Medal Quest - 100 Days to Darwin

The third Asia-Pacific Outgames in Darwin begin in 100 days time. The Outgames follow a different format to the Gay Games in that there are several continental Outgames as well as the World Outgames. Because of this it is difficult to produce a list of the overall Top Ten medal winners. It would be like comparing the continental EuroGames or Pan-American Games with the Olympics.

But then athletes wouldn’t have a medal quest to pursue if there weren’t any medals! So today I’m looking at some of the medals themselves. In an article last summer I mentioned Canadian artist Corrine Hunt designed both the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic medals and the 2011 North America (Vancouver) Outgames medals. I intend to post a more detailed article about these next month.

Until then, here is some information about the medals of some of the Outgames. For every medal there can be several designers. One person can design the actual medal, and another the medal ribbon. Yet another can be credited as designer of the official games logo which is always incorporated into the medal.

For the first World Outgames in Montréal in 2006 both the medal and the ribbon were designed by Jean-François Perrier. Jean-François was the Design Co-ordinator for the games with a place on the organising committee. He was also the designer and webmaster of the Montréal 2006 website. The medals he designed (pictured below) were of the traditional circular shape, though you may be able to see a cut-out section around the top rim of the medal through which the ribbon is threaded.

Jean-François was secretary of the Montréal bid to host the 2006 Gay Games. He bid, led by Olympian Mark Tewksbury, was accepted but later withdrawn and the Gay Games were awarded to Chicago instead. This led to the creation of the first World Outgames.

Jean-François knew Montréal well. He’s a qualified tourist guide for the city and former manager of the lgbt portfolio with Tourism Montréal. He was president of the Association Professionelle des Guides Touristique – Montréal, and is currently the administrator of the  association’s Facebook page.

The medals of the first Asia-Pacific Outgames in Melbourne in 2008 were designed by a local design company called Sabatini Belle Creative. This company was founded in 2004 by Belle Adziyovski and Ross Sabatini, who both have a B.A. in graphic design from Melbourne’s Monash University. They were appointed as the official designers for the first Asia-Pacific Outgames. Ross in particular had previous experience in the design and image of a big multi-sport festival. His first job was with the design company that worked on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and who designed the Sydney 2000 logo.

The Sabatini Belle medal for the Melbourne Outgames was, again, a circular design bearing the games logo. Medals were suspended on a green and black ribbon, the colours of the Melbourne games.

In 2009 the World Outgames were held in Copenhagen. The designer of the medals was a local fashionable goldsmith and jeweller called Mads Heindorf. Growing up as a gay teenager on the Danish island of Langeland Mads never thought he’d be designing jewellery for the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, let alone an Outgames medal. He was a relative newcomer to the goldsmith and jewellery industry, having only just finished his apprenticeship in 2006.

It was after a Danish magazine interviewed him about his royal jewellery that he was invited to design the Outgames medals. Mads, medals, the largest in size so far, incorporated smaller discs and circles which he said would give them “a modern, tasteful and innovative design with Nordic inspiration” (pictured above). The innovative side of the medal came with the circular hole in the centre though which a plain black cord was threaded. The following year Mads designed the winner’s medal for the Mr Gay Denmark contest.

Of all the medal designs, perhaps the most distinctive at the Outgames was that designed for the most recent World Outgames in 2013 (pictured below). These were square with rounded corners. A heart-shaped depression in the centre carried the motto of the games.

I have no definitive information about the medal designers of the remaining World and Continental Outgames, but am still researching and hope to produce a complete list in the future.

Holocaust Memorial Day - Some Holocaust Heroes

In recent years many gay victims and survivors of the Holocaust have become known to us. The last few of these survivors seem to have passed away now, and unless there are some who wish to live private lives away from “publicity” we have entered a new era when Nazi persecution of gay men moves from “living testimony” to “historical record”.

Among the many thousands of gay men imprisoned by the Nazis are those whose names are not as well-known as Gad Beck or Rudolf Brazda. I want to mention a handful of lgbt men – and women - whose stories are almost forgotten. They can be considered among the Holocaust Heroes because they resisted the Nazis, and some of them paid the ultimate price for doing so.

Robert Oelbermann (1896-1941) was, with his twin brother Karl, a co-founder of one of the many all-male youth groups in pre-Nazi Germany. Called the Nerother Bund the group centred their activities on outdoor pursuits such as camping and hiking. These youth groups were often places where close emotional and physical relationships were common among the boys. The Nerother Bund were known to accept these close relationships, mainly because Robert was himself almost certainly gay.

