William Owen Gerney Douglas-Huriwai

Heraldry of the World
Personal arms

Rev. Cn. WILLIAM OWEN GERNEY DOUGLAS-HURIWAI

Registration no.: 005/2022

Country of origin : New Zealand
Place of origin : -
Granted : No
Granted/officially recorded by : -

Official English blazon

Gules, a chalice Or, issuing from it a host Argent, charged with a cross of the first, between three eight-pointed stars in the Māori fashion quarter-pierced argent, on a chief of the third, a crosier bendwise of the first between two pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) flowers proper.

Other language blazon

Origin/meaning

As a Canon of the Anglican Communion, specifically the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia, the arms of the Reverend Canon Christopher Douglas-Huriwai have neither helm, nor crest, but rather a clerical galero with three red tassels pendant from black cords, as is prescribed by warrant of the Earl Marshal, 21 December 1976.

The several features of the arms represent certain key markers of the armigers identity both as a priest and native person (Maori) of New Zealand. The chalice and host speaks to the primary role of a priest, that is to preside at the sacraments of the church. More broadly speaking, the eucharist has been foundational to the life of the armiger.

The three stars surrounding the chalice and host are directly inspired by the arms of the several dioceses in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia - all of which have the three stars upon them representing the southern cross. Furthermore, the style in which the stars have been painted, although not in the typical heraldic style, is the traditional Maori style of rendering stars, thus the stars serve as both a nod to the armiger’s connections to the church in New Zealand and his native Maori ancestry.

The armiger has had the extreme privilege of being the personal chaplain to two successive bishops and archbishops. This is a ministry the armiger took great delight in, and it is for this reason the bishop's crosier appears in the chief of his arms.

The two flowers on either side of the crosier have dual meaning. First, they represent the pohutukawa tree, a native tree that is plentiful on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand where the armiger is from. Secondly, they represent the two Archbishops whom the armiger has served as chaplain. Both of whom were from the same area, the East Coast of the North Island.