Coats of Arms

        Coats of Arms along with battle standards (see Vicker Standard) were used by leaders of many families to provide Espret de Corps for family members and those who pledge their loyalty to a specific family.  During the Middle Ages this form of recognition clearly defined the location of their command headquarters and the battle station for combatants.  In the hectic struggles for battlefield dominance it was essential to provide a visual recognition for the fighters.  Seeing their Standard and members of the Clan with their Coat of Arms would offer encouragement for soldiers that they were still a viable fighting force and able to conduct operations against enemy forces.  Other than military operations we found the Coat of Arms used to identify the family during social events, public occasions, and official events such as Privy Council meetings, gathering of Clans, foreign trips and other occasions whereby a family wished to display unity.

            The M’Vicar – Affleck Arms illustrated in Burke’s General Armory is the only MacVicar Arms recorded by the Lyon Court.  We find that this Coat of Arms was granted to James MacVicar Affleck of Edinghame, Galloway, Scotland on 26 December 1777.  James was a Doctor and Surgeon who migrated to Jamaica and was the eldest son of Robert MacVicar of Argyll.  Apparently James was married to Mary Affleck daughter of James Affleck of Edinghame.

            The Arms are described as follows:  Quarterly, 1^st and 4^th, ar. a galley, her oars in action and sails furled sa. a flame of fire on the masthead ppr. betw. an eagle’s head erased of the last in the dexter, and across crosslet fitchee gu. in the sinister chief points, for Vicar; 2^nd and 3^rd, ar. three bars sa. within a bordure gu., for Affleck. Crest-A green branch growing out of the truck of an oak tree ppr, Motto-Tandem

            As translated the original colors of the MacVicar Arms are: ‘Quartered: 1^st and 4^th silver, a galley with its black oars in action and black sails furled, with naturally colored flames on the masthead between a naturally colored eagle’s head, jagged, placed to the right, and a red cross crosslet fitchee in the upper corner, 2^nd and 3^rd silver, three black horizontal bars; a red border.’

            Above the shield and helmet is the crest, which is described as: ‘A green branch growing out of the trunk of a naturally colored oak tree.’

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