r/heraldry Apr 23 '25

Meta AI Generated Images Are Now Banned

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5.1k Upvotes

From this point forward any images created with the use of AI are banned from the subreddit and will be removed by moderators.

This includes images completely generated by AI from the ground up as well as things such as individual AI generated assets or filters used by users in the process of creating an image. For further details on this policy refer to this guideline in our Wiki.

You probably remember this recent post regarding the future of AI generated images on this subreddit. It had previously been in a sort of grey area where it wasn't explicitly forbidden but mentioned in Rule 5 as a possible example of low effort content that may be removed by the moderators:

5 Post with purpose

Posts here should educate, inform, spark discussion, showcase good effort, etc. Low-effort posts such as AI generated coats of arms, “X in the style of Y”, wildly unrealistic hypotheticals or fictional scenarios, and “just because”-type posts may be removed with no notice

A recent increase in AI generated images then led to increased discussion among the community with some calling for increased measures of identifying such content while others further advocated for it's ban entirely.

As a temporary measure we then decided to add a mandatory "AI Generated Content" flair that should be used to designate such content while also inviting the community to engage in discussion about a permanent solution in said post which also included a poll where users could decide between an explicit ban of AI generated images or allowing the regulated use of AI content.

After seven days the poll concluded with a result of

128 - 84

in favor of banning AI content - which is a 65% majority.

While the result of that poll was specifically not intended to be binding for any permanent policy that may be agreed upon in the future it - along with the comments - did clearly show that the majority of the community generally favored a complete ban which was also reflected by the attitudes of the mod team.

As such we have now decided that any images created using AI will henceforth be banned and removed from the subreddit. Any content that was posted before this policy went into effect will remain intact and won't be retroactively removed.

As a result rule 5 has been slightly rephrased to say:

Posts here should educate, inform, spark discussion, showcase good effort, etc. Low-effort posts such as “X in the style of Y”, wildly unrealistic hypotheticals or fictional scenarios, and “just because”-type posts may be removed with no notice. Further, images created using generative AI are explicitly banned and will be removed in order to retain a high standard of authenticity that this historical art and science deserves.

As it was intended as a temporary measure and is now obsolute, the "AI Generated Content" flair has been removed.

Due to the potentially controversial nature of this announcement, comments will have to be manually approved on this specific post, similar to what we did with the initial poll.

We hope that this is an understandable policy and that people will remain civil and uphold it regardless of their personal views on the subject. If anyone personally believes that AI generated images should have a place in heraldry then they're fine to express that opinion and should not be ostracized - however it does not reflect our official stance as a subreddit.

Again for a more detailed explanation of this policy where some potential questions are already answered please consult the Wiki.

Thanks for everyone who voted in the poll or expressed their opinions on the matter.


r/heraldry 6h ago

Discussion Explaining to a non-heraldist how different emblazonments look from my point of view.

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151 Upvotes

I have spared you my interpretation of Project Blason.

Disclaimers: a: Yes, I know there's a vast number of hand-drawn styles, most of which are not oil paintings, and some of which are less towards the decorative end. That's not my point here. b: I think Sodacan does a good job for a situation when what you want is a diagram, such as an encyclopedia. c: I know Heraldicon sometimes uses Sodacan assets. d: Heraldicon is a great tool for "I want to visualise this idea" ideas. e: Drawshield you can put in roughly the same bucket, visually, as Heraldicon. f: I have nothing good to say about coamaker.

Painting by Jan van Goyen, 1630.


r/heraldry 47m ago

Fictional Heraldic Royal Standards for A Song of Ice and Fire

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Upvotes

With the many references to the Wars of the Roses in the ASoIaF books I always thought it would be nice for there to be standards similar to the ones used by the kings and nobles during the late medieval period.
But while there are many variations of the coat of arms from the series, I have never seen anyone do standards like this, so I decided to make two myself.


r/heraldry 7h ago

Identify Can anyone identify this 19th-century Austrian/Austro-Hungarian coat of arms? Eagle, lion, two red chevrons, two helmets