When the Nazis rose to power in 1933 all youth groups were required by law to disband and their young members were “encouraged” to join the Hitler Youth. Robert was on a world tour at the time, and on his return to Germany attempted to set up his group again. In 1936 Hitler cracked down on the remaining pockets of independent youth groups and Robert Oelbermann was arrested.

Robert’s arrest wasn’t enough to keep him in custody for long, so forced confessions from members of the Nerother Bund led to him being convicted of homosexuality, a charge he always denied, perhaps knowing he would end up in a concentration camp. In 1941 he was interned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later Dachau, where he died later that year. A small memorial plaque to him is located at Waldeck Castle, the meeting place of the Nerother Bund.

Lesbian couple Henrica “Ru” Paré (1896-1972) and Theodora “Do” Vesteegh (1889-1970) became heroes of the Dutch resistance movement. Ru was an artist and through her artistic connection with members and other artists in the resistance provided fake papers and passports for over 50 Jewish children and adults. She found temporary foster parents for some children, aided by many local priests.

“Do” Vesteegh was trained as a classical singer. She produced concerts during the war to secretly raise funds for help keep the escape routes open. The money would pay for the fake passports and transport costs.

Nicknamed “Aunt Zus”, perhaps originally her code name within the resistance, Ru Paré kept in touch with many of the children she and Do rescued from the Nazis, and some of these children were instrumental in getting streets and schools named after the couple in the Netherlands.

Count Albrecht von Bernstorff (1890-1945) was from an influential German family of diplomats and soldiers. True, his blue blood and diplomatic connections protected him from much of the Nazi persecution, but in the end he was branded a traitor.

The Count was a diplomat in London when Hitler came to power, and he immediately went back to Germany to protect his family estates. Albrecht was a vocal opponent of Hitler, and he flaunted his position as a well-connected man by deliberately joining the board of the main Jewish bank in Berlin (he wasn’t Jewish).

On the outside Count Albrecht was a spoilt aristo – renowned in London for his partying, drinking, and his flirting and propositioning of waiters in cafes. Yet this foppish exterior masked a Scarlet Pimpernel interior. In Berlin he used his good connections to smuggle many Jews out of Germany.

He also belonged to a group of conspirators who plotted to overthrow Hitler. He was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp where he was tortured. Bernstorff's influential and aristocratic connections led to his release but the Gestapo kept an eye on him. In 1943 he was rearrested and held in various prisons, warehouse basements and Ravensbruck concentration camp accused of sedition. Bernstorff was shot without trial by the SS in April 1943.

Let's Grab a Grammy : Part 2

Tomorrow the Grammy awards for 2013 will be presented at a glittering ceremony in Los Angeles. Two days ago I gave a brief look at the lgbt Grammy winners of the early years and today I bring the story up to date and look at some of the popular music winners of recent years. As mentioned last time, many lgbt artists had been nominated for Grammys without winning one. So, as last time, I’ll just mention winners not nominees.

Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin, members of Prince’s backing band “the Revolution”, were the first lgbt pop winners. In fact they won 2 with Prince for their 1984 sound-track album “Purple Rain”, one for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture, and another for Best Rock Performance by a Group with Vocals.

Elton John came next. Surprisingly, Elton’s first Grammy was for a collaboration. He, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder won Best Pop Performance by a Duo of Group with Vocals of 1986 with “That’s What Friends Are For”. Even though it wasn’t written by or for them, the famous foursome recorded the song as a charity fund-raiser for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Even more surprisingly, Elton didn’t receive another Grammy until 1992, when he won Best Instrumental Composition of 1991 with “Basque”.

“That’s What Friends Are For” was the first of several recordings with links to AIDS that won Grammys. In 1992, two Grammys were awarded for John Corigliano’s “Symphony No.1” – Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Contemporary Composition for John himself.

Inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, Corigliano used his composition to remember friends and colleagues who had died from AIDS, including extending an improvisation between himself and a friend from a tape recording he made several decades earlier. I hope to write more about this and other AIDS-inspired music on World AIDS Day.

