Putnam/Puttenham Coat of Arms

Putnam/Puttenham Coat of Arms

 My brother asked me about the cost of arms a month or so ago and I thought I would pull this together.  I have not done in-depth research on it, so please let me know if you disagree with something.

The coat of arms aas awarded to my 15th Great Grandfather, Sir Roger de Puttenheham.  He was the Commissioner of the Peace in Buckinghamshire at various dates between 1350 and 1367.  He was also a Knight of the Shire of Buckinghamshire eight times between 1354 and 1373.

The Shield of the coat of arms is listed as being Sable, with cruisilly fitche argent, and a heron in the second.  I've also seen it listed with a Stork in  the last. Here are some of the meaning:

• Sable = Black, symbolizing consistency or grief
• cruisilly fitche is a combination of cross and sword symbolizing unshakeable faith.  The renditions I've seen include eight of these.
• Agent = Silver symbolizing peace and prudence
• The Heron symbolizes Wisdom, piety and prudence. 
• The Stork symbolizes vigilance and faithfulness
• I don't know what "In the Second" and "of the last" mean save that they refer to the pose of the bird.
• I have seen the legs and beak colored in red (Gules)

The Crest is listed as A Wolf's head gu. Here is what I've found about that:

• Wolf typically symbolized the rewards of perseverance in long sieges or hard industry.
• Gu (Gules)= Red, symbolizing a warrior or martyr; military strength and magnanimity

I've also seen the family motto listed as:

Quaere an sit caput vulpis vel damae

Which means something like:  "Don't mistake this fox's head for that of a deer."

If you want to see other images of the coat of arms, you can do a quick google search and find a bunch.  Again, this came from a quick search across various sources.  If people have other takes, I would love to hear them.