Happy National Unicorn Day

  Happy #NationalUnicornDay2026! We mark it this year with the crest of Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope.

We also have some unicorns for you to colour in: https://shorturl.at/5YSU7

Scottish Tartan Day

 We mark Scottish Tartan Day with the arms granted to the Scottish Tartans Authority in 2004.

Azure, fretty Argent, in chief a shuttle and in base an pen book Proper binding and fore-edges Gules.

The crest is a hand in pale Proper holding an ell measure Sable.

Happy Easter!

  Happy Easter to all our followers! Appropriately here are the  Arms of the Corporation of the Town of Perth, Ontario, granted in 1980 before Canada had its own Heraldic Authority, showing the Paschal Lamb.

Blazon: Gules a Holy Lamb passant reguardant, staff and cross Argent with the banner of St Andrew Proper all within an orle of the Second.

600th Anniversary of the Scottish Unicorn!

 

Heraldic badge of Uncorn Pursuivant painted by Yvonne Holton

The 1st April 2026 marks the 600th anniversary of the first mention yet-discovered of Unicorn Pursuivant.  It occurs in a charter held by the University of Aberdeen:

There is a damaged 1439 seal of Queen Joan Beaufort, widow of James I and Regent for her son, James II, showing the Queen's arms impaled with those of the King of Scots and supported, at least on the dexter, by what appears to be a unicorn. Why this should be so is not entirely clear as the Beauforts did not use the unicorn as a badge, only quills, portcullis and yale.

 It is was not until 1484 that the unicorn appears supporting the royal arms. The adoption of the unicorn emblem as a Stewart royal emblem (which then becomes associated with a ‘national’ emblem centuries later) becomes cemented in the reigns of James III and James IV, the latter also introducing the thistle.

The current Unicorn Pursuivant, Roderick Macpherson,

at National Unicorn Day at Stirling Caste.

Royal Unicorn of Scotland painted by the late Mark Dennis

200 years ago...

 From the Register 200 years ago today: the arms of Arthur Nicolson of Lochend, Zetland. "Or three falcons' heads erased Gules armed Argent."

Faslane

 The article in the News at the weekend about the attempted entry of the nuclear submarine base at Faslane https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80mej47xz0o reminded me of my late friend, Father Florian OSB, a member of the Bavarian Benedictine Abbey but stationed as a missionary in Kenya. 

His obituary can be found HERE.

He told me that as a student he and a friend had gone on a cycling tour of Scotland. On a Sunday morning, he found himself outside Rhu and enquired of a local as to where they might find Mass. They were informed that a priest said Mass every Sunday at the Submarine Base at Faslane. Off they rode to the base and were duly admitted.

I told this story to the current Commander of the base who nearly had a fit!

World Meteorological Day

For over 70 years, March 23rd has been designated World Meteorological Day. Here are the arms of His Majesty's Astronomer Royal for Scotland, a post created in 1834 and granted arms in 1996.

Bleu celeste, on a pale Or voided Sable between two James Short reflecting telescopes, that on the dexter in bend sinister and that on the sinister in bend, both mounted upon tripods Or, eight mullets Argent (representing the constellation Orion) and on a chief Azure with a fillet in base Or a saltire Argent and in the centre point an open crown Or.

You may be interested in some more information as to James Short and his reflecting telescopes: https://www.whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk/.../shorts-telescope 

The arms are unusual in some respects - the fillet or thin fess only occurs in a few arms in the Register while the specification of two shades of blue is unique, clearly as the Scottish saltire needs a dark blue and the sky has to be celeste. 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day! To mark the occasion, here are two related coats of arms from the Register.

The former St Patrick's High School, Coatbridge, granted in 1960:

and The Hibernian Football Club, granted in 2001:

And now a little film from the doomed St Patrick's Church, Anderston:

International Genealogy Day

For International Genealogy Day here are some images from the archive of birthbrieves, reference material and genealogies held in the Lyon Office. The images here show a sample of the assets we hold, maintain and make available for third party researchers to access, research not being a service offered by the Lyon Court staff. In our MS safes, there are 170+ manuscripts, the first 17 of which are indexed online at archive.org (a search for “genealogies in the Lyon Office”), many predating the inauguration of the Public Record of all Arms and Bearings in 1672. Our plan chests hold over 350 large genealogies, many of which are handwritten on parchment. 

                                       

International Bagpipe Day

 Today is International Bagpipe Day. Here are two splendid heraldic representations of that wonderful instrument.

Maclennan of Maclennan

Rhoderick MacLeod Prior.

More from Mark Dennis...

 Another bijou from the Master - Mark Dennis's disrespectful caricature of George Way of Plean as Falkland Pursuivant. 

 

Another superb work by Mark Dennis.

  When The Queen was approaching the point when she would overtake Queen Victoria as our longest serving monarch, Very Rev Sir Iain Torrance, then Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, approached Mark and asked if he could possibly devise a card celebrating the event which he could send HM from the Chaplains to The Queen in Scotland.  

They agreed on a cartoon-style foot race, with The Queen overtaking Queen Victoria but with the road continuing a long way into the future.  

This is what Mark produced and The Queen was amused by his surprise caricature of Sir Iain holding the finishing tape.

Memorial Service for Mark Dennis

  The Lord Lyon, representing HM The King, attended the Memorial Service this morning in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews, for the eminent artist and umquhile Ross Herald Extraordinary, Mark Dennis. The Lord Lyon gave the eulogy and the Officers of Arms attended in levée dress.

Mark's funeral hatchment was magnificently painted by Kevin Greig and Stanley Bird. The hatchment was borne in towards the end of the service preceded by the Officers of Arms while the organist played "The Herald's March" with which the Army Band often accompanies the procession of Officers of Arms from the Signet Library to the Mercat Cross for proclamations.

Video by Liam Hackett

In his Eulogy, Lyon referred to the stir Mark's attire caused when he was a guest at the Coronation.