Coat-of-Arms of August Kekulé von Stradonitz (1829-1896)

Coat-of-arms of August Kekulé von Stradonitz (1829-1896)
best known for his discovery of the structure of benzene (1865)

The above depiction of the coat-of-arms of Kekulé is due to Jochen Wilke.
The background is a conventional representation of the benzene molecule
(although actual benzene has hexagonal rather than triangular symmetry).
[ © 2004 Jochen Wilke. This copyrighted image is reproduced here by permission. ]

Gules, three angled fleams Argent pallwise [blades pointing counterclockwise]
between three trefoils Vert [pallwise inverted, in heart].
Crest: A horse fleam Argent. Mantling: Gules and Argent.

In the above, the bracketed terms were introduced to lift
the ambiguities of the ancient German blazon which reads:

In Rot drei in Form eines Schächerkreuzes zusammengefügte, von drei
grünen Kleeblättern gewinkelte silberne Rossflieten oder Lasseisen.
Auf der Helm mit rot-silbernen Decken eine silberne Rossfliete.

August Kekulé von Stradonitz (1829-96)

In 1865, Kekulé had a revelation of the cyclic structure of benzene in a daydream where he saw snakes biting their own tails. He first proposed a planar molecule of trigonal symmetry, with alternating single and double bonds (instead of the currently accepted perfect hexagonal symmetry).

Heraldic Notes [edited summary] :

[2004-07-26] Jiri Jaroslav provides a link to the above German blazon and remarks that the German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz descended from ancient Czech noblility: The family Kekulé ze Stradonic.
[2004-07-28] Jochen Wilke presents his own tentative depiction of the Kekulé arms, in spite of several ambiguities in the German blazon.
[2004-07-31] Jiri Jaroslav lifts all ambiguities with a picture of the Kekulé coat-of-arms outside the Old City Hall of Prague. In the 16th and early 17th century, Kekules were lords of the Czech village of Pravonin, whose arms (at right) are inspired from the Kekulé shield, without its small trefoils [cloverleaves = Kleeblättern in German = ctyrlistky in Czech]. Note that, in both cases, the fleams are very stylized (see the shape of the actual tool above right).
[2004-08-01] Jochen Wilke submits the above updated depiction, where fleams are rendered with rounded shapes (his choice).

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