Albert A Thomson KHT, OLJ, BA, FSA Scot, MICPEM

Registered: The International Register of Arms, 4th. Sept. 2015. Registration No. 0361 (Vol.2)

Arms: Per chevron Azure and Argent, in chief two leopards’ faces proper cabossed Or, and in base a stag’s head cabossed bearing antlers with 12 points Gules.

Crest: A demi-lion rampant Azure clutching paleways in his paws a pole bearing a pennon chequy Argent and Sable, having three tails.

Motto: Micht An Main (“With all my strength”).

Grant: The Court of the Lord Lyon, 22nd October 2013 (Volume 89, Folio 106). “Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland”.

Artist – Arms: George Anthony Maxwell

The petition for armorial bearings was accepted by the Lord Lyon on the basis that while a member of Clan MacThomas the armiger’s surname ‘Thomson’ should be reflected in his new armorial bearings.

The stem of the Arms of Thomson is Argent a stag’s head cabossed and this had to be incorporated in the arms. He was then asked to consider designs for submission. At this stage he was finally able to commit his thoughts to paper and submitted application that his arms include reference to him being a Burgess of Guild and a Burgess of Trade of the City of Aberdeen. With leopards being part of the Arms of the City of Aberdeen he wish these incorporated.

In addition, he was formerly a Police Officer in Aberdeen and wished to record that he was the founder member of the Grampian Police Charity; he did so by using a chequered flag carried by a demi lion.

The arms illustrated above display the medals as an Officer in the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem, Police Long Service Medal and Knight in the Confraternity of the Knights of the Most Holy Trinity. The blue on the shield is to recognise the armiger’s good friend Gordon Casely, Journalist and Heraldic specialist who started him on the heraldic journey. The stag’s head being red also signifies Aberdeen.


The armiger is Knight Commander of the Confraternity of the Knights of the Most Holy Trinity and Prior of Scotland and is an Officer and Officer of Merit in the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. He has been awarded the Cross of Merit of Saint Nicodemus of Palermo by Archbishop Lorenzo of Palermo and all Italy and is the recipient of the Police Good Conduct and Long Service Medal.

In 1983 he won the Chief Constable's Award for Community Policing Initiatives in Torry, Aberdeen and in 1983 received a Mention in Orders after rescuing a man from Aberdeen Harbour.

In 1988 he founded the Grampian Police Diced Cap Charitable Trust which has donated over £1,100,000 to local & national deserving causes, being made a Fellow of the Trust. During his time in the Force Control Room, he was part of the Police response to a wide number of incidents in the North Sea including the Chinook Disaster (1986), the fire on the oil rig Ocean Odyssey (1988) and Cormorant Alpha Disaster (1992).

In 1999 he was appointed and served as a Director to the Instant Neighbour Charity in Aberdeen for two years before standing down due to work commitments overseas. Since leaving the Police Force the armiger has worked as a Consultant on Emergency Response and Disaster Management working in 17 countries including Angola, Azerbaijan and Ghana working with the Police, Military and the Ghanaian National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in Ireland, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Thailand and with the Royal Thai Navy, the USA, and Vietnam with the Vietnamese Police and Fire Service. He currently works with the Stirling Group.

The armiger is a Burgess of Guild and a Burgess of Trade of the City of Aberdeen and a member of the Aberdeen Shoemaker Incorporation; he has written two historical books relating to the trades in Aberdeen.

A member of the Institute of Civil Protection & Emergency Management, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland.

In May 2015 he was made a knight of the Portuguese Royal House – Cavaleiro da Casa Real Portuguesa and in June 2015 he was awared the Order of the Samurai and is a member of the Japan Society of Scotland.

In August 2015, he was appointed as Banner Bearer for the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in Aberdeen.

In September 2015 he was made a honorary 1st Dan AS8831 by the National Karate Federation and presented with the Scottish Samurai Shogun Award by Lord Charles Bruce.

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