A wyvern has only 2 legs

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Owen, Sep 8, 2018.

  1. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    My youngest is in the ACF & his cap badge at the moment is the RAC badge, soon they will be getting the Royal Wessex Yeomanry badge.
    I have a problem with the wyvern rampant featured on the Yo-yos badge.
    It has FOUR legs, wyverns are meant to have only TWO.
    I suppose it is because Yeomanry units had horses with four legs.
    The 43rd (Wessex) Division , the Postwar Wessex Brigade & my old Wessex Regiment (TA) were Infantry so were used to marching on 2 legs so those wyverns correctly have 2 legs.
     

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  2. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Unfortunate, isn't it? :(

    When I was in the UK in June, the Keep museum in Dorchester was selling Wessex Div insignia on felt squares, so I bought two as souvenirs. (Hope that's not out of place!) One of them is now on a hat.
     
    Owen likes this.
  3. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Needing to be certain, what with the three English 'Lions' being Leopards only several short centuries ago, and the sinister bends of heraldry having caused much tangled reasoning, I reached for my rather foxed copy of Fox-Davies. (Which I think can safely be called the authorititave text in the absence of Scrolls etc. )

    Quite so, squire.
    That is plainly a Dragon rampant.
    I suggest you call the police, or the Garter King of Arms... Or something.
    (I see there are two Pursuivants vacant. Maybe they'd be so impressed at your pedantic discomfort they'd let you move right in and start sorting this nonsense out?)
    The Officers of Arms - College of Arms

    IMG_20180908_230614160(2).jpg

    IMG_20180908_230707295.jpg
     
    Guy Hudson, 4jonboy, Chris C and 3 others like this.
  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    The great oracle has spoken

    Wyverns are very similar to dragons, and in many languages, cultures and contexts no clear distinction is made between the two. Since the sixteenth century, in English, Scottish, and Irish heraldry, the key difference has been that a wyvern has two legs, whereas a dragon has four. However, this distinction is not commonly observed in the heraldry of other European countries, where two-legged dragon like creatures being called dragons is entirely acceptable

    Wyvern - Wikipedia

    If it helps the Pokemon Wyvern has two legs

    [​IMG]
     
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    more here for the more serious Wyvern botherer
    Wessex Flag
     
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  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I have not posted the source of the below for fear of attracting hobbits ,elves and goblins to our midst

    The dragon-versus-wyvern distinction may well arise from the Medieval Period, though I'll note the heralds were inconsistent about which pair it didn't have - some have front limbs and wings; some have back limbs and wings, whilst most wyverns these days are universally back limbs and wings
    Are wyverns a form of dragon? See, here's where things get muddy, because some universes will expand the label of 'dragon' to cover other forms. If both the four-legged two-winged Western and non-winged four-legged Eastern are both dragons, who's to say that two-legged two-winged wyvern isn't a dragon
     
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  7. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  8. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    argh, just read this regarding a Queen's Own Dorset & West Somerset Yeomanry badge.

    ''A wyvern backed by a sword and rifle''

    dorsetwestsomerset.JPG

    on here. Geoff Newman Militaria

    and.... 'a wessex wyvern' on this West Somerset Yeomanry one.

    wsy.JPG
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2018
  9. REME245

    REME245 Active Member

    I understand that their CO of the time designed the badge and they are very defensive if you question its choice over a Wyvern. If you do your research no one can agree on if the Wyvern or the Dragon was the original animal representing Wessex. Just a pity they turned their back on the animal which has represented wessex in the army since the 1930's.
     

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