looking for house crests

[kbmum2000]

Wow, I definitely did not expect this much information!  You 
mentioned there are differences between the movie version and the 
accurate version.  How do you know what colors are accurate (such as 
the "H" in Hogwarts being purple instead of black)?

Sheesh, such trouble over a shrink art mobile for my daughter's 
room...



--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince 
Winston)" <catlady at w...> wrote:
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda Geist" 
<editor at t...>
> wrote:
> 
> > I will spare you my usual heraldry lecture about terminology. 
> 
> So I'll say it for you. "Crest" means only the little thing on top 
of
> the helmet, such as the wizard's hat for Gryffindor, the eagle head
> for Ravenclaw, snake head for Slytherin, running badger for
> Hufflepuff, and Golden Snitch for Hogwarts. The thing Cindy kbmum 
is
> looking for is called "shield of arms" or "coat of arms". I suspect
> it's not the full "achievement of arms" because surely Hogwarts 
also
> has supporters (probably winged boars as on the front gateposts).
> 
> I don't understand why the movie people felt compelled to behead 
the
> poor eagle and snake used as the crests. I also have a theory that
> wizarding heraldry has a rule, unknown to Muggle heralds, that a
> person who earned arms by being a wizard or witch uses a wizard's 
hat
>  INSTEAD of a helmet to sit on top of their shield. IIRC Fox-Davies
> says a bishop gets a bishop's hat instead of a helmet, but doesn't 
get
> a crest because there is no place on a bishop's hat to attach one.
> That doesn't affect wizards: their crests can just levitate over 
their
> hats.  
> 
> Cindy wanted to check the colors ["tinctures" to heralds], and I 
don't
> know if she wanted to be just like the movie or to be accurate. If 
the
> latter, the "H" is supposed to be purple, not black, and I was 
hoping
> you'd comment on some other little things: the tinctures of the 
wreath
> and mantling. (Note to Cindy et alia: originally the mantling was
> kaffiyeh and the wreath was agal, copied by Crusaders to shade 
their
> metal helmets from the hot sun shining on them, but they have 
become
> the decorative curly lettuce leaves on achievements of arms.) IIRC 
the
> mantling and crest are supposed to be the main color (red, blue,
> green, black, purple) and the main metal (gold = yellow, silver =
> white) of the shield. 
> 
> I suppose for Hogwarts, that would be gold and purple? These 
patches
> show the wreath as all red and the mantling as all gold. 
Gryffindor's
> should be red and gold, as its mantling is shown, but its wreath is
> shown as all silver or all blue. Hufflepuff's should be gold and
> black, not this blend of shades of brown. And here they go 
sticking a
> red and silver wreath on Ravenclaw, whose color is definitely blue,
> regardless of disputes about its metal: silver in the 
movie, 'bronze'
> (gold) in the books.