People spend considerable amounts of money purchasing heraldic coat of arms. They purchase authentic or counterfeit copies of European Heraldic symbols from a variety of companies. I have copies of my family Coat of Arms for Hullinger from Switzerland and Harlan from England.
Most people including me don’t actually rate these heraldic symbols, which only devolve from the oldes son to the oldest son etc, but they remain popular. People can buy numerous plaques, coffee cups with the coat of arms embossed, etc. At typical firm providing these services can be found at a variety of companies, including.
We could develop a new web based Coat of Arms development service. Instead of buying an ancient coat of arms based on the possible exploits of an ancestor, our system would enable the customer to develop their own unique coat of arms.
Using our image base, an individual would search for and select images for their own personal coat of arms. They could use modern symbols representing things important to their own life, or typical historic coat of arms symbols.
The following could generate income:
1. Sale of images
2. Copyright and/or web posting of each individual coat of arms
3. Assistance in developing the coat of arms
4. Development of the coat of arms for awards or gifts
5. Reproduction of the coat of arms-decals, medallions, coffee cups, etc
6. Sale of authenticated certificates of the coat of arms
MILITARY APPLICATION
I have spent over 32 years in the Marine Corps, Regular and Reserve. Marines and other servicemen have thousands of images, which they put on bumper stickers, T shirts, coffee cups, patches, etc etc. The US has over 3 million men and women in the military, active and reserve, and the rest of the world has many more servicemen. All these individuals from more affluent countries are possible candidates.
Most military imagery is not copyrighted. On my wall, for example, I have ten plaques with different images. They include the Marine Corps emblem, helicopters, jet airplanes, crossed rifles, etc, very few of which are copyrighted. The department of defense provides numerous photographs of weapon systems, few of which are copyrighted.
Most of these emblems and images were developed for service wide application, or for Battalion and Regimental decals. A few artists developed the emblems or badges for units.
CIVILAN APPLICATION
1. Same as Military, plus
2. Ethnic or national symbols
3. Symbols of civilian employment – Caterpillar, trucks, cars, homes
Our concept would enable the individual to design and produce his own image, or to design new unit patches and symbols. The low cost of developing the coat of arms or logo from the web enabled individuals to develop their own coat of arms, logo, or image.
My own personal Coat of Arms includes the following:
Marine Corps Emblem
AR-15 Rifle (my weapon in Vietnam)
Officer Sword
My Plan of the Chicago region (I am a city planner)
Colonel Hullinger, United States Marine Corps
CIVILIAN APPLICATION
Anyone that wanted their own coat of arms, heraldic symbol, or logo could develop their own symbol, using items of importance to them. Certainly a Pokemon image, with the photo of a child and his name and age would be an appropriate use of the imagery. Teenagers could take their favorite images (tattoos, body piercing, etc) to form their own image.
The following are examples of existing web pages offering standard coat of arms. These pages are for existing historical heraldic symbols, not our new, individual modern personalized concept, but they illustrate some of the potential interest.
YOUR ROLE - MY ROLE
I would like to have an equity share in the new company. As a Colonel, Marine Corps Reserve Retired, I would also chair the committee that would certify each coat of arms developed by an individual as unique and copyrighted, a Certified Coat of Arms. I would also market the service to the US and foreign military services. And I would provide the capital required. You would be the CEO and master guru – do all the work.
Craig Harlan Hullinger AICP
