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from Burke's Armory Arms Gules, a fesse between three boars heads couped erminois or. Crest A boar's head couped or, pierced by a cross patee, fitchee erect, sable. Motto Prodesse Civibus Explanation of Terms and Colors The boar in heraldry symbolizes hospitality, or that "one deserves well for his hospitality." A fesse is the military belt of a knight. A
cross patee is the emblem of the Knights of St. John. Fitchee means sharpened at the lower end. It is the kind of cross carried by Crusaders, and was set upright in the ground when a halt was made for prayer. This may mean a Crusader in the family. Couped means cut off straight. Erminois means ermine spots. Regarding the correct heraldic colors, gules is red, or is gold, sable is black.The Crest (boar's head with cross) rests on a bar, which is always of six strands, with the coloring the two principal colors of the shield, in this case gold (or) and red (gules). This Coat of Arms would seem to indicate that the one to whom the grant of arms was made was a Crusader, or of Crusader ancestry and he probably belonged to the order of the Knights of St. John. He must have been distinguished for his hospitality (the boar being the symbol) and that he was
mindful of his obligations to humanity is shown by the motto he chose. |