:: heraldry ::

from:

polish roots.com

[smolenski]



Arms: Azure, a horseshoe, Argent heels to base, pierced of a sword in pale point to chief. For a crest, an eagle's wing debruised of an arrow in fess, all proper.

There should be a horseshoe with the tips downward; through its top a saber passes, point upward and hilt downward, facing the right side of the shield, so that the hilt is to be seen in the center of the horseshoe. The helmet with crown has an eagle's wing, through which an arrow passes.

There were two brothers, whether of Jastrzebiec clan or Pobóg, who carried on a long-standing feud between them, and would not let it be settled, neither by the intervention of friends or the persuasion of relatives. It went so far that the younger brother, seeking vengeance for his injury, did not restrain his temper until he was guilty of the blood and death of his older brother. On account of this crime, in eternal memory of his punishment, his descendants' arms were transformed into the shape you see here and called Zagroba or Zagloba, i.e., za glowe [for his head].

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[tornatore]

i know not much of this side of the family, and the sicilians didn't operate in a clan system as the poles therefore arms weren't used in battle or for identification. yet one thing i do know about my grandfather [whom i never was able to meet] is that he had a freaking kickass tattoo of a skull with a knife through it when he came over to america in the early 1900s.

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[thomas sebastian smolenski]

say hello to my new backpatch: