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Registered:
The
International Register
of Arms, 2nd October
2023. Registration No.
0682 (Vol.4).
Arms: Party
per fess
dovetailed of
three tenons
upwards Sable and
Argent two mullets
of six points
pierced in pale
counterchanged.
Crest:
Between
two eagle wings Sable
a bezant
square-pierced [a
Vietnamese sapek].
Motto: Parvus
A Parvo.
Battle
Cry: Mehr
Licht!
Assumed: France,
10th September 2023.
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The
structure of the arms
reflects the etymology of
the family surname
composed of two conjoined
roots: Petit,
meaning “small” and Imbert,
a rare and ancient
Germanic christian name
also composed of two
elements: "Im-",
meaning “gigantic”, and "-behrt",
meaning “brightness”. The
whole thus forms an
oxymoron (little immense
light) that the strongly
contrasting livery colours
endeavour to symbolise.
The dovetails solidly
unite both chief and base,
in the same way as the
French and Germanic
components are united into
one single surname. The
dovetailed line also
alludes to the armiger’s
paternal grandfather who
was a cabinet maker. The
two mullets pierced (spur
rowels) symbolise the
armiger’s parents — one
from the north of France,
the other from the south —
whose constant spurring
was fruitful and made
their three children
succeed in life (hence the
three tenons).
The triple combination of
the colours, of the
counterchanged pattern and
of the dovetailed line is
somehow reminiscent of the
"âm dương"
principle (the Indochinese
equivalent of the Chinese
"yin-yang"),
knowing that "mộng âm
dương" is the
Vietnamese expression
designating the assembly
system made of dovetailed
mortises and tenons, used
in joinery. This, along
with the sapek (the bezant
square-pierced) in the
crest, alludes to the
armiger's paternal uncle,
a young lieutenant who
untimely but bravely died
in combat in Cochinchina
in 1947, during the First
Indochina War. The sapek
was the smallest coin in
circulation for almost a
millenium in Vietnam (from
ca 970 AD to the mid
1940's). Being
heraldically represented
in gold, it also is a
visualisation of the
surname (small gigantic
shine). The eagle wings
refer to John the
Evangelist, the patron
saint of the armiger, but
also of his paternal
uncle, his
great-grandfather, and his
godfather.
Lastly, the motto in Latin
combined with the battle
cry in German are puns
alluding again to the
surname: “Parvus”
means “small” or “modest”,
and “a parvo” means
“since childhood”; “Mehr
Licht!” (Goethe’s
last words on his death
bed) means “more light!”.
The whole points at a
lifelong and humble quest
for the lights of
knowledge and wisdom.
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Further
Information
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The
Armorial Bearings of
Jean Petitimbert.
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