Town Senator Prominent residents of towns sometimes disported coats of arms even if they were not noblemen. Ján Ladislaides, a Town Hall Senator (i.e., councilman) in Trenčín for a time, had his coat of arms. A notary appointed to a town hall, Ladislaides's job when he drew the emoji, was the Habsburg Empire's best paid municipal position, with salaries commonly two or more times higher than those of the mayors.

Trenčín Castle

1635 Ladislaides entered the year of his financial review to the left of his signature, the emoticon below it. Ladislaides The notary's first name was Ján (Johannes, i.e., John in English) and his last name was Latinized (Hellenized) from the Slovak first name Ladislav. The original meaning of the last name was a person pertaining to Ladislav's family, who might have been his father, grandfather, or an earlier male ancestor. Latinization or Hellenization of their last names was popular among accomplished Slovak Lutheran families at that time.