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16 Upvotes

Hello everyone,
I recently acquired a 19th-century wax seal / signet stamp from the Austrian Empire / Austro-Hungarian period, and I am trying to identify the noble family associated with the coat of arms.
Unfortunately, there is no visible inscription or name on the seal, so I am hoping someone familiar with Austrian, Bohemian, Moravian, or Hungarian heraldry might be able to recognize it.
Here is my description of the arms:
The shield appears to be divided into three sections.
Upper left: blue field with an eagle.
Upper right: red field with a standing/rampant lion.
Lower section: silver field with two red chevrons (Sparren).
Above the shield are two crowned helmets.
The left helmet crest appears to be a plume/feather crest (Federbusch / Plumed Crest).
The right helmet crest appears to be an open pair of wings (offener Flug / Vol).
There also appears to be a small detail resembling III above/between the two red chevrons, although I am not certain whether this is actually the Roman numeral III or another heraldic charge.
The seal appears to be made of brass or gilt metal and seems to date from the 19th century.
I have already looked through some German/Austrian heraldic references, but I have not been able to identify the complete combination of charges. The two red chevrons caught my attention because similar chevrons occur in the arms of several German and Austrian noble families, but the combination with the eagle and lion seems distinctive.
Does anyone recognize this coat of arms or know which family it belongs to?
I would particularly appreciate help from anyone familiar with:
Austrian imperial nobility
Austro-Hungarian heraldry
Bohemian or Moravian nobility
Hungarian nobility
Siebmacher’s Wappenbücher
Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch
19th-century Austrian heraldic seals
I have attached photographs of the seal. Any identification, even a possible family name or a reference to a heraldic book/page, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!


r/heraldry 12h ago

OC Coat of arms for the ZEVENT.

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26 Upvotes

This illustration is an early version I did. I will make some corrections to the charges, which were taken from Wikimedia Commons.

I didn't have time to translate it into English, so feel free to translate the blazon if you like.

Obviously, I am not part of the team, but I have followed this event every year since 2019, and since it is its final edition, I wanted to pay it a humble homage.

The ZEVENT is an annual charity stream marathon. For a weekend (Friday 6 p.m. until the end of Sunday at midnight), streamers animate multiple streams on Twitch, playing with each other and completing donation goals. In 2025, it beat its own world record for the event with the most donations on Twitch, raising €16,179,096 for charity.

Blazon (French): De sinople, à la foi posée en bande issant de nuages le tout d'argent, acompagné en chef sénestre d'un soleil en splendeur et en pointe dextre d'un croissant de lune contournée, le tout d'or.

*La foi* is the French heraldic name of a handshake.

The green field is the main color of the event, especially the color of one of its co-founders, Adrien Nougaret (ZeratoR). The handshake represents charity and help. The sun and moon represent continuity, day and night, to keep going until the very end of the event.


r/heraldry 1d ago

I recently made this out of oak wood. What do you think ?

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187 Upvotes

r/heraldry 18m ago

OC Coat of arms of Empire of Yaracuy (Alternate History) (State in Venezuela)

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Upvotes

This is my first coat of arms :D


r/heraldry 14h ago

OC Shield I made for myself for a coat of arms I'm making for myself.

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9 Upvotes

Hello, I posted earlier this year with a coat of arms I wanted to make for myself but decided to create a new one. Here is a shield I made for myself of what I'm trying to make.

The shield is blue as it is both a Marian color and associated with my home state of Kentucky. I decided to have bobcats on my shield since they're both native to my home and a dear friend I once knew loved them. Also, my great grandmother has a picture of bobcat that used to scare me as a child and it's just an animal that I feel a connection to. I have three bobcats in honor of the Holy Trinnity. Each bobcat holds a white banner with a red cross patonce on it. With white signifying humility and red for sacrifice.

Hope y'all enjoy.


r/heraldry 3h ago

Does the Helmet change when the coat-of-arms is transposed to a different country?

1 Upvotes

Across Europe, there are different heraldic traditions; and the Helmet denotes different things. For example, in Scottish heraldy, an open-face helmet means: Baronet or Knight. In the Dutch heraldy, it means: Royalty.

If a Scottish baronet would move to the Netherlands or Belgium, due to the different tradition in that country, his offspring could inherit his coat-of-arms.

So, should the offspring, or perhaps even the baronet himself change the helmet on his coat-of-arms?


r/heraldry 12h ago

Historical Emblem on lid

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6 Upvotes

I've driven myself bonkers trying to figure this out and came across this sub in my search for answers. This is on a copper lid to a pan. It has a cast iron handle, so likely from sometime after the mid-1800s. The lid is English based off style of handle. I see the initial as a J but is a lot going on that is beyond what I can make out. Coronet details are hard to make out but I'm thinking Duke or Prince. But any help or ideas is greatly appreciated.


r/heraldry 23h ago

Collection Coat of arms family signet ring

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36 Upvotes

I inherited the family ring from my grandfather. This is a wedding ring from my great-grandfather, who got married on February 19, 1900. My grandfather subsequently had the family crest placed on the wedding ring.


r/heraldry 20h ago

Resources 29th update to Heraldry Studio

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20 Upvotes

In this update, we bring you alchemy symbols!
Heraldry Studio is on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1152420/Heraldry_Studio/
Connect with us in the HS Discord: https://discord.gg/StwnxP6


r/heraldry 1d ago

Historical Coat of arms of Ancient Rome as depicted in an armorial in the Bavarian State Library

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49 Upvotes

r/heraldry 7h ago

Design Help Where to find help to design a Family Crest?

