This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will continue our excursion into the wondrous world of heraldry that we started back in December. We will of course again focus on the obscure and silly but will give the Dutch a break this time (and thank them for their previous contributions to this series).
Part II: Canada
The beaver is a proud and noble animal - As a country that chose to put a piece of foliage on its flag and selected the beaver* to be its national animal, you would not expect Canada to be the home of much exciting heraldry. However, you would be mistaken and also missing out on an eclectic variety of mythical creatures populating arms all across the country. This is mostly due to the superb work being done by the Canadian Heraldic Authority and a law passed in 1988 that "took back control" from the United Kingdom. You see, before 1988, any Canadian wanting a coat of arms had to apply to the ancient College of Arms in London which appears to be a rather conservative institution (even by British standards). However, in 1988, a law was passed that transferred all heraldry control to Ottawa and since then any Canadian (as well as any Canadian institution) who desires a coat of arms may receive one. And desire they did:
The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants selected two polar bears with red wings (symbolizing both mobility and the fierce protection of professional standards):
The Federal Court of Canada decided to mix it up even more by seemingly stuffing half of Canada's fauna into those two unfortunate creatures (officially called the "winged sea caribou"):
The Canadian Heraldic Society opted for a pair of fearsome bird people:
And the National History Society went for a triptych of 2 beavers and a bear (where the bear, for unexplained reasons, looks like the least intimidating)**:
I hope today's edition may have inspired some of our readers to apply for their very own family coat of arms. If so, you can find all the details here: Apply for Coat of Arms
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*Interestingly, Canada also chose the (Canadian) horse as national animal in 2002 in an act of parliament (Link)
**Readers more familiar with ecclesiastical art will have probably noticed that this is not a triptych. They would of course be right (and also pedantic for mentioning it).
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