As with Elton, George Michael’s first Grammy was for a collaboration – Best R+B Performance of 1987 by a Duo of Group with Vocals - with his duet with Aretha Franklin “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”. Fortunately George Michael didn’t have to wait as long as Elton for his first solo Grammy. The next year “Faith” won Best Album of the Year, the first in this category to be won by an lgbt solo artist.

Looking through the various genres of music and categories in which the Grammys are awarded I’ve compiled the following list of the first lgbt winners in each category.

Best Alternative Music Album of 1991

“Out of Time” by R.E.M. (with Michael Stipe)

Best Rock Vocal Performance Female of 1992

“Ain’t It Heavy”, Melissa Etheridge

Best Musical Show Album of 1993

“Tommy”, The Who (words and lyrics by Pete Townshend)

Best Long Form Music Video of 1998

“America Masters – Lou Reed Rock and Roll Heart”, Lou Reed

Best Album of 1999, and

Best Rock Album of 1999 (to producer)

Clive Davis, producer, for “Supernatural” by Santana

Best Song of 2003, and

Best R+B Album of 2003

“Dance With My Father”, Luther Vandross

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album of 2003

“A Wonderful World”, k d lang and Tony Bennett

Best Rock Album of 2004 (to performers)

“American Idiot”, Green Day (with Billie Joe Armstrong)

Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group of 2004

“Let’s Get It Started”, Black Eyed Peas (with Fergie)

Best Dance Recording of 2009

“Poker Face”, Lady Gaga

Best Electronic/Dance Album of 2009

“The Fame”, Lady Gaga

Best Metal Performance of 2009

“Dissident Aggressor”, Judas Priest (with Rob Halford)

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance of 2010

“Bad Romance”, Lady Gaga

Best Pop Vocal Album of 2010

“The Fame Monster”, Lady Gaga

Best Rap/Song Collaboration of 2011

“All of the Lights”, Fergie

Best Urban Contemporary Album of 2012

“Channel Orange”, Frank Ocean

Let's Grab A Grammy : Part 1

This weekend sees the annual celebration of the Grammy awards, the top awards in the international music recording industry. What better way to help celebrate my year of music than by taking a brief look at the lgbt Grammy winners.

What all Grammys have in common is that they are awarded for recorded music and not live performance, and there are many lgbt singers, musicians, producers, composers and technicians who have been nominated over the years. However, there’s no room to name them all so these articles I’m writing mention a few of the winners and not the nominations.

The first lgbt winner of a Grammy was pianist Van Cliburn who died last year. In the very first year the Grammys were awarded, 1959, Van won the award for Best Classical Performance – Instrumentalist (with concerto scale accompaniment) of 1958. The rather long award title reflects the desire to recognise as many different styles within one category, not unlike the many different categories in the same event at the Paralympic Games.

Van Cliburn is also the first multi-Grammy winner. His second was awarded in the following year for his recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in the slightly longer category title of (deep breath) Best Classical Performance – Concerto or Instrumental Soloist with full Orchestral Accompaniment (phew!).

The lgbt musicians with the most Grammys is composer Pierre Boulez, with 26. Pianist Vladimir Horowitz is one below him with 25.

The honour of being the first lgbt composer to be a Grammy winner goes to Aaron Copland. He won the award in 1960 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Also in 1960 Cole Porter receive a Grammy for his musical “Can Can”, winning (another deep breath) the Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from a Motion Picture.

The first lgbt musician to win more than one Grammy in the same year was Leonard Bernstein in 1961, though only one was for music. Grammys have been awarded for spoken recordings, and Bernstein won the Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording Other than Comedy for his narration of “Humour in Music” (slightly confusing considering the category title!).

The Best Documentary of Spoken Word award holds the record for the most consecutive lgbt winners – 1961 - Bernstein, 1962 – Charles Laughton for “The Story-Teller: A Session with Charles Laughton”, 1963 – Edward Albee for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, and 1964 – the cast of BBC tv’s “That Was The Week That Was” (with producer and head writer Ned Sherrin) for their tribute to John F. Kennedy (though, technically, Sherrin isn’t an official winner).

The first lgbt musician to win more than one Grammy in the same year for the same recording was Benjamin Britten. In 1963 he won Classical Album of the Year for 1962, Best Classical Performance – Choral (Other than Opera), and Best Classical Composition by a Contemporary Composer. All three were for his recording of his “War Requiem”.