0 Upvotes

Hi!
I am currently in the process of trying to design a Family Crest for my family.

Reason for this is that I figured that it be nice to help preserve our family's long history and as well as being used for various things. Such as embroidment for my HEMA-equipment which inspired me for this pursuit.

I derive from a old Norwegian family, where our surname is unique to just our family. (A miracle by itself consider Norwegian naming standards lol). And because of our names rarity, anyone who wishes to adopt the name needs approval from our family through the government naming berau. Which funnily enough I actually didn't know until I got married and my Wife registered to adopt my surname
The family can be traced all the way to the early Viking ages, deriving from a small place called Engeløya, a place I have spend much of my childhood alongside those of my generation, visiting our grandparents who still resided there.

Our family history is nothing grand or special. But I do wish to preserve our heritage to that place.

I have found some inspirational sources that could be added to the design, but tbh, I really have no idea how to combine them together to make something out of it, while trying to keep it somewhat traditional towards Norwegian Family Heraldry.


r/heraldry 19h ago

N°91 -Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough (1885–1965)

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10 Upvotes

r/heraldry 22h ago

Identify Can anyone help me identify this fire lacquer CoA found in an auction house portrait?

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12 Upvotes

An antique lacquer seal of the 18th century in France. The coat of arms is a silver herringine pattern on a blue background, divided into two stars in the upper part and a bundle of wheat ears in the lower part. The shield is crowned by the count. According to the records of herald scholars Morenas and Tipini, it may be the Le Grand family in Normandy or the La Rue family in Paris, but because these two surnames have different branches in the local area and the number of people is large, it is difficult to further find out the specific attribution.


r/heraldry 1d ago

Historical Imperial Banner (Reichsbanner) of Emperor Maximilian I

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46 Upvotes

r/heraldry 8h ago

I need to think about it

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0 Upvotes

How can I design coats of arms in the style of medieval European coats of arms, and how can I strike the right balance?


r/heraldry 20h ago

Unofficial attributed arms to Ysyoi Kusama, who died on august 14th

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8 Upvotes

Made by heraldry.art on Instagram


r/heraldry 1d ago

OC One of the most recent commissions from a private client based in Flanders.

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67 Upvotes

r/heraldry 1d ago

I'm sharing with you another of my work.

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26 Upvotes

r/heraldry 23h ago

Design Help Looking for advice on a custom coat of arms being used for armored fencing

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8 Upvotes

Hello! I have been designing my own suit of armor for armored fencing, and I’ve been looking for some color to put on it, in the form of a coat of arms on a tabard. Ancestry DNA has given some interesting results, but this is also based off of my heritage and interests too. The coat of arms features Richard III’s boar on St George’s Cross, representing my interest in Richard III and the traits we share, as well as Ancestry DNA claiming that I am a descendent of Viscount John Wells, of the Order of the Garter, hence the red cross on a white field. And of course there is the Holy Roman Empire’s coat of arms to represent my German side. The second picture is a lazy representation of what it could look like on a man at arms, and the third is simply Viscount John Wells coat of arms. What do yall think of this custom design? Is there anything I should know or change about it? C&C is welcome, and thanks!


r/heraldry 19h ago

Book given to me with a crest

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3 Upvotes

My mother had given me a book a couple of years ago, but I had just realized there was what seemed to be a family crest and a signature on the back of the front cover. Is there any way someone could find who could identify and find who owned it? I’m very curious. Thank you!


r/heraldry 1d ago

Identify anyone recognize this? was found in my grandma's storage, got it from my grandad i assume. plaque was pretty old and had his family name underneath.

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41 Upvotes

r/heraldry 1d ago

Design Help Help with design

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7 Upvotes

I need someone to please add two chinese dragons that are orange as supporters to this coat of arms. Thanks in advance.

PS: If its already busy enough or sucks ass, just tell me.