The Grand Arms of our Dynasty (by R.A. Bels, anno 2004) are used for Lineage official in and out correspondences and documents. The Grand Master for matters that concern the Lineage uses them. Since these Arms have precedence upon all other, even upon the Arms of the Order, they can be used in any document that deserves the highest diplomatic or relational levels.

Legend of the Arms:

Orientation is given from the observer point of view. Left is left to the observer but right according to the heraldic rule.

The crown is the King Crown as it is the highest rank achieved by one or more Members of our Lineage.

The red color of the mantle remembers the mantles of the Merovingian rulers and Kings, to whom the Bels were Office holders and jointly the mantle of the Balliol, Kings of Scotland. This color, as well as the purple one, signals unmistakably a higher dignity. It has been considered the color of emperors, kings, princes, and their heirs, long before the biblical times. The color of Mary Magdalene’s cape was red, telling us of the nobility of her origin. Nowadays, this color is worn by heirs of old Dynasties, by Supreme Court Magistrates and by Cardinals.

The “Bee” and the “Fleur de Lys” were Merovingian Dynastic Symbols, found in the tomb of Childeric I. In the course of History, Napoleon Ist used the Bees as his symbols. The Fleur de Lys became the symbol of the kings of France under Robert II (972-1031), of the House of Capet (Capetian´s Dynasty).

The Capetian´s dynasty had three Houses: The House of Capet (Robert I.*866 +923), the House of Valois (Louis IX.*1214 +1270) and the House of Bourbon (also with Louis IX). Historians pretend there is a fourth House. The House of Bonaparte (Carlo *1746 +1785).

The Bels Lineage adopted these Merovingians symbols to commemorate their ancestors, which were “Office Holders” at the Merovingian Court.

Since they were considerate as Roman citizens, by an Imperial edict, dated 212, and issued by the Roman emperor Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus *188 +217), they were educated in the Roman Administration Schools. After the Romans left our regions, the Bels, literate, became attached to the Courts of the Merovingians, of the Carolingians and of the Capetians. We will come back later this aspect of our history.

The places of Honour:

1. The first blazon (modified subsequently):

The Lion of the Count of Flanders Philip d´Alsace. First found on his seal dated anno 1162, because our Lineage is from Flanders and for the privileged links we had with the Counts of Flanders. This blazon has been replaced by the one of Lydéric  I^er (see development below).

2. The second blazon:

The Leopards from the Duke of Normandy because some Members of our Lineage settled over in that Duchy and were the right hand of the Dukes.

3. The Third blazon:

The Lion of Scotland because of the Kingdom of Scotland held by some Members of our Lineage.

The Blazon:

4. The Arms from the Balliol of Belle and Doulieu (Flanders).
5. The Arms of           Balduinus V Balliol (Flanders).
6. The Arms of the     Balliol of Flanders (Douxlieu).

7. The Arms of the     Belle of Ypres (Flanders).
8. The Arms of the     Belle or Bels of Flanders.
9. The Arms of the     Belle or Bels of Flanders.

10. The Arms of the     Balliol, Kings of Scotland (England).
11. The Arms of the     Bell of Suffolk (England).
12. The Arms of the Baillie of Hoprig (Scotland). Signing in1292, in Berwick, with this seal.

13. The Arms of the     Bailey of Glanusk (Wales).
14. The Arms of the     Bell of Yorkshire.
15. The Arms of the     Bell of Kirkconnel of Dumfries (Scotland).

A new and imperative modification to our Grand Arms was done on April 12, 2018 and was accepted by the General Convent of the Ordo Balliolensis of April 28, 2018, at the Abbey of Orval (B).

It is established by historical research undertaken by Fra. Robert Adelsohn Bels, that the lineage of the Bels was far anterior to the one of the Counts of Flanders that had the Arms of the Lion of Flanders. These Arms were used, for the first time, by Philippe d'Alsace (1143-1191), said Philippe de Lorraine, fs of Cte Thierry d'Alsace x Sybille d'Anjou (+1165), in 1170. The lineage of the Bels being anterior to Philippe d'Alsace, our Dynasty had to modify its Grand Arms.

The Arms of the Ancient Counts of Flanders (10a) were already used by Baudouin I of Flanders, known as "Bras-de-Fer", who became Marquis of Flanders in 866 (+879). They were transmitted to him by his ancestor Lydéric I van Buc, known as Buc or Bouck of Flanders (*abt 622 +676 or 692). He was Count of Tournaisis (646), Count of Artois in Lens, Leude and Sieur of Therouanne (649) and d'Arras and Sieur van Harlebeke (Harelbeke), Grand Forestier of Flanders.

It is the Merovingian King Dagobert I, in 621, (in his court at Soissons), who appointed Lydéric I, to this very important state function. It was, in fact, a family arrangement initiated by the marriage of Lydéric I van Buc with Richilda de France, a Merovingian princess fa. Chlotaire II (*584-628) and sister of Dagobert I (Dagobertus *ca.603 +638). This union started the Lineage of the first House of the Counts of Flanders. Lydéric I carried for the first time his blazon at about the year 642.

The lineage of Lydéric I van Buc settled on the island surrounded by marshes for several centuries. Does this “Buc” appellation takes its origin from the marshy area that would be named later "Rijssel" and much later "Lille" ?

In Diets, an archaic form of German, the word “van” is a preposition that induce the Dative grammatical form such as in ” Lydérick stammt von dem Sumpfgebiet ” although it is in reality a Genitive form “Lydérick is from, is issued from or belongs to.” Such as “ Manfred von der Herberge ” or “ Manfred from the guesthouse”.

