It's always an honour to attend this particularly vexillological ceremonial event, and it was a joy to be joined by our new officer of arms - Kintyre - for her first duty

This may be what inspired the Doctor (and other similar Time Lords) to explore the universe in person and gave them access to an antiquated TARDIS; presumably an ideal vehicle for such original Time Lord heralds that had become a symbol of office

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In the real world early heralds were envoys and often tasked with gathering news and information. Perhaps heralds also did this in early Time Lord society only for the non-interference policy to see them transition to a long distance observation and ceremonial role

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Being a Herald would give the Doctor the historical and ceremonial knowledge he displays of both Gallifrey (as evident in the Deadly Assassin) and the wider universe. As the Time Lords are such a technocratic society, he likely needed a Scientific grounding as well

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In the way our heraldic titles were named for territory and nobles, Time Lord heralds could be named for academic and noble positions (Doctor, Master, Monk, Rani, Corsair). Real life office titles are as important as a real name and can even have passports issued in their name.

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BONUS NERDY DR WHO & HERALDRY THEORY TIME!

As a further heraldic take on Doctor Who here is my theory that the name of 'Doctor' may be the Time Lord equivalent of a heraldic office title.

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Here I've displayed it on an opening scene from the Capaldi era titles; the cogs working rather nicely with the chains. Incidentally this title sequence was inspired by a fan proposal that incorporated the Seal of Rassilon similar to how I've placed my artwork here

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Thank you for the kind words. That sounds like an interesting topic for a conversation over a beer one day, unless I somehow become miraculously independently wealthy beforehand!

Many thanks to the friends who have supported me over this last year, and especially to my family as we've overcome the various storms that have blown our way. I hope to be able to repay you now with the brighter horizons that you deserve so much.

For an artist mark I wanted to recall my own arms & banner, as well as referencing my passion for adapting heraldry in novel ways. As such I have used a monshō inspired version of my own two chains in a spiral; here being two intertwined futatsu-domoe made of 'shima' chains.

In this piece I use a Hungarian Sabre in the shield & a pheon finial in the crest as additional ways to incorporate the individual's heritage, as I am always keen to do. It also features my first barred helm & the patron sourced an image of folk patterns on which to display it.

Homemade by a local clanswoman to a wonderfully high standard - even featuring re-attachable plant badges to maximise repairability - I am delighted to see my artwork realised with such pride and craft.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇦🇺

Last weekend during the Canberra Highland Gathering this first Pinsel (for at least 575 years) of a Chief of MacEwen was flown at a special ceremony appointing the Chief’s High Commissioner for Oceania

The background is in a shade utilised by Japanese sky blue 'sorario' flags, like Shiga Prefecture (which happens to correspond closely to Air Force Blue).

Here two monshō styled 'kumo' clouds are shaped into the form of an intertwined 'futatsu-domoe' swirls. This of course sees them cross in a broadly X shape in the centre.

The legend of the Saltire's origin is of course as two crossed clouds in the sky. Here I have attempted to depict that as 'two swirls of cloud crossing each other'.

General precedence protocol would have a sovereign nation's flag on the leftmost - more senior pole - above a non sovereign territory. However, in this sporting context the two entities are competing as equals; so Europe has been given precedence here as the location of the flag display.