Film and stage musicals have always featured in the Grammys, and gay men have an apocryphal reputation for being their biggest fans. After Cole Porter’s “Can Can” in 1960 the next Grammy to an lgbt musical personality went in 1964 to Jerry Herman. He won the Song of the Year award with “Hello, Dolly!” from the film version of the stage musical of the same name, which also won Best Male Vocal Performance for Louis Armstrong. Unfortunately, Jerry Herman lost the award for the best soundtrack recording of “Hello, Dolly!” to “Mary Poppins”. But you lose some and you win some. In 1966 Herman won Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album with “Mame”.

The first individual lgbt instrumentalist still living to win a Grammy was Gary Burton in 1972. Gary plays the vibraphone, an instrument that was popular during the 1970s. His album “Alone at Last” won for him the Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist. He has won a further 6 Grammys, the last being last year as Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

If you’re thinking there’s a distinct lack of popular music among the winners I’ve named so far, you’d be right. Even though pop, rock’n’roll and soul Grammys have been awarded since the 1960s the first lgbt pop singer/musician to win was, unbelievably, not until 1984. That year David Bowie, Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin joined Stephen Sondheim and Samuel Barber on the winner’s list. Bowie’s award was for Best Short Form Video, and Lisa and Wendy, members of Prince's band The Revolution, shared the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for their album “Purple Rain – Music From the Motion Picture”.

In two day’s time I’ll concentrate on the lgbt popular music Grammys.

Note: This article was amended on 27rh January 2014.

Medal Quest - 200 Days to Ohio

It’s another great year for international lgbt sport. As well as the Olympics and Paralympics there’s the Commonwealth Games, the Summer Youth Olympics, and the Asian Games. All of these will have lgbt athletes, but the games which are of special interest this year are the Gay Games in Cleveland and Akron and the Asia-Pacific Outgames in Darwin.

I’ll be looking at both the Gay Games and the Outgames in the run-up to these events in this new mini-series of articles called Medal Quest. At various stages in the run-up to each games I’ll look at one particular theme, something all lgbt athletes strive to be – medal winners.

With today marking 200 days to go before the start of Gay Games IX in Ohio I’ll begin this Medal Quest by looking at the Top Ten athletes who have won the most Gay Games medals.

There are 2 ways you can calculate top medal lists. First, as her in the UK, you count the number of gold medals first, then silver, then bronze. Other countries count all the medals together, which often leads to a situation where an athlete who comes 3^rd twice and wins 2 bronze medals comes higher than a champion who wins 1 gold. I’ll be using the UK method in my Medal Quest series.

Swimming has always been the most popular sport at both the Gay and Outgames with many swimmer competing in several different races. The age categories, like the ones used in international Masters Swimming competitions, also means that a swimmer can compete throughout his/her active life.

Nowhere can this be better illustrated than in the Top Ten Gay Games medallists who are all swimmers from the USA. They are listed below in reverse order. My database is far from complete for the early games, so these statistics may well need revising after further research. I welcome any extra information to help produce the most definitive list of medallists by the summer.

10.       MICHAEL MEALIFFE (b.1940)

22 gold, 3 silver

The elder one of twins (by 15 minutes) Michael was a successful competitive swimmer in high school and college. He set many age-group records, including several Junior Olympic records. He returned to competition in 1990 at the Vancouver Gay Games, and also competed in 1994 and 2002. In 2008 Michael married Dean Pitchford, Oscar-winning songwriter of “Fame” and song/screenwriter of “Footloose”.

9.         MICHAEL DIVELY (b.1938)

            23 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze

Philanthropist, art-collector, and former Michigan State representative and law professor, Michael returned to competitive swimming in 1974, though his first Gay Games were the 4^th in New York in 1994. He has competed in every games since then, and just 5 months ago became the oldest gold medallist at the Canakkale Straits competition in Turkey.

8.         MICHELE HUYETTE (b.1968)

            24 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze

Michele won her first Gay Games swimming medal in New York in 1994 and has won gold medals at the last 3 Gay Games. It was a fellow Pompano Beach Patrol lifeguard who persuaded her to take up triathlon in 1996, and she won the triathlon silver medal for her age-group at the Gay Games in Sydney 2002.

7.         NEILL WILLIAMS (b.1968)

            26 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze

The youngest person on this list, Neill has been swimming competitively since winning a swimming scholarship to America University. He considers his first best year as 1994, the year he won his first Gay Games gold in New York. He has competed and won gold in all Gay Games since.