The solution to the mystery of the name "Buc" may lie in the link that may exist between "Lille" - Rijssel and Buc". We will subsequently try to elucidate the mystery of the origin of the name "Buc", which is found in Flanders, and in Belcastel. This appellation “Buc” correspond also to a unique link which is that of a suzerain, the first Grand Forestier of Flanders, with that of his vassal lineage of the Bels, and/or variants, in Belcastel and Buc.

“...Lydéric I was fs of Mérovée de Dijon, Prince Saluart of Dijon (607-630) and Eringarde (Ermengaert also Eringarde) of Roussillon (*unknown), daughter of Girard (Gerard) of Rouessilon...”. Source: Pierre d'Oudegherst, anno 1571 and Vanden Houte, anno 1598.

Sire Gerard was the lord of Burgundy, Gascony, Auvergne, Provence, the county of Narbonne and Barcelona. He was therefore far more than a feudal lord, practically a king. He was, however, a vassal of either Charles Martel or Charles the Bald (historians do not seem to agree on this).

Consequently, our dynastic Grand Arms must use the most ancient blazon of the Counts of Flanders. Unfortunately, this blazon has been taken by the Government of the Province of West Flanders (Vlaanderen), in Belgium, granted and officialised by Decree dated 27/5/1997 and subsequently inserted in the Official Publication of the Federal Belgian Government “Het Staatsblad”, on 12/7/1997.

Another option was to take the blazon of Marguerite of Flanders.

Mathilde of Flanders (*1031 +1083), was the wife of the Duke of Normandy, William said the Conqueror. She was, therefore, Duchess of Normandy and Queen of England.  The central element of her blazon has been taken over, per honorem, by the Balliols of Scotland.

It is with Duke William, that our lineages have distinguished themselves at the Battle of Hastings, in 1066. In recognition for their help, the Bels (later Bell of the Border) and the Balliols inherited vast estates and lands in the north of England. One of these sheltered Barnard Castle, the great fortress of the Balliols of Scotland from which, in the 13th century, were issued the Balliols Regent and Kings of Scotland.

It is not by pure chance that the Balliols of Scotland took the Escutcheon of Gueules (red), which happened to be the centrepiece of the blazon of the ancient Counts of Flanders.

Our Knight of Honour, Knight of the Ordo Sancti Stanislai (Order of Saint Stanislas) and General Consul in Belgium of the Ordo Balliolensis, Frater Herbert Class wrote in an extensive study of the matter, dated Sterrebeek (B) 12th June 2018 and consecutive of the Communication Magistrale (CM 561) dated 21st May 2018 :

…Das Wappen mit den 4 Strahlen ist sehr wahrscheinlich niemals gebraucht worden. Es wird sogar suggeriert, dass man bei der Suche nach einer Flagge für Westflandern das Wappen der ersten und ältesten flämischen Herrscher gebrauchen wollte und zu dem Schluss kam, dass es sich bei dem Wappen mit 4 Strahlen gold und 4 Strahlen blau mit einem roten escutcheon, vermutlich um eine Fantasie aus dem 14. Jahrhundert handeln würde…”.

“…The blazon with the 4 rays was probably never used. It is even suggested that in the search for a flag for West Flanders, the blazon of the first and oldest Flemish rulers was used, and it concluded that the blazon with 4 rays of gold and 4 rays of blue with a red escutcheon, was presumably a fantasy from the 14th century…”.

Consequently, our Order did not opt for this blazon. In search for a blazon to be used, were two options open:

“… The blazon with five rays is shown in almost all illustrations of the counts of Flanders from the first 300 years. Admittedly, some pictures also show 7 rays but that lacks any basis because the same persons are each still depicted with a blazon with 5 rays…”.

“…My suggestion, to avoid copyright dispute with existing legal entities (6 rays) and to exclude possible disregard (4 rays) because of the lack of visual material and the negative comments on the Internet, is to use blazon with 5 rays. This maybe a valid option. Its Advantages:

• All former rulers really did have this blazon.
• Visual material on the Internet proves its existence and use.
• The old house Flanders no longer exist, and the successors have adopted the lion's flag nearly a thousand years, so there is no person or legal entity that can personally challenge the use of this symbol at a trademark office and assert their own claim. Felipe VI of Spain who officially bears the title of Count of Flanders, has the lion flag…”

It is interesting to underline, without commenting on it, the fact that the eldest son of the King of the Belgians automatically inherits the title of "Count of Flanders" (case of Baudouin I,) and the second son, of "Prince of Liège" (case of Prince Albert II), both sons of King Leopold III and Queen Astrid. So there may be at certain times - two counts of Flanders (sic) !

The Knight Herbert to conclude:

“…My personal impression is that during the reproduction of this blazon in the centuries, not much effort has been made to create an exact reproduction but seemingly more from memory. It is indeed a clearly recognizable blazon, whether it deals with 4, 5, 6 or 7 rays and hardly to be confused with another blazon…”.

The ideal option would be to create a blazon based on the five-rays one. That is to say, with the same elements but with either more rays, less rays or rays of different colours! However, by doing so, our Dynasty will no longer be able (by the aid of the blazon) to pretend to have been the right hands of the Counts of Flanders, because the transformed blazon, although being like the originals, never existed! This last option would quite evidently be 100% safe to be used but will lose its historical correctness.

Our dynasty finally opted for the blazon of the Ancient Counts of Flanders "in general" (10b). It has 5 blue rays (See also Grandes Armes). The Flag of the Ancient Counts of Flanders thus reminds us of the ties that have united us for more than 1378 years (2020-642) to Flanders and its Counts, first installed as Foresters, in the year 621, by Dagobert I and confirmed in the year 862, in Tournai, by Charles the Bald.

This blazon with five rays is now taking the place Nr 1 on the Grand Arms of our Dynasty. It has been decided to insert in the Grand Arms of our Dynasty, into the central red Escucheon.