In 2008 Romilly Squire’s encyclopaedic knowledge of heraldry led to his emergence as the leading critic of an apparently bogus coat of arms being flaunted by Donald Trump.
Before planning permission was given for the Trump golf course at Menie, north of Aberdeen, the Trump organisation had produced a range of promotional material, including jackets and baseball caps bearing Trump’s “coat of arms”.
Squire, who was the flamboyant and bibulous chairman of the Heraldry Society of Scotland at the time, pointed out that the “heraldry” had clearly been designed by an amateur, and that the whole achievement had been “put together for aesthetics”.
The usually mild-mannered artist continued: “These so-called arms break a number of conventions, and it looks as if it [the coat of arms] has been put together [randomly] rather than reflecting anything about the bearer”.
Squire went further, pointing out that in place of a motto was the name Trump, a solecism unworthy of more explanation. An unnamed heraldist drily referred to the incident as “the waive of a crest”.
Advertisement
George Sorial, Trump’s right-hand man, tried to explain that the insignia was something Trump had had “for quite some time” and that it had been properly registered with the US patent and trademark office. He added: “I believe it’s the Trump family crest . . . It is my understanding we can’t use it and we have removed it from our website, our envelopes, our letterheads.”
Perhaps Squire was on to the president-elect’s game because he was no stranger to self-regard. His manifested itself in the orders and decorations he accumulated like stamps. Among many things, he was an Officer of the Order of St Lazarus (1998), a Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia (2000), a Member of the Noble Compania de Ballesteros Hijosdalgo de San Felipe y Santiago, Spain (2010), a Knight of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia (2010), a Knight of the Imperial Order of St Anne, Russia (2011), and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael of the Wing, Portugal (2011). At least he had a sense of humour about his fetish. On appearing at one formal dinner and being asked about his impressive line-up of miniatures, he replied with a wink: “Ah, but what you see are merely the ‘edited highlights’.”
Nor was he one to disdain the use of ancient titles; he managed to acquire the feudal superiority of Rubislaw (an area now contained within present-day Aberdeen), and thus the territorial designation “of Rubislaw” became legally part of his name.
His interest in heraldry developed at an early age, with Arthurian legends sparking a passion for arms and armour, chivalry and heraldry. Above his childhood bed in Glasgow hung Don Pottinger’s chart Scotland of Old, firing the young Squire’s imagination with images of romance of a bygone age.
Glasgow-born, Squire enjoyed what he described as “an unremarkable education at the High School of Glasgow”. He went on to study graphic design at the Glasgow School of Art, benevolently influenced in choice of higher education by his father, the distinguished portrait painter Geoffrey Squire, long a lecturer at the GSA and later a governor. On graduation and with teacher training behind him, Squire returned to the High School to teach art for six years. This was when he turned to heraldry, producing armorial artwork for family, friends and for his own enjoyment, with his greatest influence being the work of Don Pottinger, heraldic artist, Lyon Clerk and Islay Herald.
Advertisement
When Squire’s work came to the notice of Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw Bt, long-serving officer of arms at the Court of the Lord Lyon, there emerged an invitation by Pottinger to move to Edinburgh to become a herald painter at Lyon Office, a post Squire held for two decades.
Squire’s talent lay in producing design that was bold and simple, layering his work with energy and elegance. He brought life to colour, cross and creature, imbuing vivacity in the simplest of charges. There was never a lion that lacked a glint in its eye, nor a castle where the battlements did not frown.
Substantial recognition came to him when in 1996 he was invited to participate in the world’s first artists’ workshop at the International Heraldic and Genealogical Congress in Ottawa — with the outcome being that his work was exhibited in the Ottawa Museum of Civilisation, and he was awarded the Corel prize.
An armorial from his desk would bear signature hues of brightest tinctures, and he succeeded in pushing the use of colour to achieve heraldry that shone in brightness without ever appearing gaudy. Squire invested passion in his work. He treated some colours with scorn as being “too mild”, and instigated Europe-wide hunts for paints of the hues he wanted. He would plead with friends visiting mainland Europe to take time off to try to locate particular brands and tones of or and azure rumoured to be produced in odder places.
On the surface his career path seemed conventional. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Society of Arts; serving on the committee of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, editing its journals and newsletters, and ultimately becoming chairman for two terms, from 2002-08; being appointed Officer of the Order of St John, and taking up post as Limner to the Order in Scotland; and serving as secretary of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
Advertisement
Yet there was more texture to his story than this implies. He had second and third careers as a model and actor, in the latter having a part in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, while as a writer, the many publications to which he contributed include d Kings and Queens of Europe, Clans and Tartans and the magisterial Collins Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia.
He took up sport as a young man, having a fascination for kendo, the Japanese art of fencing, and in 1992 was awarded fourth dan by the All-Japan Kendo Federation and went on to teach the martial art, even taking up running for a spell in 1987. He was an active freemason, becoming Past Master of the Lodge of Holyroodhouse (St Lukes) No 44.
Squire travelled widely — to study foreign heraldry and proselytise his cause through lectures. One of his most memorable presentations from a Far East trip was a learned and insightful account of the Japanese system of mon.
Wit, raconteur, bon viveur, Squire could sometimes enjoy life too much. He became ill in recent months when his conviviality finally caught up with him. His long-term partner was Andrea Seath, and he is survived by her and his sister Susan.
His legacy remains the indelible mark he made on the design and practice of Scots heraldry. Shortly after the Trump affair, he was commissioned to design a version of the Royal arms of the United Kingdom as used in Scotland for display in the main hall of the Scottish parliament at Holyrood. Carved in wood by WH Stevens, the work depicted arms with Scottish quarterings, with Scotland’s unicorn as principal (or heraldic dexter) supporter.
Advertisement
Squire’s love of ceremonial was acknowledged by a funeral hatchment displaying his own coat of arms, and painted for the occasion by Mark Dennis, fellow artist, advocate and officer of arms. The hatchment bore the slogan Ars longa vita brevis (“Life is brief yet art endures”), a reflection of Squire’s own motto (translated), “Nature is more powerful than art”.
Romilly Squire of Rubislaw, artist and heraldist, was born on May 3, 1953. He died on December 7, 2016, aged 63