6.         PHILIP JOHNSON (b.1925)

            27 gold

The oldest person on this list. US World War II veteran Phil Johnson has often been the oldest competitor in his events at the Gay Games, his first being the second in San Francisco in 1986. He has been an activist since the pioneer years of gay rights, and founded the Phil John (originally the Dallas Gay) Historic Archives.

5.         MARY COFFEY (b.1939)

            27 gold, 6 bronze

Retired high school teacher Mary Coffey won her first Gay Games medal in San Francisco in 1986. She has medalled at every Gay Games up to Chicago 2006.

4.         M. ELLEN (MELON) DASH

            29 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze

M. Ellen (usually referred to as “Melon”) has been a competitive swimmer all her life and has been a swimming teacher since her undergraduate days. She has competed in 6 Gay Games since the very first one in 1982. In 1983 she developed a highly successful teaching method for people afraid of the water, which she still teaches.

3.         JAMES BALLARD (b.1957)

            30 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze

Being diagnosed HIV+ in the early days of prejudice James Ballard entered his first Gay Games in 1994 less than 3 months after recovering from hepatitis to win the first of his many medals and Masters world records. He has competed at every Gay Games (except Chicago 2006) since.

2.         JESSICA SEATON (b.1954)

            33 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze

Dr. Seaton is a chiropractic orthopaedist by profession, and is prominent in health and medical advice circles in swimming. Jessica has served on many swimming committees, including the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics and the Federation of Gay Games. Her first medal was in New York in 1994, and she has won many medals at every games since. jessica has a Medal of Honour from the Federation of Gay Games in recognition of her contribution to athletics and service as a volunteer in lgbt sport.

1.         JAN LEVINRAD (b.1947)

            35 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze

South Africa-born Jan returned to swimming after an injury stopped her from skiing. She joined West Hollywood Aquatics in 1993 and was persuaded by Jessica Seaton (above), among others, to compete in her first Gay Games in New York in 1994. Jan has competed in every Gay Games since then.

Euro Bikers Hit 40



It was 40 years ago today that the European Confederation of Motorsport Clubs (ECMC) was formed. The cross-continental gay leather culture was well established in America but in Europe it was patchy because of the many individual nations. There were many leather and motorbike clubs dotted around Europe, many of which followed the US convention of using the word “motorcycle” in their title to bypass any suggestion of being a club for gay leather lovers (homosexuality was illegal in most European countries at the time).

Europe has a significant role in establishing the image of the leather biker thanks, in no small part, to the erotic art of Tom of Finland, who was himself a founding member of SLM (Scandinavian Leather Men) Finland in 1976.

In the 1970s international communications and travel was very expensive for any leather-biker club, being generally volunteer-run on a shoestring budget. Phone-calls cost the earth and in these pre-internet days instant contact was impossible. So those representatives from the founding clubs of the ECMC were true pioneers in the European leather community.

As with all groups it takes one or two people to seize the initiative after the initial idea is mooted. As president of Europe’s first leather club, Frazer Lowden of London’s Sixty Nine Club (founded in 1965) invited members from other known clubs in Europe to a meeting in London in January 1974. Several clubs from the continent attended, but the majority were, naturally, British. These clubs formed the founding members of the ECMC 40 years ago. These founding members (note : MSC means “Motor Sport Club”) were :

Sixty Nine Club (London)

Sherwood Choppers (presumably based in the Midlands)

Northern Riders (possibly from Manchester)

V Senses (“V” as in “5”)

Boys Cuir (France)

MSC London

MSC Amsterdam

MSC Belgica

Loge 70 (Switzerland)

John Willis of Sixty Nine Club was chosen as the first Secretary of ECMC with the responsibility of co-ordinating communication and information between the clubs and publicising events. He was probably the person who designed the confederation’s logo (above).

More clubs joined soon after the ECMC was formed and now there are 38 member clubs.

