Jonathan Webster wrote:Well, I've been doing a spot of investigating as regards the various Acts, Laws, Decrees, etc. with which the various National arms of the various sovereign nations have been adopted, and they make for interesting reading. What has struck me most in actual fact are the provisions in a lot of them. For example, in both Singapore and Zambia it's against the law for private individuals to use the arms or anything that could be mistaken or is very similar to the National Arms, (and in Zambia it's even an offence to insult the National Arms!) So, an heraldic law of sorts, even if specific and not extensive like in England or South Africa for example.
My question is, does anyone know of any similar provisions around the world one either a national, provincial, or municipal level?
Title 18, United States Code, section 713, provides in part:
"(a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States [the obverse of which consists of the arms of the United States], or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
"(b) Whoever, except as authorized under regulations promulgated by the President and published in the Federal Register, knowingly manufactures, reproduces, sells, or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seals of the President or Vice President [which consist of a specific emblazonment of the arms of the U.S.], or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both."
Note that the Presidential and Vice Presidential versions of the arms are more stringently protected than the national arms. I would observe that in both cases, it is only the emblazonment "or any facsimile thereof" that is protected by this statute. Separate statutes permit the Patent and Trademark Office to refuse registration to any proposed trademark that includes the U.S., state, or foreign arms. I believe all the states have similar laws governing state trademark registration.
None of this, however, precludes private display of the arms of the United States in some other style of emblazonment. In fact, the arms had become a popular decorative motif on all kinds of personal objects in the U.S. within a few years of their adoption in 1782--merchant ship sternboards, porcelain dishes, earthenware jugs, tavern signs, furniture inlays, quilts, sailors' tattoos, weathervanes, and on and on.