nobby nobbs coats of arms

[zader]

There even was a damn coat of arms. One supporter of the shield was a hippo...The other was a bull of some sort of bull, with a very Nobby-like expression. It was holding a golden ankh... The shield was red and green; there was a white chevron with five apples on it. Quite what they had to do with warfare was unclear. Perhaps it was some kind of pun or play on words...

Sam Vimes on finding the de Nobbes coat of arms in "Twurp's Peerage" in Feet of Clay

Please forgive me if this is an old question, but I've really searched and I can't find if anyone has ever "decoded" the Nobbs coat of arms. Does anyone know?

 

[Tonyblack]

Hi there zader and welcome to the site.

I hadn't given it a lot of thought, but I suspect the apples are a reference to "nobbing" as in stealing apples. Knowing Nobby penchant for pilfering, this would seem very apt.

 

[=Tamar]

Hi there zader and welcome to the site.

I hadn't given it a lot of thought, but I suspect the apples are a reference to "nobbing" as in stealing apples. Knowing Nobby penchant for pilfering, this would seem very apt.

The version of the word that I heard is "nobbling".
I think the chevron is for his long years of military service in any army that seemed to be winning at the time.
Possibly the red and green could be for the opposite sides, but that's really reaching.

 

[Tonyblack]

We called it "nobbing" when I was a kid.

I think the chevrons are quite simply because he's a corporal.

 

[KingCarrot]

I wonder if anyone here would be willing to try to draw their idea of nobby's coat of arms. That would be pretty cool.

 

[Tonyblack]

There's a picture of it (and other Discworld coats of arms) inside Feet of Clay.

 

[KingCarrot]

Ohh, I didn't know that.

I can't remember if I have read that one or not... I am reading them in chronological order and I am upto Thief of Time - any idea if I have got that far yet?

 

[Tonyblack]

Blimey yes! Ages ago. There's something like seven books between them. Feet of Clay is the 19th Discworld book - Thief of Time is the 26th if you don't count The Last Hero.

 

[KingCarrot]

Blimey yes! Ages ago. There's something like seven books between them. Feet of Clay is the 19th Discworld book - Thief of Time is the 26th if you don't count The Last Hero.

Typical of my brain lol.

I will check back and take a look. There is definitely a plus to having memory problems - I can re-read things and enjoy them like new over and over again.

 

[=Tamar]

I just got an idea about the de Nobbes coat of arms pun.
The Latin name for apple tree is Malus domestica.
That is a pun on "malice", and the apples are for "How do you like them apples?" which I can easily imagine Nobby's ancestors saying.
Stars indicating military rank are called "pips" and apple seeds are called "pips" as well.

The number five I'm less sure of. Although there are some five-pip military ranks, I prefer the idea that it is related to "malice aforethought" with the 1980s number-inflation joke, so it becomes "malice afivethought."

 

[Tonyblack]

:clap: :clap: :clap: Nice one!

 

[Discworldpadawan]

Tamar and Tony, Dragon King of Arms and the Heralds would be very impressed with both your deciphering!!! But I don't think Vimes would share in the enthusiasm!!

 

[=Tamar]

The number five I'm less sure of. Although there are some five-pip military ranks, I prefer the idea that it is related to "malice aforethought" with the 1980s number-inflation joke, so it becomes "malice afivethought."

Okay, I think I've got it now.
When you cut an apple in half crosswise, the pips make a five-pointed star. So it really is also an allusion to the pips of a five-star general.