Trace Your Family Tree Some families choose to adopt a coat of arms based only on a last name without an ancestral link, but this practice can hinder the significance and meaning behind the coat of arms. This guide can help you find out if a crest is associated with your family.
An alternative is to create one that is unique and meaningful to your family! Designing your own coat of arms can be fun and insightful. A coat of arms can be very detailed, and it often includes many elements. Although not every coat of arms has every piece, the following parts are often incorporated in the design.
Shield: The shield is the center of the design; it is the only necessary piece when designing a coat of arms. Helm: A helmet rests below the crest but above the shield. It reflects the origins of heraldry. A crown could replace or accompany the helmet. Mantling: The mantling is a piece of cloth that flows out from the helmet.
Supporters: A pair of people or animals stand on either side of the shield and support it. Compartment: The compartment is a base design usually a landscape on which the shield and supporters rest. They passed from father to son, as did lands and titles, and thus could serve as identifiers of specific lineages as well as of individuals.
Different members of the same family could be distinguished by the addition of small devices or charges to the shield. Since they are specific to individuals and their descendants we can immediately see that there can be no coat of arms for a family name in general.
Only such ancestors could have acquired a right to a coat of arms. Once a good knowledge of these ancestors has been gained, it is possible to search for indications that they had a coat of arms. Such searches might be in published sources like the numerous heraldic books published over the years in many languages or in manuscript collections held by record offices.
In countries where there is a heraldic authority, which include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, searches need to be carried out in the official records of grants and confirmations of arms. Research in the records of the College of Arms, the Court of Lord Lyon or other authorities would reveal whether an ancestor was officially recognised as having arms.
This article was originally written for Your Family History magazine. Read on to find out why! In this regard, German heraldry also known as German-Nordic heraldry is considered to be in staunch contrast to the heraldry used in England also known as Gallo-British heraldry.
The image in the middle of the shield of German coats of arms is commonly a lion or eagle. The presentation of this image is different from other countries, however, in that it often takes on a specific pattern rather than a solid color.
Egypt is one of many non-European countries around the world to have adopted the use of coats of arms. However, coats of arms in Egypt are primarily used to represent different ministries and departments within the government. Families and individuals do not use coats of arms to represent their status within the country. One of the most common symbols used on the coats of arms of Egypt is the star and crescent, which is often used to symbolize the Islamic religion.
Vatican City, also known as the Vatican City State, utilizes coats of arms to represent various positions within the Catholic Church, including: clergy members, diocese, bishops, and the Pope. The use of heraldry in the Catholic Church originated as a means of identifying specific documents.
Over time, however, the practice was extended to include personal coats of arms for individuals. In some cases, the individuals in these positions have a family coat of arms. Once a member of the clergy, these coats of arms are often combined with the coat of arms meant to represent their particular office. That person then has the right to pass down the arms through the legitimate male line of their family.
This rule of legitimate male-line descent is why some people with the same surname have the legal right to use a coat of arms in the UK, and others with the same surname do not.
A real coat of arms is divided into several parts. Each part tells you something about the individual, family, corporation, or organization to which it was granted.
The parts of a coat of arms are:. Just know that it is not a hereditary one and has no official or ancestral meaning. You can make one for yourself or your family and use it as a logo. Many companies online will help you design your own. It is the companies that sell you what they tell you is your official family coat of arms based on your surname that are not to be trusted. As you have seen, only a certain few individuals are legally entitled to use an ancient and hereditary coat of arms.
Companies that sell you merchandise with your supposed coat of arms on it are either using the coat of arms of a family with your same surname and which you have no legal or hereditary right to use , or they are making one up for you and not telling you.
They use all of the right parts of a real coat of arms, but the arms they are making for you are new, with no ancestral meaning to your family at all. Many companies have made a lot of money with this deception over the past several decades, as a renewed interest in heraldry began after WWII. While there is nothing wrong with designing your own coat of arms for your family, it is unlikely you will discover you are entitled to use an ancient and established on that has been handed down for centuries through the same family.
Only in a very few, exceptional cases will you find you belong to a line that does have the right to use an ancient coat of arms. If you do, display them proudly, because they are part of a rich and lengthy heritage few can claim or prove.
Heraldry is a real art. There are organizations in the United Kingdom and other European countries that can help you interpret the meaning on a legitimate coat of arms if you discover one in your family. If you decide to buy a coat of arms from an online company or offline company , just know it will likely be a new coat of arms and not something ancient and legitimate.
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