#pendragon crest

[messandahalf10]

It’s time for some more aesthetic journal photos

[witchmd13]

An analysis of the De Bois and the Pendragon’s family crests (and a few other interesting things):

So first, I’m gonna clear up some terms:

(I realize some of these might be common knowledge, but I’m not European, so most of these were totally new to me and since I’m making this post for everyone, I’m including the stuff I didn’t know in case anyone else didn’t as well. For obvious reasons, I’m going to focus on English crests). 

A crest is a part of the coat of arms for noble families, it’s the part that’s placed on the helm, the top part of the helmet (like in this picture I found on reddit. I have very little understanding of the rest of the stuff on it and since Merlin didn’t go into it, I didn’t bother doing detailed research on them).

The crest is generally used to tell people apart. We see Geoffrey use it to identify the Black Knight as Tristan De Bois because no other person used the same crest as him (more on that in a moment). It is usually used in tournaments to identify the knights participating, and in wars... etc. It’s passed down in families to the eldest son.

In wars, it makes more sense for people to wear the crest of their leader, which is why the knights of Camelot, for example, all from known noble families (at least in Uther’s time) wore the Pendragon crest.

Having a coat of arms is a Big Deal. It marks nobility, like we’ve seen in Lancelot’s episode, and is documented in official records to ensure no resemblance exists between it and any others. 

A sigil is a seal or a signature that carries the crest for people to use on letters and documents.

Heraldry is the science of the design and display of coat of arms and armory. It has rules to what can be and what can’t be put in a coat of arms and how to put it, from colors to animals to backgrounds. Everything has a meaning too and that’s what I’m going to be talking about here, even the position of an animal has its own rules as well. Words used in this science are mostly French, but I’m going to simplify it in English here because I can do whatever I want (akbvpajbvpai it’s a tumblr post, guys, not an article on heraldry. I’m gonna butcher a few things, sue me).

Now, for the Pendragon crest analysis: 

The red background is supposed to signify magnanimity, military strength, warrior and martyr.

The yellow in the dragon is meant to be gold in heraldry and that means wisdom, generosity, glory, constancy, and faith.

Now, here’s something interesting someone’s noticed, the dragon's front legs here are not showing, and a dragon with only two legs in heraldry is a wyvern. 

A Wyvern is “a creature of valor and protection, and, as most dragons in the past, also believed to have great eyesight... [It] is also a symbol of vengeance or may have been acquired through a family member's slaying of a dragon.” So even if it was a lapse on the show makers part, I think it’s perfect for Uther.

Whereas a dragon “is supposed to have a keen sight, which enables it to guard treasures well. It is also said to be the most valiant of creatures; therefore, the dragon is a symbol of a most valiant defender of treasure. Dragons were perceived as powerful [and] protective.” which I think is perfect for Arthur, if you substitute treasure with Camelot. 

The castle is shown to have so many crests distributed throughout hallways and especially Uther’s council chambers and throne room, which are supposed to be the crests of the families that are loyal to him and the ones whose sons are a part of the knights of Camelot. It’s meant to show off his power, meant to basically say “look how many noble families are on my side if you dare defy me”. 

The De Bois family crest:

The black background signifies wisdom, grief, constancy, and prudence.

The phoenix is white which is meant to be silver in heraldry. It signifies truth, sincerity, peace, innocence, and purity. 

The phoenix generally symbolizes resurrection, and is also a symbol of love (the sigil scene 😌 this is shameless merthur shipping at this point).

Some stuff I find interesting:

I still think it’s a dove on Ygraine’s sigil? Idk, according to the rules of heraldry, sigils and seals are supposed to carry family crests, so I’m going with that, it’s a phoenix until proven otherwise, I guess. Although, there are rules for women’s crests and they change based on the woman’s marital status. In general, married women usually incorporate their husbands crests into their own. 

As a rule, women don’t pass down their crests to their children (only in Canadian heraldry they do, I think). So that sigil was literally the last thing Arthur had that carried some kind of trace to Ygraine and the De Bois in general. 

Tristan De Bois is said to be the only person to still be using the crest. Based on my research, and correct me if I’m wrong, crests are inherited by the firstborn male in a noble family and so it makes sense that it would end with him. Other sons were to use a slightly modified version of the crest, which is what I think Agravaine must’ve did, even though we don’t get to see it since as a knight he wears the Pendragon crest.

The De Bois crest is still shown to be displayed in that hallway in the castle all throughout S4 and S5 after Agravaine’s death. So does that mean the De Bois family still exist somehow even with the death of its eldest son? Maybe Tristan had children before his death? Maybe Agravaine did and this was his version of the crest since it’s changed from the one we see on Tristan’s armor? Although I don’t think Arthur would display Agravaine’s crest after his betrayal, which brings me to my next point.

The way the crest is displayed in this hallway is interesting, because according to the rules of heraldry, this display is incorrect and it’s not the De Bois crest per say, but it’s a phoenix and it’s displayed in the same attitude (position) that it appears in on Tristan’s shield, so maybe the show took artistic liberties? Anyway, I like to think that it’s an incorporation of the Pendragon and the De Bois crests; the Phoenix with a head of gold over a red background; the resurrection of the phoenix with its golden glory, wisdom and faith, over the strength and martyrdom of the red. 

Gwaine and Leon definitely have a family crest of their own, so I would’ve been very interested in seeing even a glimpse of them.

**All Sources are in the replies :)

[sherlockruiningmylife]

Binge watched several episodes of seasons 2 and 3 while painting this.

(Click picture for better quality)

[slytherinsarentevil]

Merlin aesthetic

Another merlin moodboard because I'm trying to change my collage style :)

[theroundbartable]

day 26: texture @crimsonrose14 Lol, does this count?

[merlocked18]

Drawn for the Inktober 2019 prompt BUILD but kind of loved drawing the whole thing in pencil. Gawd I prefer pencil 🙃

Merlin builds a sand castle to ask Arthur something rather important.

[pendragonlord-at-camelot]

[pain-merthur-caused-me]

I GOT MY ART PROJECT BACK

Thought I should share I dunno

Not gonna lie some boxes actually looks like shit don’t think I deserved the 98%

(Some part got crush from being on the school wall sksksks)