Although coats of arms originated in Europe and customarily follow European forms, there has been some movement toward adapting the emblems of indigenous people to heraldry.
My father, Ridge Durand (1933-2002) was a Lakota pejuta wikasa (”medicine man”) and a member of the Spotted Eagle Medicine Men’s Society. He was a hunkpa (”blood brother”) of Pete Catches (Petaga Yuha Mani) (1912-1993), chief Eagle medicine man of the Lakota. Uncle Pete has been credited with reviving the Sundance ceremony among the Lakota, and in 1964 was named Sundance Chief by the tribal council.
As a medicine man, he used a ceremonial shield. In heraldic terms, that shield might be blazoned as:
On a round shield Argent an American bald eagle close Proper upon on a branch from which depends four feathers Gules, Argent, Vert and Or, and in chief sinister four pairs of feathers each pair one Gules tipped Sable and one Or tipped Sable conjoined in chief at their quills by four hurts.
Acceptance of Indigenous Heraldry
Despite the fact that indigenous people use personal emblems on a shield, their proto-heraldry has not gained universal acceptance. Many traditionalists feel that the result is not heraldry. David Pittman Johnson of The American College of Heraldry was a proponent of this view. He explained his philosophy in the following way:
“Many traditionalists consider these to be regrettable prostitutions of the ancient heraldic standards and traditions. Official offices of Arms may at times employ design compositions which in no way reflect the thousand year old tradition in armory. Obviously, heraldry grows and modifies over the centuries, but many feel that to introduce designs which have no reference whatever to standard heraldry is not heraldry at all. If one can take a totally unrelated design and place it on a shield, or on some other device, that does not, in the mind of many, make it heraldry. One gentleman made the remark that if one dressed a coal miner in a pilot’s uniform, that does not make him a pilot.” [Dr. David P. Johnson, Private Communication, June 6, 2003]
In contrast, the heraldic authorities in both Canada and South Africa have encouraged the assimilation of indigenous traditions into heraldry.
The earliest record of the Hauri coat of arms is an illustration of them in the early 15th century Liber Vitae of the collegiate church of Beromünster, Canton Luzern, to memorialize an undetermined member of the Hauri family. The drawing at right was taken from the Liber Vitae. These arms would be blazoned as:
Azure a dove rising wings elevated and displayed Argent beaked and membered Gules; and for a crest, a dove as in the arms.
The Liber Vitae does not say which Hauri bore these arms, but it was probably either Johann Hauri, Bailiff (Vogt) of Beromünster from 1411, or his first cousin Jacob Hauri, a Canon of Beromünster who served as a judge of the court of lower jurisdiction at Ludigen in 1415. Johann’s descendants and the descendants of Jacob’s brothers used many variations of these arms, usually with the addition of a mill rind.
The arms are notable for being one of the few illustrations in the Liber Vitae to include a crest. In that period, a crest was an additional dignity, usually indicating that a family was of tournament rank. However, the arms have no torse or motto, perhaps a sign that the family was not of knightly rank.
Conrad Hauri, who might have been the ancestor of this family, was a Knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus in the early 1300s. He might have borne these arms. Conrad’s immediate descendants do not seem to have been noble, so the status of the family in the 14th and 15th centuries is uncertain. My own theory is that Conrad Hauri belonged to a noble family, probably one of the ministeriales, but was himself impoverished by the lavish lifestyle expected of the nobility; a common story. I think that Conrad took the only noble occupation open to him, membership in an hospitaller order. His descendants sank in status, to emerge a hundred years later as wealthy burghers and prosperous officials of the collegiate church of Beromünster. Thus, the Hauris circa 1415 were able to claim not only arms, but also a crest, when their peers were adopting simple arms without the crest.
Originally a Gamecock?
The bird in the Hauri arms is now understood to be a dove and as a dove it appears in the arms of succeeding generations, according to the Staatsarchiv des Kantons Aargau. However, one scholar has suggested that the bird was originally a gamecock hardi (that is, a rooster with comb and wattle cut off for cock fighting). If so, the arms were canting arms, that is, arms that were a picture of the surname. In the Alemannic dialect of Switzerland, the wordhauri means a person who is very loud or boisterous. According to this theory, the arms became corrupted through poor draftsmanship. It is easy to see from the drawing at the top of this page that the bird might be either a gamecock or a dove.
A modern drawing of the ancient Hauri arms. Many Howerys, Howrys and Howreys in America use some version of these arms.
Variations
The Hauris in what is now Cantons Aargau and Luzern used many variations of the original arms. The Staatsarchiv des Kantons Aargau has a record of half a dozen variations used by Hauris who served as Untervogts, judges and other local officials. The Staatsarchiv des Kantons Luzern has records of still more variations. The one common element is a white dove on a blue shield. Most variations also contain a mill rind or two. The mill rind symbolized the Hauri’s customary occupation of miller.
My Line
My ancestor Hans Hauri was Untervogt of Reinach. In 1605, he carved his version of the Hauri arms over the door of Schneggen, the new residence he built in 1586:
Arms of Bern
[Azure] a dove rising wings elevated and displayed upon a trimount [Vert] and in chief two mill rinds addorsed [Argent]; for a crest, a dove as in the arms; and for supporters, two bears passant [Proper].The bear supporters were a deft reminder that the Hauris owed their civic offices to the goodwill of the urban patriciat of the city of Bern, which derives its name from the German word for “bear” and consequently has a bear in its arms. Bern ruled the Aargau at that time.
Similar Arms
L’Hopital Coat of Arms
If the Hauri arms were originally a gamecock, then the Hauris used the same arms as the French de l’Hôpital family, who were descendants of the first royal family of Naples. The de l’Hôpitals later changed their blue shield to red, while an English branch of the family, the Lospitals, retained the blue shield. The coincidence would not be at all remarkable — many families used simple arms that were the same as other families in distant areas — except for the fact that the surname of the French family means “of the Hospital“. I make this point because there might have been some reason why a gamecock was emblematic of membership in a hospitaller order or of hospitals in general.
References
Stift Beromünster, Liber Vitae (early 15th century).
Peter Steiner, Die beiden Reinacher Schneggen (1987/88).
The Augustan Society, The Augustan Society Roll of Arms, 52-53 (Justin Durand, 5 March 1983).
American College of Heraldy, No. 1943 (Justin Howery, 29 February 2000).
In heraldic terms, a cattle brand is a badge. The Swanström brand, H Lazy S, was first registered in 1914 with the Wyoming State Livestock Commission by my grand uncle, Hugo Swanström, of Marbleton, Wyoming. He probably had registered the brand a decade earlier with officials in Sublette County. When he moved to California, he allowed the Wyoming registration to lapse. In 1942, the brand was re-registered with a slight variation by my grandparents, Harry and Vivian Swanström, of Farson, Wyoming. The brand now belongs jointly to my mother and me.
Symbolism
The Swanström brand originally probably represented the initials of my grand uncle, Hugo Swanström. When my grandparents re-registered the brand, they chose it because it could also stand for the initials of Harry Swanström, and, because the Lazy S looks like a V, for Harry and Vivian.
References
Wyoming State Livestock Commission, Wyoming Brand Book (1956, 2005).
