that they were British colonies who used the flag illustrated below left, showing their coat of arms. This is the flag used by Trinidad and Tobago at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games up till then.

In May 1962, only 3 months before independence, Trinidad and Tobago decided to adopt a brand new flag and coat of arms. The Independence Committee appointed 7 people to form a flag and arms sub-committee. These people included museum directors, politicians and one designer.

The designer was Carlisle Chang (1921-2001), a gay artist born in Trinidad of Chinese immigrant parents. Today Chang is regarded as the father of Trinidadian Art. He designed carnival costumes, painted murals, and was an interior designer.

Chang was also no stranger to the world of flags and heraldry. In 1957 he was a member of the committee that designed the flag and coat of arms of the short-lived West Indies Federation (1958-1962). Although the design of the Federation flag is credited to Edna Manley, it is believed that the coat of arms (below left) was primarily Chang’s work.

As far as Trinidad and Tobago is concerned, both the coat of arms (above, next to the West Indies Federation coat of arms) and the familiar diagonally striped flag (above right) are Chang’s work. Official sources claim that several designs were submitted to the Independence Committee, but there is not record of anything but Chang’s design. The sources also claim that it was the sub-committee who designed the flag but, as the interview with Chang below makes clear, he was the only one truly dedicated to the project and the contribution of the other 6 members was negligible.

After I had finished writing this article, news emerged that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, had announced his intention of altering Chang’s design of the coat of arms. In a world where colonial symbolism is being replaced with traditional local emblems, Dr. Rowley has suggested that the 3 ships on the shield, representing those which brought Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean, should be replaced by 3 traditional steelpan drums. I like this idea.

The concept of decolonising national emblems is a good way to express national identity and to show a period of successful independence, but does it go far enough to justify de-colonisalism as a reason? I wonder if Dr. Rowley also supports that changing of his nation’s name. Trinidad is the name given to the island by the very colonists he wants to remove from the coat of arms.

Next time you see the flag of Trinidad and Tobago you can put a name to the gay man who designed it, Carlisle Chang, and ponder on the irony that Trinidad and Tobago is still one of the many homophobic nations in the Caribbean.

Heraldic Alphabet 2024

Welcome to my 2024 Heraldic Alphabet with coats of arms in the lgbt+ community, celebrating the annual International Heraldry Day

Continuing elements I introduced last year, two letters have double entries because there are more people whose names begin with those letters who have coats of arms. Also continued is a black background to the arms of people who died in the past 18 months.

Some nations (e.g. England) don’t let women display their arms on a shield, only ovals or lozenges. For the sake of visual uniformity I use shields throughout. To indicate which individuals would officially use a lozenge, I place a diamond around their letter in the illustrations.

I show just the shields and not the helmet, crest, motto, supporters, or insignia to which a person may also be entitled. Individuals are listed according to the name by which they are most popularly known. Aristocrats are listed under their title unless they are popularly known by another name.

Some Quick Basic definitions

Arms of Office – arms of an institution or office of which the person is the nominal head and who may use the arms of the institution (in performance of official duties only). I extend this practice to similar institutions of any nation.

Assumed – arms adopted by an individual or family in a country where no state heraldic authority exists, or are not registered by such an authority that does exist.

Attributed – arms assigned to an individual, whether historical or legendary, after that individual’s life time.

Cadency mark – a specific symbol added to a family coat of arms to indicate the place in order of birth of the individual (i.e. 1st son/daughter, 2nd son/daughter, etc.).

Family – arms officially borne by the family’s senior bloodline member. Other family members may be required to add cadency marks. Some nations allow all family members to use the arms unaltered.

Marital – In some countries spouses and same-sex couples can place their arms side by side on one shield. Spouses who are have no coat of arms can use those of their spouse’s or place a small blank shield (if male) or lozenge (in England if female) upon it.

Personal – Arms granted to an individual by an official heraldic authority. Also inherited family arms specific to the individual.

Quarters – 4 or more divisions of a shield showing 2 or more different coat of arms. Some individuals bear many quarters.

