Not all are what they seem. Firstly what are Carruthers Arms: Arms are registered to an individual and not a family or clan. Although Carruthers Arms existed centuries before the the Lyon Act in 1672, to date only 12 Carruthers Arms have been registered or recorded although one is in the petition stages and one being researched .
In Scotland, Arms are registered through the Crown by the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. In the case of Carruthers, the Lyon after a positive analysis of petitioned genealogical evidence, may allow matriculation of the chiefly Arms. This entitles the petitioner to use those Arms as their own, thus being recognised as a legal entity as Chief in Scottish law. Although the Lyons jurisdiction is within Scotland and the granting or matriculation of Scottish Arms, his authority and the rigour of the process are recognised by all who either embrace or are involved in Scottish Clan Culture nationally and internationally, as a filter to potential false claims. Information on our chiefly line, currently lies with the Lyon as we speak and we await his pleasure.
In Scotland, Arms are registered through the Crown by the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. In the case of Carruthers, the Lyon after a positive analysis of petitioned genealogical evidence, may allow matriculation of the chiefly Arms. This entitles the petitioner to use those Arms as their own, thus being recognised as a legal entity as Chief in Scottish law. Although the Lyons jurisdiction is within Scotland and the granting or matriculation of Scottish Arms, his authority and the rigour of the process are recognised by all who either embrace or are involved in Scottish Clan Culture nationally and internationally, as a filter to potential false claims. Information on our chiefly line, currently lies with the Lyon as we speak and we await his pleasure.
The full coat of Arms consists of many parts, but the main signature is the Escutcheon (shield) which in the case of the Carruthers Chief’s Arms, registered in 1672 by John Carruthers 9th of Holmains and 6th Baron, are blazoned (described) as: Gules (Red), two chevrons engrailed between three fleurs de lis Or (Gold). This can only be claimed by a Carruthers chief after confirmation of the legal right to bear those arms, by the Lord Lyon.
The Arms are the visual signature of Carruthers Chiefs and it is simply disrespectful to misuse them. The Crest is described as : A seraphim volant Proper, which is always depicted with a face. To date all registered and recorded Carruthers Arms crests are angelic in nature.
It is from these Arms that all subsequent Carruthers Arms are taken and legally registered through the Lyon Court, but with two differences. In the Arms of Dormont, seniors of our line, the differences are the engrailed chevrons of Holmains are now chevronelles and a border in gold, has been added to depict Dormont as a cadet line. The crest and motto have stayed the same.
Interestingly in the 1911 book; Historical sketches of the Campbell, Pilcher and kindred families : including the Bowen, Russell, Owen, Grant, Goodwin, Amis, Carothers, Hope, Taliaferro, and Powell families by Pilcher, it clearly states on page 384, at the end of the Carothers (Carruthers) chapter the description of the Carruthers Arms. The crest is accurately blazoned as A Seraphim Volent Proper : and correctly described as ‘a cherubs head between three pairs of wings proper’.
This book alludes to the origins of Carruthers and although touching on the American lineage, it is superseded genealogically and historically by the work of Carruthers and Reid in 1934 and the addendum in 1959.
To the left above is a badge being used by a business registered in the US (an LLC) and on the right the Carruthers Arms we all know. The Question is which is official and Scottish in its representation.
Below is the Official Arms of the Chief of Carruthers with a full description of the parts.
Comparison of LLC Badge against recorded Chiefly CARRUTHERS Arms
LLC Carruthers
Scottish Registered Arms: no yes
Recognised chiefs Arms: no yes
Entitled to use shield: no yes
Scottish Motto: no yes
Recognised crest: no yes
Unofficial Supporters: yes no
Correct helm for status: no yes
Carruthers Arms: no yes
In fact it is obvious that the badge has been put together using the City of London Arms as a template with an added part (the Unicorn supporter of Scotland) from the Royal Arms of the UK. They have therefore left the motto below, signifying they have nothing to do with Scotland nor its clans, used the wrong helm wrongly depicting status above a knight and have misused and incorrectly claimed the Carruthers chiefly Arms (Shield) as their own.
Is this legal:
The badge is not a heraldically registered Carruthers Arms and any respectable Heraldic Authority, Governmental or private would refuse it because it belongs to someone else. The Carruthers Arms belong to our chief, not a business and using parts of the others seems to be breaching international copyright laws.
According to the booklet ‘Use of the Royal Arms’ by the Lord Chamberlains Office in London states :
Section 4 (1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 states:
“A trade mark which consists of or contains –
(a) the Royal arms, or any of the principal armorial bearings of the Royal arms, or any insignia or device so nearly resembling the Royal arms or any such armorial bearing as to be likely to be mistaken for them or it,
(b) a representation of the Royal crown or any of the Royal flags,
(c) a representation of Her Majesty or any Member of the Royal Family, or any colourable imitation thereof, or
(d) words, letters or devices likely to lead persons to think that the applicant either has or recently has had Royal patronage or authorisation,
shall not be registered unless it appears to the registrar that consent has been given by or on behalf of Her Majesty or, as the case may be, the relevant Member of the Royal Family.”
The Lord Chamberlain’s Office is empowered to grant the consent referred to inSection 4(1) on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen. The Lord Chamberlain’s Officehas a standard procedure and document to implement the grant of any such consent. The consent is conditional on (inter alia) the proprietary rights in the registration remaining with the applicant, and cannot be assigned without further consent.
Unauthorised Use
Section 99(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 states that “a person shall not without the authority of Her Majesty use in connection with any business the Royal arms (or arms so closely resembling the Royal arms as to be calculated to deceive) in such manner as to be calculated to lead to the belief that he is duly authorised to use the Royal arms”.
International Protection
The use of certain Royal insignia as trade marks can also be protected internationally under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883.
Article 6ter (1) (a) of the Paris Convention states that:
“The countries of the Union agree to refuse or to invalidate the registration, and to prohibit by appropriate measures the use, without authorization by the competent authorities, either as trademarks or as elements of trademarks, of armorial bearings, flags, and other State emblems, of the countries of the Union, official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them, and any imitation from a heraldic point of view”.
(https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media/royal_arms_blue_booklet_-_2017.pdf)
Currently 177 Countries have signed up to this agreement to include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the US to name but a few.
Very interesting.