MacQuarrie Heraldry
From the Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia, by George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire.
ARMS: (pictured at right) Quarterly, embattled, 1st & 4th, Vert, three towers in chief Argent masoned Sable; 2nd, Gules, three cross crosslets fitchee Argent; 3rd, per fess Azure and Vert, a lymphad sails furled in chief and a fish naiant in base both Argent.
CREST: (pictured at left) Issuant from a tower head embattled and crenellated Argent, a dexter arm in armour embowed, the hand grasping a dagger projected fessways all Proper
MOTTO: Turris fortis meus mihi Deus (To me God is my strong tower).
SLUG HORN (BATTLE CRY): An t'arm breac dearg (The red tartaned army)
PLANT BADGE: Pine
Please note that these Arms properly belong to the chief of the MacQuarries
of Ulva, whose seat has been vacant since 1818 with the death of Lachlan
Macquarrie without an heir. At such time as a new chief is found,
the Arms will pass to him. These are not the "Family Arms" of
all and any named MacQuarrie. Such a thing does not exist in
British heraldry. Arms are personal property and represent the bearer.
To wear or display these arms would imply that you are chief of
the MacQuarrie clan. Wearing or displaying someone else's Arms in
Scotland is a crime punishable by arrest or fine. What is proper
to wear, as a clansman, is the crest of your chief (the upper element on
top of the helm in the full achievement of the Arms, as pictured), surrounded
by a belt and buckle bearing your clan motto. This turns the crest
(a personal heraldic item) into a badge (a communal heraldic item
that different people can wear or display to denote affiliation).
The belt and buckle symbolize the fact that this is not your personal
crest but that you follow the man who bears the crest. In effect,
you are not chief of the clan, but a loyal clansman. Sometimes the
battle cry is shown on the belt and buckle instead of the motto, when a
clan has one. In the case of the MacQuarrie crest badge, it differs
slightly from the actual crest of the chief.
The common crest badge worn today (pictured
above left), as
given in The Book of Crests by Mike McLaren, for MacQuarrie/MacGuarie
of Ulva, is:
Out of an antique crown, An arm in armour embowed, grasping a dagger,
all proper
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