The Scottish
Genealogy Society
Coat
of Arms
The
Society was granted ensigns armorial (a coat of arms) on
12th July 1978. The text of the grant runs as follows:
To
All and Sundry Whom These Presents do or may Concern
We
Sir James Monteith Grant, Knight Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order, Writer to Her Majesty's
Signet, Lord Lyon King of Arms, send Greeting:
Whereas, Donald Whyte, Chairman, and Joan Primrose
Scott Ferguson, Honorary Secretary of the SCOTTISH
GENEALOGY SOCIETY, 9 Union Street, Edinburgh, having
by Petition unto us of date 3rd February 1978, for
and on behalf of the said Society, Shewn; THAT the
said Society, which was founded at Edinburgh of date
30th May, 1953 by a group of historians and
genealogists as a non-profit-making academic and
consultative body, was constituted to undertake the
collection, exchange and publication of information
and material of genealogical value, and to promote
the study of Scottish family history by means of
meetings and lectures; THAT the said Society, which
this year celebrates its 25th Anniversary, has
steadily increased in size and importance, having
over one thousand members in various countries of the
world, throughout which they regularly publish
material of genealogical and heraldic interest; AND
the Petitioners having prayed that there might be
granted as for the said Scottish Genealogy Society
such Ensigns Armorial as might be found suitable
according to the Laws of Arms, KNOW YE THEREFORE that
We have Devised, and Do by These Presents Assign,
Ratify and Confirm unto the Petitioners, for and on
behalf of the Scottish Genealogy Society, the
following Ensigns Armorial, as depicted on the margin
hereof and matriculated of even date with These
Presents upon the 108th page of the 59th Volume of
Our Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in
Scotland, videlicet:- Azure,
on a saltire Argent between in chief a lion's head
erased Or, langued Gules, in base an oak tree fructed
Or, and in each flank a septfoil Argent, a
patriarchal cross Gules, and in an Escrol below the
same this Motto "FOR FAMILY AND NATION," by
demonstration of which Ensigns Armorial the said
Society is, amongst all Nobles and in all Places of
Honour, to be taken, numbered, accounted and received
as an Incorporation Noble in the Noblesse of
Scotland; IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF We have Subscribed
These Presents and the Seal of Our Office is affixed
hereto at Edinburgh this 12th day of July in the 27th
Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth the
Second, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her Other
Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the
Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and in the Year
of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and
Seventy-Eight.
J.
Monteith Grant
Lyon
Donald
Whyte, then Chairman of the Society, writing in the
December 1978 issue of The Scottish Genealogist
(page 141) explained the meaning of the charges:
'The
saltire and the lion's head indicate that we are a
national body in our chosen subject; the septfoils -
seven leaves conjoined - symbolise the unity of the
family and of the nation; the fructed oak tree
represents the fruitfulness of such a union; and the
cross with which the saltire is charged shows we live
in a patriarchal society. I hope members will be
proud of our motto; FOR FAMILY AND NATION, and
continue to value the concept of the family within
the structure of a patriarchal society.'
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