Arms: Azure, issuant from middle base three stalks of millet Or, on a chief indented argent three mullets of four Azure.
Crest: A five-spoken wheel Or, between the spokes in chief three mullets of four Azure.
Motto:Gæþ a wyrd, swa hio scel (Fate goes ever as it must)
Design Rationale:
Blue represents the the armiger’s Italian heritage on his paternal side (i.e. Savoy Blue) and blue and white present his Scottish heritage on his maternal side (i.e. St. Andrew’s Cross). Blue and gold are the official colors of the State of California.
The mullet is a canting of the last name Panick, which was originally Panichi in Italian.
The chief is indented to combine the wavy line division with the shape of an inverted chevron. These are related and both symbolize the armiger’s work in linguistics. First, the wavy division relates to sound waves since phonetics and phonology is his main interest and the inverted chevron shape is derived form the diacritic haček which represents a very unique sound in a language which was the sole focus of his M.A. thesis.
The mullets also combine two symbols. They have four points due to their resemblance to crosses and therefore point towards the armiger’s Christian faith and interest in theology. However stars were chosen to represent his interest in astrology and strong personal sense of fate. That is reflected in the motto “Gæþ a wyrd, swa hio scel” (Fate goes ever as it must) taken from Beowulf line 455. The motto is left in Old English because of his study of linguistics. The stars also represent finding balance and harmony in contradiction and opposition since they represent things often regarded as being incompatible.
The wheel in the crest represents two things. It is the Rota Fortuna or wheel of fortune thus tying back into the theme of fate. It also represents the origins of the armiger’s paternal line with his thrice great grandfather who was a foundling and saved by being put into a “foundling wheel”.
