The International Association of Amateur Heralds

Maybe something Celtic or Gaelic?

I have tried several different type faces, however, none of them have been to my liking... If anyone can steer me to specific font names that they think may work best, I would appreciate it!!

Thank You All!!

Here is an attempt with a different type face:

Thoughts?

Cheers!

Is "Familia Ens Noster Vires" meant to be Latin?

That is what my colleague the Latin Professor told me it would be equated to...

Is "Familia Ens Noster Vires" meant to be Latin?

My Latin is very rusty, but I have an uneasy feeling that this is not ideal and may be plain wrong.

Vis/viris means bodily strength (a weightlifter has "vis"). Virtus/virtutis means strength of character, virtue, excellence.

Ens/entis is a being, something having existence (an obscure philosophical concept of St Thomas Aquinas). I am not sure where your Latin scholar was going with that, perhaps "the entity of our family"? It seems clumsy to me.

I would guess that Familia Virtus Noster is nearer to your intention. But don't take my word for it! Apparently the problem that some Latin scholars have is their inability to capture a succinct English phrase into an equally succinct Latin motto. I am hoping that we have a Latin expert equal to the one on the Nordic Heraldic Forum of which I am a member. If the worst comes to the worst I shall try to contact him.

"Family is our Strength" is a perfectly good motto without trying to make it Latin.

Kathy McClurg wrote:"Family is our Strength" is a perfectly good motto without trying to make it Latin.

Good point. Having to explain the Latin every time someone asks can get tedious!

"The Lord is our strength" = "Dominus fortitudo nostra".

Perhaps "Familia fortitudo nostra"? (Though how to fit 'fortitudo' onto the standard without splitting it over the two bends is another matter).

But why not leave the motto in English, as Kathy and Chris have suggested?

Arthur Radburn wrote:Perhaps "Familia fortitudo nostra"? (Though how to fit 'fortitudo' onto the standard without splitting it over the two bends is another matter).

I have seen examples of standards with the motto placed on three bends rather than two (though I can't recall the armigers at this time), either due to overall length of the motto or due to the length of a word in the middle of the motto. However, I like the idea of keeping the motto in English. (I translated mine into Latin to pay homage to my wife's Canadian heritage, where Latin is often used [see the Canada Victoria Cross] due to English and French as official languages.)