How to Find Your Family Crest
- Determine What You Already Know. You’ll need to decide on a branch of your family you want to research and trace that family name back as far as you can.
- Look for Heraldry Symbols.
- Verify the Information You Find.
- Understand the Symbolism.
- Get a Useable Family Crest for Genealogy.
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How do I know if I have the right family crest?
You will most likely find a family crest for the original spelling of your family name. If you have traced the records back to an ancestor who had the original spelling, then it is still your coat of arms, even though the name may be spelled differently in your line today.
How accurate are family crests?
Companies that sell family crests, or coats of arms, usually try to connect them with a surname. This is genealogically inaccurate. That company hasn’t researched your family history. It is entirely possible that no one in your entire line was every granted a coat of arms.
How do you decode a family crest?
Colors had meanings for each family.
- Gold: generosity and elevation of the mind.
- Silver or white: peace and sincerity.
- Red: warrior or martyr, also military strength or magnanimity.
- Blue: truth and loyalty.
- Green: hope, joy, and loyalty in love.
- Black: constancy.
- Purple: royal majesty, sovereignty, and justice.
What is the difference between a family coat of arms and a family crest?
Although some people refer to a “family crest” and a “coat of arms” interchangeably, there is a difference. A crest is an element or part of a coat of arms, but not the entire arms. On a coat of arms, the crest is found above the shield, usually on top of a helmet.
Is it rare to have a family crest?
However, actually having a coat of arms or family crest is much rarer than you might imagine. Having the hereditary right to use it is even rarer.
Does every last name have a family crest?
A. No. There is no such thing as a ‘coat of arms for a surname’. Coats of arms are inherited in the male line and so are surnames.
How do family crests work?
Crests were passed down by men to their firstborn male offspring, similar to how a man named William Jones might name his son William Jones Jr. In a tradition known as cadency, the father’s other sons embellished on this crest to create a semi-original one to represent their own families [source: Powell].
Do most families have a family crest?
Answer: Most of us find heraldry fascinating, but few Americans are entitled to claim coat of arms. If we are, we’re going to have to trace our family back through the centuries to the Middles Ages. The chances that your noble ancestor bore the same surname you inherited are slim.
Can I use my family crest?
Finding a Family’s Coat of Arms
Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families or surnames. A form of property, coats of arms may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.
How do I identify my crest?
How to Find Your Family Crest
- Determine What You Already Know. You’ll need to decide on a branch of your family you want to research and trace that family name back as far as you can.
- Look for Heraldry Symbols.
- Verify the Information You Find.
- Understand the Symbolism.
- Get a Useable Family Crest for Genealogy.
What do parts of a family crest mean?
Gold (or): generosity and elevation of the mind. Silver or white (argent): peace and sincerity. Red: warrior or martyr; military strength and magnanimity. Blue: truth and loyalty. Green: hope, joy, and loyalty in love.
What does the hand mean on a family crest?
HALBERT: A battle axe, the symbol of military service. HAND: Emblematic of faith. HARE: Denotes one who is intelligent in warfare. HARP: The heraldic symbol of Ireland for centuries. HARPY: A cross between a virgin and a vulture, its meaning is unknown.
Can you combine two family crests?
To marshal two or more coats of arms and/or crests means to combine them into one shield and crest design. This may be done to represent the union of two families in marriage, to express inheritance, or the occupation of an office or management of a business.
What does a crown mean on a family crest?
Crown. The crown is an emblem of victory, sovereignty, and empire in heraldry. It is a visible sign of success, thus the term ‘crowning achievement’, and its significance as the decoration of the ultimate level of rank and power, makes bearing the crown a great honour.
What is the charge on a coat of arms?
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ordinary) or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or other device.
Who grants coat of arms?
Arms and crests, badges and supporters, are granted by letters patent issued by the most senior heralds, the Kings of Arms. They act according to powers delegated to them by the Crown and all grants are therefore made under Crown authority.
What do colors mean in family crests?
Colors had meanings for each family. Gold: generosity and elevation of the mind. Silver or white: peace and sincerity. Red: warrior or martyr, also military strength or magnanimity. Blue: truth and loyalty.
How accurate is House of names?
All products sold by HouseofNames.com are completely authentic. Research and writing is done “in-house” by a team of historians at the head office of our parent company, Swyrich Corporation. Swyrich and its partners have been researching and writing family name documents since 1968.