The Heraldry Society of Scotland was founded in 1977 with the objective of promoting the study of heraldry and encouraging its correct use in Scotland and overseas.
The Society encourages people to join whether they have their own Arms, intend to procure Arms, or have a general interest in Scottish Heraldry. The membership is made up of people from around the globe with many meeting regularly in the Society's very active on-line Community Forum.
Meetings are held several times during the year for lectures or visits to places of historic and heraldic interest, both in Scotland and in other countries.
The Society is privileged to number many of Her Majesty's Officers of Arms among its members and a close liaison is maintained with the Court of the Lord Lyon. The Society's current President is John Malden, Esq., Slains Herald. The Society also participated, in conjunction with the Scottish Genealogy Society, in the planning of the XXVIIth International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences which was convened in St Andrews in August 2006.
The Heraldry Society publishes a quarterly quality A4 sized colour newsletter entitled Tak Tent, and an annual booklet (100pp) of essays entitled The Double Tressure (ISSN 0141-237X). The current (2007) editor of both is Professor James D. Floyd.
The Society's arms feature a Saint Andrew's Cross with silver thistles and a red shield. Their crest is a herald wearing a tabard of the arms, and their motto is Tak Tent of Armes, Scots for "take notice of arms".