Scattered Starlight

April 15, 2025

Scattered Starlight

Stars are historically depicted not as points of light but as sources radiating rays. It is a natural result of how light scatters and refracts through the atmosphere and how they are seen. The human eye has imperfections that cause diffraction and dispersion of light when it enters. Tiny structures in the cornea, lens, and tear film can bend light, creating a radiating, ‘star-like’ appearance. These effects are more pronounced at night when pupils dilate to let in more light.

The five-pointed star is one of the oldest geometric symbols. Used in various cultures throughout history, its simplicity and symmetry are aesthetically pleasing. It has appeared in Mesopotamian, Greek, and Roman art and often symbolised divine or celestial power. Sopdet is the ancient Egyptian name and personification of the star Sirius; she is depicted with a five-pointed star on her head, a symbol that also appears in the hieroglyph of her name.

A Neteru image of Sopdet with five-pointed star (Wikimedia: Jeff Dahl)

Stella d’Italia, the Star of Italy, is a five-pointed star and Italy’s oldest national symbol. In Graeco-Roman mythology, it represented Venus as the evening star, symbolising the west.

Alexander Nisbet in A System of Heraldry, Edinburgh, 1722, writes that some English heralds believe the de Vere star represents a fallen star or meteor. Nisbet does not elaborate on the distinction between wavy stars of the heavens and straight-sided geometrical shapes in the way that John Guillim does; however, Guillim confirms that a ‘fallen star’ has five points and straight sides. The term ‘star’ remains ambiguous in Scotland until the 19th century, and although it has come to mean a straight-sided star of five points, unless otherwise specified, its precise meaning in historical texts is unclear. Nisbet records arms for some of the name Scott having a “star of six rays between two crescents”, for others of this surname, simply “a star betwixt two crescents”. Are these the same? The combination of star and crescent, regardless of the star’s shape, suggests a connection between the arms of Clan Scott and the symbology developed in Byzantium, later brought back to Europe by crusaders.

The ancient arms of de Moravia of Bothwell are: Azure, three stars Argent. These three stars, enclosed within a tressure flory counterflory, form a central part of the personal arms of the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Murray, the Duke of Atholl. Could these be celestial stars? Speculations about the origins of the stars are intriguing, but there is no definitive answer. A connection to a third son of Freskin de Moravia has been suggested, but this is plainly wrong. It is based on the ‘mullet brisure’, a symbol added to a shield to indicate the third son of an armiger, distinguishing his arms from those of his siblings. This is part of an English system of ‘cadency’, introduced around the year 1500. The mullet as a brisure was occasionally used in Scotland during the 19th century - around 750 years after Freskin’s time.

Although the Murray arms are now generally emblazoned with straight-sided stars of five points, like the cadency symbol, the earliest appearances of these stars are subtly different, particularly the stars of six points found on 13th century seals. The emblazonments in armorial rolls, including the Armorial de Berry (c.1445) and the Balliol Roll (1332-1340) also show Moray of Bothwell arms with stars of six points rather than five.

Moray of Bothwell as shown in the Balliol Roll (1332-1340) with pierced stars of six points

Clan structures propagate charges and ordinaries to other armigers of the same name. The arms of their chief may serve as an emblem of the clan, although these arms can only be rightfully borne by the chief. Clan chieftains, the families of cadet branches, or any other person of the surname Murray who seeks to absorb clan identity into their own heraldry should approach The Court of the Lord Lyon. Any personal arms they are granted must be unique. However, by tradition, designs often bear close resemblance to the arms of the chief. Similarly, through family connections, the three stars of de Moravia found their way onto the shields of the chiefs of Clan Douglas, Clan Sutherland, Clan Innes and Clan Brodie and from there into the personal heraldry of a fair number of Scots and the global Scottish diaspora. Woven through these ties is the interconnectedness of Scottish clanship and identity, celebrated worldwide through heraldry, tartans and pride in a shared cultural heritage.

Arms of de Moravia of Bothwell

Arms of the Earls of Douglas with the heart of the Bruce (heart Wikimedia: Sodacan)

Arms associated with the armigerous Clan Innes (quartered by the Duke of Roxburghe)

Arms of the Chief of Clan Brodie

The Stodart System, developed by Robert Riddle Stodart (1827-1886), Lyon Clerk Depute, provides a guideline for how a coat of arms can be differentiated between family members. Stodart’s own shield bore three stars with another on his crest, derived from arms recorded in 1672 for William Stoddert of Southhouse, Liberton. The star in the earlier Stoddert crest must surely be a star of the heavens and provides a good example of the confusion surrounding heraldic stars. The blazon for William Stoddert, in the original spelling of 1672, was:
Arms: Argent, fess nebule betwixt three stars Sable
Crest: A Starr issuing out of a Cloud Proper, mantled Gules doubled Argent
Motto: Post nubes lux (after clouds light)

In the blazon of the crest, the term “Proper” for the colour of both the cloud and the “Starr” means that they are coloured as they appear in nature. There is only one type of natural star in heraldry, so this, according to Guillim, must be an Estoile Or, even if it is not stated as such. In Alexander Deuchar’s British Crests of 1817 the “Stodart of Stodart” star is “of six points waved, argent”. Compare this to the arms recorded in the Public Register for James Innes of Thurster (near Thurso in the north of Scotland), Vol. 1, p. 334, 1672, where the star in the crest has rays rather than points:

Argent three stars each of five points within a bordur indented azur, as crest a starr of six raies Or environed by clouds.

His motto was “Dum Spiro Celestia Spero“

The “three stars each of five points” in the Innes arms relate to those of de Moravia and are straight-sided. However, Sir George Mackenzie in The Science of Herauldry, 1680 depicts wavy stars for the arms of “Innes of that ilk” and Alexander Nisbet in 1722 gives the blazon for the same as:

Argent, three stars of six points waved Azure

Arms of Innes of that Ilk, Alexander Nisbet, 1722

For the “three stars Sable” of Stoddert’s arms, there is another connection to consider. While there was never a Clan Stodart, arms associated with the name were recorded south of the border. The arms of William Stoddard of London and his son George, recorded in the Visitation of London, 1568, were:

Sable, three estoiles within a bordure Argent

Given the significance of surnames and the concept of clanship in Scottish heraldry, these Stoddard arms may well have been taken into account. With an inversion of tinctures between Stoddard of London and Stoddert of Liberton, the implication would be that the stars in Stoddert’s shield were wavy stars of the heavens. Unless a distinction is made between ‘points’ or ‘rays’, the emblazonment of ‘star’ is left to artistic interpretation and Stoddert’s arms have been interpreted in diverse ways.

Arms of William Stoddard of London

Arms of William Stoddert of Liberton, with estoiles

For the arms and crest of Robert Riddle Stodart, granted first to his uncle George Stodart in 1864, and with only the ambiguous word “Starr” to go on, Lord Lyon chose a compromise with straight-sided stars of six points in both the shield and the crest (Robert Riddle Stodart, Vol. 8, p. 90, 16th February 1871). I’m not sure that John Guillim would have approved of Lord Lyon’s decision, but can an estoile by Guillim’s definition, as a bright star of the heavens which our eyes tremble to behold, truly be Sable?