The basic pattern is that of Irish arms for Neills and O’Neills, differenced here by the embattled division line which alludes to the armiger’s profession as a Chartered Town Planner. The armoured arm is a crest commonly associated with Neills and O’Neills; here it holds a scroll closed instead of a sword, representing a town plan.

The mound of earth is a reference to Moatabower, a motte originally of Neolithic origin situated at Mount Neill, Co. Carlow, Ireland.

The motto means “A place for everything and everything in its place”. It refers to the principle of land use zoning as a further reference to Mr. Neill’s career in urban planning.

On the badge the ship, a type known as a Dutch flute, refers to the three fire-ships in the arms of the Town of Wexford, Ireland, as recorded in the visitation of 1618, and which appear on a Wexford trade token of the armiger’s ancestor, Constantine Neale, a burgess of that town. The design also alludes to the maritime service of several members of the armiger’s family, and to his interest in coins and medals. The abbreviated version of the motto around the badge alludes to a common practice in inscribing coins and medals.

Mr. Neill was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Geography at the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1993 and to the degree of Master of Philosophy in Environmental Planning at the University of Reading in 1995. He further received a postgraduate diploma in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University in 1997. A herald of arms by inclination, Mr. Neill has taken the first two levels of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada’s proficiency course and, at the time of entry, was working on his Licentiate. He was President of the BC/Yukon Branch of the RHSC from 2010 to 2016 and has been editor of the Society’s national newsletter Gonfanon since 2012. He also edits the Branch newsletter The Blazon and acts as Associate Editor for the Society’s national journal Heraldry in Canada.

For his services to heraldry at the Provincial level, Mr. Neill was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He was further honoured for his services at the National level with the RHSC Meritorious Service Award in 2015 and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada in 2017.

Mr. Neill’s other interests include the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem (Grand Priory in Canada) where he holds the rank of Knight of Justice (KLJ), the position of Deputy Principal Armorist to the Grand Prior and is Vice-Commander for Vancouver Island. He is also a Member of the Companionate of Merit (MMLJ). The armiger is a member of the 78th Fraser’s Highlanders (Fort Victoria Garrison). He is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Canadian Institute of Planners, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, to whose Journal he has contributed on heraldic matters.