Can you Identify This Object?

6 comments on “Can you Identify This Object?”

1. Lars Jynge Alvik on June 6, 2012 at 1:15 pm said:

   Hi, the text is Danish/Norwegian

   “Jeg står med løftet hode” is “I stand with my head high” in modern Norwegian.
2. Kenneth Aalberg on June 6, 2012 at 1:21 pm said:

   The text is old Danish, from the Wergeland period. Translated, it says “I stand with head held high”. It’s dubious whether this is actually an unit badge; danish units use a crown rather than a crescent. This may be a family or personal CoA.
3. nicola on June 6, 2012 at 9:08 pm said:

   Thanks Lars, great to see you are tracking what’s happening at the Museum!
4. nicola on June 6, 2012 at 9:09 pm said:

   Thanks for that information Kenneth, very useful!
5. Kenneth Aalberg on June 7, 2012 at 8:41 pm said:

   Some additional points of information based purely on the heraldic aspects of the badge; it is notoriously difficult to find any direct statement of what this is.

   * The closed helmet in profile is in heraldry used by esquires and private gentlemen. Higher ranks of nobility had helmets affronty and open, sometimes visored. Before the 1400s, a bucket helmet was used in CoAs, so this places it near the start of the 1400s.

   *The importance of the crescent in the badge is stressed, as danish heraldry uses the german system, where all members of a particular line uses the same CoA. The crescent means the badge belongs to the second son of the original bearer of the arms, and said father was still alive at the time the badge was made (The cadency is removed when the father passes away)

   * The device in the right half is not a caduceus, but a sword with a snake entwined.

   * The decrescent moon could have two meanings; one who has been honored by the sovereign, or hope of greater glory.

   * The wreathed gold and blue on top of the helmet is also part of standard danish heraldry, which began to be used from around the middle of the 1300s. The wreath should be in the major colors of the arms, which makes the colors blue and gold, not blue and red, even though the dexter half of the shield is red.
   * The ‘cloak’ around the helmet was primarily used by higher nobility and people with high positions.

   I’ve dropped a line off to the Scandinavian Heraldic Society, maybe they’ve got an idea.
6. nicola on June 7, 2012 at 8:48 pm said:

   Thanks Kenneth for passing all this great information onto us and for going to the trouble of further researching yourself. The badge is far more interesting for knowing all this extra symbolism. We will happily accept any further information.

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