Without further ado, here is 2024’s Heraldic Alphabet:

A) St. AELRED of Rievaulx (1110-1167). Cistercian abbot, “patron saint” of male couples. Attributed arms of office. These are the arms of Rievaulx Abbey of which Aelred was abbot. They are first recorded in 1530. They are the arms of the Roos family, the abbey’s then patrons, surmounted by an abbot’s staff.

B) Jacques Gordat, 6th Marquess of BELBEUF (1850-1906). French aristocrat. Personal arms. The arms of the Gordat family. They depict spurs worn by medieval knights. His wife was the artist Mathilde de Morny (see D below). In France married couples display their arms on separate shields side by side rather than together on one shield.

C1) Marina CICOGNA (1934-2023). Italian film director (Countess Marina Cicogna Mozzoni Volpi di Misurata). Inherited family arms. Cicogna is Italian for “stork”, which the family adopted as their coat of arms. In heraldry a stork is often shown standing on one leg holding a rock in the other because legend says this is how storks sleep – if they drop the rock they wake up. In 1580 the Count Cicogna married the heiress of Count Mozzoni, bringing her arms of three eagles into the family.

C2) Margaret CUTHBERT (1887-1968). Pioneering Canadian/US media executive. Inherited family arms. The original Cuthbert arms was the serpent. Legend says that in 1411 an ancestor captured the battle standard of a Scottish Lord and the King granted him the right to add a bar across his shield. The flowers had been added by the time the Cuthberts moved to Canada in 1778, and were registered with the Court of Lord Lyon in Scotland by Hon. James Cuthbert (Margaret’s 2 times great-grandfather) on 24th January 1778. They were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority of the Governor General’s Office on 15 August 2012.

D) Mathilde DE MORNY (1863-1944). French artist. Inherited family arms. Mathilde’s father was an illegitimate half-brother of Emperor Napoleon III of France who created him a duke in 1863, granting him a border of dolphins (a French royal emblem) and eagles (a Bonaparte emblem). The black merlettes (birds with no beak or feet) are from the arms of the Duke’s father, the Count of Flahaut. Mathilde married the Marquess of Belbeuf (B above).

E) Miquel ENESENYAT RUITORT (b.1969), Mayor of Esporles, Majorca, 2005-15. Arms of office, being the arms of Esporles. They incorporate the red and yellow stripes common in Spanish (particularly Catalan) heraldry. On light blue are the cross keys and papal tiara of the Vatican.

F) St. FRANCIS of Assisi (c.1181-1226). Founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars. One of several attributed arms. The design symbolises Christ crucified with the five stigmata, the wounds he received on the cross. St. Francis is said to have borne temporary marks of the stigmata in 1224. Brown is the colour of the habit worn by Franciscans.

G) GIVENCHY (1927-2018). French fashion designer (Count Hubert Taffin de Givenchy). Inherited family arms. The Marquess de Givenchy is the title given to his ancestor in 1713. The family name is Taffin, and these are the family’s arms used since medieval times.

H) Juliet HARDINGE (1877-1970). Bisexual British actor, stage name of Mrs. Janette Thesiger (née Ranken). Marital arms, being those of her husband Ernest Thesiger (featured last year). She may have had a family coat of arms, but I have been unable to identify it, so I adopt the modern practice of placing a lozenge at the top of her husband’s shield.

J) Melvyn Gwynne JEREMIAH (1939-2023). British civil servant, Secretary of The Heraldry Society 2003-9. Personal arms granted by the College of Arms on 29 October 1994. The blue and white pattern is called vair - pieces of squirrel fur (“varus” is Latin for squirrel) sewn to form the lining of a medieval cloak (blue is back fur, white is belly fur). The Welsh dragon represents Melvyn’s nationality.

K) Mary KENDALL (1677-1710). Partner of Lady Caroline Jones (see 2023). Inherited family arms. The Kendall arms show 3 heraldic dolphins. In the other quarters are the arms of her mother, heiress of the Hallet family. Mary’s arms are shown on her memorial in Westminster Abbey.

