The way I came up with the design goes a few months back. I was listening to the Dave Rubin show while cleaning my flat. The guest on it was Douglas Murray. They were discussing the concept of Europeaness and what ideas make someone a European. The politics here is irrelevant. The conversation shifted over to what makes the Anglo-Saxon world unique. Douglas Murray argued that in order to have our modern Western Civilization, (starting with Europe) we need 3 ingredients:

• Greek and Roman Values

• Western Christianity

• The Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution

Greek and Roman values provide the foundation for concepts like Democracy, Republic, a Structured Society, Classical Education and the Role of a Standard Military as a Peace keeping Force (Military Honour). Western Christianity provides moral structures and philosophical stories that are as old as human consciousness such as the importance of the Logos, the individual self. It highlights the importance of individuality and individual choice. It is a cultural anchor that provides a fabric for society. The Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution is the final pillar, it provides the economic ideas of the State and Capitalism. It sets up the minutia of due process, individual rights and a human centric society. Let us not ignore the main idea of it: The Science Method. The Scientific Method establishes the idea of looking at the world through rational means of observation, hypothesis, experimentation and mathematical translation. Establishing a factual world, but keeping our childlike fascination with everything great and small. Feeding the need to explore and understand. It provides us with great tools (Engineering, Geology, Medicine etc.) to not just merely survive but build a civilization out of chaos. However with great power, comes great arrogance. Therefore you still need religious humility in the background to make sure that we do not become too overconfident and fall flat on our faces. However science is there to herd away religious dogma, reminding us that a single book will never explain the universe. We need to keep on improving and exploring. It is funny how the two ideas need each other to make a society function well. Like Ying and Yang.

I found these ideas fascinating, as before I considered these 3 ideologies quite separate. The Romans absolutely opposed Christianity for a large swath of their existence. Christianity was rife with the Inquisition in the later part of the Middle Ages. And even today scientists have a disdain towards religion. Yet the more I thought about it, the Western World and by extension Great Britain came out of these ideologies. These things that shouldn’t be compatible in the first place, yet they came together to create a functional civilization. A civilization that managed to be quite prosperous.

My coat of arms sketch was based on the ideas above. It is made up of elements that created the United Kingdom, the ideas that once combined, created Great Britain. Originally it started out as a sketch for the coat of arms of a character from a Midsomer Murders story I was proposing to iTV, to film in Angus County, Scotland. (Hopefully I can get them to do that in the future). However it branched into the sketch above, representing the idea of the United Kingdom. (Made up of Roman-Greek Values, Western Christianity and The Enlightenment with the Scientific Revolution)

The whole drawing is above the Latin phrase: “Veritas vos Liberabit” which translates to: “The Truth Shall set you Free.” which is an important idea as a society based on lies and falsehoods would crumble into dust fairly quickly. It is also a handy advice to the individual as lies and deceit will only lead to ruin and moral rot. When people lie, they think they are being clever. Yet they don’t understand that the world is much larger and complicated than they are. Eventually their house of cards will tumble, no matter how many lies they keep stacking under the pile.

On the ‘ground’ the Union Jack lies. This is a bit tongue and cheek as one of the greatest dishonours you can do to a flag is to throw it on the ground. (When the UK is working, her citizens are not prideful, but self-deprecating as it allows them to see their faults and moral failings. This enables the fixing of said faults) Yet it is respectful at same time as the entire structure of my drawing lays on the solid ground of the Union Jack. It unifies everything under it.

The Centurion Helmet represents the Roman-Greek Values and alludes to Britain’s Roman past. After all the Capital city of today was founded by the Roman Army.

The Black Crow represents The Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. The Corvids are the smartest birds on Earth and they are one of the most common birds in the UK. A crow plays a crucial role in Noah’s Story where in the Great Flood it is the first thing to bring hopes of dry land. (The Great Flood is a metaphor for human corruption breaking down the dams and destroying everything rather than a literary story). For a while a crow was used to represent the scientific revolution due to its observed intelligence. However the crow is also the bird of doom in some cultures, as science can be as much the Grim Reaper as the Bright Candle shining in the darkness. On a side note: The Crow is also one the animals representing the Royal Family, so it all ties together well.

The Rosemary Cross in the beak of the crow represents Western Christianity, but in a humble manner as it is nothing more than a wooden cross. There are no gold furnishings or silk.

Finally the crow in his beak holds the 4 flags of the counties of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. No flag is above the other, they are all equal members.

The whole emblem represents unlikely yet still existing unity that all should aspire to (while keeping their hard earned individualism). For the next emblem I would like to do something with a lobster. I picked up this idea from the lectures of Dr Jordan Peterson. How the humble species of crabs have social behaviour that can be observed in Homo Sapien society. Extremely fascinating. I would have the Lobster with one of its claws hold the Bell of the Abbot of Aberbrothock while the other one holds a Scottish Thistle. Anyway… that would be after the December exams.