CityandLivery

The topic of improved communications within and about the Livery has recently been one of much discussion among the Livery Companies, especially through the Pan-Livery initiative. The Lord Mayor raised the issue in his Address to the Masters and Clerks at Mansion House on 22nd November 2017. In his speech the Lord Mayor said that the view of the Livery is: ' at best unknown, at worse unfair'.  In my view the Livery does far too little to communicate its purpose, values and impact. What is does is defuse, lacking coordination and often inward looking. This desire for better, or as the Lord Mayor put it in his address 'radical' communication, of the work of the Livery Companies is nothing new, but radical? Let's see... Where My Lord Mayor was the live Periscope broadcast of the Address, or the Tweet stream, or the Facebook posting? Can I watch it on YouTube or follow up the discussion in a blog? To be fair, radical is not a word that sits naturally or comfor...

This article is the second in a two part series that provides Liverymen with the knowledge required to learn their heraldic ABC (Arms, Badge and Crest). It is not intended to explain the coat of arms of each and every Livery Company, there are two excellent books that do that far better than I can (details at the bottom of this article). This second part explains an Armorial Achievement and its component parts. If you haven't already done so you may wish to read the first part on debunking the myths of heraldry before going further. What's an Armorial Achievement? Early in 2017 my daughter joined the Brownies and quickly made a plan to obtain every badge by Christmas 2018. She is making rapid progress against that plan and my wife and I have already sewn nine badges on her sash. The sash is a visual record of my daughter's achievements and affiliations of which she is rightly proud to display. The badges are arranged in a particular order and only granted when she h...