Azul,
I'm not the Minister of Defense, but as the Captain of the Zouavs, I respectfully request that the Royal Talossan College of Arms create a badge or other achievement for the Royal Zouavs.
Respectfully submitted,
Txec dal Nordselva
Captain of the Zouavs
Acting on behalf of the Dean, this petition is accepted by the Royal College of Arms. I assign it to myself, and pray that you will assist in its development.
-NRH
The Zuavs have a specific historical legacy they're referencing, plus some goofy stuff from their past history in our country, plus the current incarnation's dramatic shift in orientation. It seems to me like it would be ideal to pay tribute to all three things. Do you concur, and/or did you have anything you think might be well-suited?
-NRH
Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on April 07, 2022, 05:27:09 PM
Acting on behalf of the Dean, this petition is accepted by the Royal College of Arms. I assign it to myself, and pray that you will assist in its development.
-NRH
I'd love to see something with a bedpost on it, as that is our official weapon.
The historical reference for the Zuavs are the French unit which was once drawn from the ranks of the Berbers in Africa, since that people was known for being impressively fierce in battle and their imperialist French rulers wanted to borrow some of that fierceness for their own ends. The French Zouaves were soon intermixed with European recruits, and the end result was one of the most effective French units. They got a big reputation, and so several other countries founded imitation zouave units (including the Papal State, Poland, and both sides of the American Civil War). The "traditional" outfit of these units was usually loosely based on Berber clothing, with red fez, blue coat, and big red pants. Eventually, almost all of these units were discontinued (with some scattered exceptions), and the most prominent zouaves out there were some recreational marchers, like these from Jackson, MI who appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcZeGu1ynbc
Bedposts are obviously the main goofiness of most of Zuav traditional jokery, so your idea about including them makes a lot of sense. So that's one element sorted. Hm...
-NRH
My two bents:
It sounds like gules and azure should be the main tinctures, and you could include a fez and bedpost couped, or couped-fitchy if you want it to look more broken off...
Again, just some ideas from a non-fellow.
I fooled around with a fez and a bedpost, but couldn't make them look decent. It ended up looking like a badly-emblazoned baseball team. So I went a different direction. I put a Gules in chief, but humetty to make it invoke the idea of a fez (without being pictorial) and putting the bedpost on there. And I put an Azure semy of doves everywhere else, to complete the color reference to the historical zouaves while also invoking the peaceful cultural army of the modern Zuavs. It respects the rule of tincture, and it's visually striking and unique.
Argent, semy of dove Azure beaked or and legged or, a chief humetty Gules, a bedpost Or.
(https://i.imgur.com/qTIdzJZ.png)
I did a (in my opinion) more boring one without the semy. But hey, who doesn't love a good semy?
Argent, a chief humetty Gules, a bedpost Or, a dove Azure.
(https://i.imgur.com/EoZ5jaH.png)
-NRH
Many military units utilize something with crossed cannons, sometimes as a charge, sometimes as supporters (as below). What if we were to do something along those lines, but with bedposts?
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/946207216275443735/961834711943114772/994134.jpg)
- TLF
Something like this would be awesome.
-REH
We have never granted supporters to an organization before, but crossed bedposts can certainly be a charge. I'll work up some new designs tonight.
-NRH
Haven't forgotten about this -- will do this tonight (for real though this time).
-NRH
Okay, so here's
Argent, a chief humetty Gules, two bedposts in saltire Azure.(https://i.imgur.com/feNjqSH.png)
-NRH
Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on April 14, 2022, 06:33:08 PM
Okay, so here's Argent, a chief humetty Gules, two bedposts in saltire Azure.
(https://i.imgur.com/feNjqSH.png)
-NRH
I feel like we might be able to make it a little more obvious that it's a bedpost as opposed to a baseball bat :P
Overall though, I quite like it. Simple, but in a good way.
Yes, I'll work up a better SVG of a bedpost in Inkscape if the applicant likes this approach, don't worry. This is a baseball bat, but it's just a placeholder.
-NRH
I've been thinking about this request, and I don't want it to get buried. I've mocked up a couple of designs, hopefully they give you some ideas.
I made the "bedposts" myself. They are simple but I think get the idea across until they are small and then they kind of look like drumsticks ;D
I really like the first one the best. Both are great but the first one really stands out!
-REH
Gratitude to the OAF for stepping in with some designs.
Do we want to just go with that first design from the OAF, then?
-NRH
That works for me.
-REH
I like it. Incorporating the fez was a good move.
- TLF
Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, MoFA on May 18, 2022, 05:41:02 PM
I like it. Incorporating the fez was a good move.
- TLF
Thank you!
I am so honored that the Captain of the Zouavs has chosen my design! I have provided the blazon below and attached a square and round badge version.
Blazon:
Quarterly, argent and azure. In first and fourth a fez gules tasseled of the first. In second and third, two bedposts couped of the first, saltirewise.
-OAF
Well done, OAF! Please remember, just as an aside, that we try to sign our posts in this forum. Sometimes I forget, too. We do it as a tradition and because it's a good reminder about our higher standard of civility, formality, and pageantry.
-NRH
Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on May 20, 2022, 11:21:43 AM
Well done, OAF! Please remember, just as an aside, that we try to sign our posts in this forum. Sometimes I forget, too. We do it as a tradition and because it's a good reminder about our higher standard of civility, formality, and pageantry.
-NRH
Of course Baron, sorry for the oversight.
-OAF
Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on May 20, 2022, 10:32:52 AM
I am so honored that the Captain of the Zouavs has chosen my design! I have provided the blazon below and attached a square and round badge version.
Blazon:
Quarterly, argent and azure. In first and fourth a fez gules tasseled of the first. In second and third, two bedposts couped of the first, saltirewise.
-OAF
Nice job on the badges OAF. From what I can tell, the blazon is properly formatted.
-REH
Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on May 20, 2022, 12:32:06 PM
Quote from: Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat on May 20, 2022, 10:32:52 AM
I am so honored that the Captain of the Zouavs has chosen my design! I have provided the blazon below and attached a square and round badge version.
Blazon:
Quarterly, argent and azure. In first and fourth a fez gules tasseled of the first. In second and third, two bedposts couped of the first, saltirewise.
-OAF
Nice job on the badges OAF. From what I can tell, the blazon is properly formatted.
-REH
Would the last bit perhaps be better phrased as "two bedposts in saltire couped of the first"? I normally see things laid across each other as "in saltire", not "saltire-wise".
(That's my only critique though, otherwise this is great.)
- TLF
Edit: scratch that, apparently the two are seen as equivalent...though this is honestly the first time I've seen "saltire-wise".