I've always been interested in Heraldry, and have always wanted a coat of arms, unfortunately, not having being knighted yet, I had to make up my own.

I thought it would be quite witty to set one up to encompass the Australia/England theme, as I was quite fond of a particular Australian at the time. A few months after thinking of the idea, and before I knew it, we were to be married, though not because of the coat of arms.

Between getting engaged (31st March 1997) and the wedding day (19th May 1997) Michelle had to stay in Australia because her visitors visa had run out, and I was stuck in England, wondering what I had done.

During this period we had to organise the wedding, which included me going to get 'instruction' from a Priest, a very nice chap called Father Barlow. I mentioned that I was trying to invent my own coat of arms, and that I needed a motto which would sum up my future wife and myself. The conversation spiralled a bit as we talked about Australia, deadly spiders, Crocodile Dundee, Kylie Minogue and finally Australian soaps. Father Barlow mentioned that 'home and away' would be rather a poignant motto as, if we were together in England or Australia, one of us would always be home or away from home.

But not only did the good father sort out the motto, luckily, Father Barlow could also furnish me with the Latin translation. Domi et Rus.

After we were finally married, Michelle had to wait a few months for her married spouse visa before she could be allowed into England. So, sitting at home pining for my beloved spouse I finished the coat of arms and promptly forgot about it. Later that month and still wifeless, friends and family kept asking me where my wife was. I decided that it may be a good idea to send a few notes to update people on what was happening. And so the recipients would know instantly that the letter was from me and not junk mail, although I agree this is a very fine line, I started to use our coat of arms.

This is the rationale behind the Arms. Firstly, The Oak Tree. Very British, a symbol of stability and strength, but also and more importantly, I like trees, I used to climb them all the time when I was young, and I still do now when no one is watching. Pegasus and the two sides of the earth signify the constant flying backwards and forwards between our two homes. The Kangaroo Obviously signifies Australia. The British Rampant Lion. Draw your own conclusion to this one. The Southern Cross and the North Star. I've had an interest in astronomy for a while and this just seemed like a nice idea. Two constellations from opposite hemispheres. Three Swords and the Boomerang. No shield is ever complete without a few weapons so the swords were an obvious choice, especially with swords being a Piercing weapon, I thought they were quite apt (A very tenuous link, I know). A dagger could also work but I think that's a bit of a sneaky weapon, the sword is far more gallant. I couldn't think of a weapon for Australia other than a broken bottle or a cricket bat so I went for the boomerang.