In 1985 the ECMC organised the first Mr Leather Europe contest, open to any member of an ECMC club. These contests are usually held during the period of the AGM and both are hosted by a different member club each year. Full lists of the Mr Leather Europe contest are difficult to find and there are several years when the identity of the winner hasn’t been established. Here’s a list of those known winners, their regional titles (if known) and whether they went on to win the International Mr Leather (IML) title as well :

1985    David Risenborough

1987    Thomas Karasch (d.1994), IML 1987

1988    Vincente Jimenez

1992    A. J. Steigenberger

1995    Antonio Sanchez, also Mr Drummer Europe 1995

1996    Dario van der Lundin Videla, Mr Leather Sweden

1997    Stein Losnegaard

1998    Rob Scheers, also Mr Drummer Europe 1998

1999    Peter Wallace, Mr Leather SLM-Oslo

2001    Maurizio, Mr Leatherman Italia

2002    Fernando Manzali, Mr Leatherman Italia

2003    Saad Hasson, Mr Baltic Battle

2004    Robert Menichetti, (Mr Leather Belgium?)

2005    Christian Roger

2006    Simen Enersen, Mr Leather Denmark

2007    Martin Cedergen, Mr Baltic Battle

2008    Ralf Rasmussen, Mr Leather Denmark

2009    Pieter Claeys, Mr MS Amsterdam

2010    Eric Gutierrez, Mr Leather France, IML 2011

2011    Alexi Carpentieri, Mr Baltic Battle

2012    Kilker Alcaraz, Mr Leather UK

2013    Francesco, Mr Leatherman Italia

Happy 40^th Birthday to the ECMC.

Queer Star-Gayzing Achievement - Wagner's Assumed Achievement

[Achievement – the name given in heraldry to the full pictorial representation of a coat of arms.]

Today’s article title is very deceptive, but accurate. Combining my musical theme for 2014, my Wagner theme for January, and my “Star Gayzing” with my “Queer Achievement” series I look at the composer’s coat of arms. My previous articles have dealt with coats of arms that were either inherited or granted to their owners. Richard Wagner’s was neither. They were devised by himself in 1870 – assumed, in heraldic terms.

The problem with Wagner’s arms is that there are variations used by Wagner himself precisely because they were assumed and unofficial. My painting is an interpretation of Wagner’s design to which I have added other elements to produce a full achievement.

As I remarked in my article on Wagner’s sexuality a few days ago, Richard Wagner wasn’t gay but his son Siegfried was. More confusion arises when we consider that Siegfried’s parents weren’t married when he was born – they married afterwards. In lawful heraldry this brings into doubt whether Siegfried would be entitled to use these arms at all, as only legitimate children can inherit them. As far as I’m concerned, because the arms weren’t lawfully adopted anyway, the proper rules don’t apply and they could be used by any of the Wagner family, Siegfried included.

The central device on the shield shows the constellation of the Plough, or Ursa Major, or Big Dipper, whichever you prefer. This, and the rest of the design, shows Wagner had some understanding of heraldic convention. I’ve mentioned in previous heraldic articles that puns and visual clues play an important part in heraldry. Wagner chose the plough constellation as a reference to his family name. In German “plough” is ”wagen”. The plough (both its constellation and representation of the real thing) have also been used by other unrelated Wagner families in other countries as well.

I don’t know why Wagner positioned the constellation upside down in relation to its usual representation, but the number of stars is significant. When Richard Wagner was just 6 months old his father died, leaving Richard and his 6 siblings fatherless. Their mother remarried to Ludwig Geyer. Wagner once recalled that the 7 stars represent the 7 Wagner children which Geyer took under his wing.

And the shield shows quite literally Geyer taking these 7 children under his wing. The bird, a vulture, is called “geier” in German. It’s another pun. Vultures are rare in heraldry, mainly due to their reputation as scavengers and their rather un-attractive appearance. Wagner’s own drawings of the bird are more like eagles or hawks. I’ve chosen to depict the intended vulture.

Wagner designed no crest to go with his coat of arms. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, compulsory to have a crest if you have a coat of arms. As Wagner’s arms were assumed I have no qualms in using artistic licence and using the vulture again as the crest.

As well as a crest, Wagner didn’t come up with a family motto. I decided not to create one. Regular readers will know that I colour the motto scroll in Rainbow Pride colours. With this in mind I’ve put the rainbow colours onto the twisted cloth band (the torse in heraldic terms) that sits on top of the helmet to keep the flowing mantling in place.

Wagner put an illustration of his arms on the frontispiece of “Mein Leben” (My Life), his autobiography. He used it as a seal on his ring, and in a glass panel over the front door of his home in Bayreuth. He seems to have become quite taken with his design. It may not have been created at all if it hadn’t been suggested by the young man he had appointed as proof reader on “Mein Leben”, Friedrich Nietzsche, later to become known as a highly influential philosopher.