L) Cam LYMAN (1932-c.1987). US transgender dog-breeder (whose murder is featured here). Assumed family arms. Assumed by descendants of the 17th century immigrant Richard Lyman, of which Cam was one. However, research in the 1950s proved that immigrant Richard Lyman was a different man to the one whose arms the family assumed and still use today. The 1st and 4th quarters are the Lyman arms, the 2nd quarter are the arms of Richard’s heiress wife Sarah Osbourne, the 3rd are the arms of his heiress ancestor Elizabeth Lambert. All recorded arms of the Osbornes have blue corners instead of red. I retain the colour assumed by the US Lymans.

M1 and M2) Barnaby MILN (b.1947). Magistrate, and member of the General Synod of the Church of England. In 2018 I did a full examination these coats of arms (see here). Basically, the blue arms were granted to an ancestor, and the green arms were granted to his father.

N) Florence NIGHTINGALE (1820-1910). Pioneer of nurse training, opponent of Votes for Women. As Florence features in many lgbt+ lists I’ve included her here, even though there’s no definitive evidence of her sexuality. Her father, William Shore, was heir to his grandmother’s family, the Nightingales. He adopted their name in 1815 and their arms shown here in 1874.

) Diego ORTIZ GONZALEZ (b.1982). Mayor of Pinto, Madrid, Spain, 2019-23. Arms of office, being those of the town of Pinto. The arms have been in use since before 1756 but were only officially registered on 17 September 2007. Red and yellow are the national colours of Spain. The dot on the map represents Pinto’s location at the exact centre of Spain.

P) Richard PARES (1902-1958). British historian. Inherited family arms. Richard descends from John Pares of Leicester (1635-1712) whose arms are the black and white design. The lion is the arms of the Lightbody family whose co-heiress married into the Pares family.

R) Eleanor RATHBONE (1872-1946). British politician and family rights campaigner. Inherited family arms. The arms were granted to Eleanor’s grandfather, William, by the College of Arms in 1841. The symbolism is unclear, though the fasces (bundle of sticks around an axe) is a Roman symbol of authority, and William was a magistrate.

S) Prince Janusz SANGUSZKO (1712-1775), Polish prince and bloodline heir to King Harold II of England. Inherited family arms. Basically, the arms of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania used since 1366, readopted by the republic of Lithuania in 1991. The Sanguszko family, like others who descend from the Grand Dukes, added the castle at some unknown date.

T) Hallam TENNYSON (1920-2005). BBC radio producer, murdered (unsolved). Inherited family arms. Hallam was great-grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (who may or may not have been queer). This is a modified version of the arms of Archbishop Tenison of Canterbury (1636-1715) to whom the Tennysons may be related. In turn, the Archbishop’s arms were modified from those of Bishop Cantilupe of Hereford (d.1282). The laurel wreath was granted to Lord Tennyson by the College of Arms on 2 February 1883. The crescent signifies Hallam’s descent from Lord Tennyson’s 2nd son.

V1) Dries VAN NOTEN (b.1958). Belgian fashion designer. Personal arms granted by the Belgian Crown when he was created a baron in 2017. The nut tree alludes to his surname (Noten is Dutch for “nut”), as well as representing the Tree of Life. The two hands are taken from the arms of Antwerp, where Dries was born.

V2) Sarah VEATCH. Associate Professor of Biophysics, University of Michigan. Inherited family arms. Prof. Veatch is a distant cousin of Olympian Dan Veatch (see here). Both descend from the Veiches of Scotland. Although Sarah’s and Dan’s line of descent has been questioned by some, DNA has proven they and the Scottish Veiches are the same family.

W) Lana (b.1965) and Lilly (b.1967) WACHOWSKI. Transgender US film directors (“The Matrix” films). Inherited family arms. Their great-grandfather arrived in the US from Poland in 1905. The Wachowski family is one of many connected to the Szeliga “clan” and can use their arms. The design dates from the 1300s, being used by Archbishop Bodzanta of Gniezno, Governor of Krakow, in 1366.

Z) Brother Thomas ZERAFA (1951-2023). Franciscan friar. Inherited family arms. Brother Thomas’s father was born on Malta with an old and distinguished ancestry. The arms are probably of medieval origin.