Coats of Arms, Heraldry & Family History

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander". The word, in its most general sense, encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms.To most, though, heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and heraldic badges (To continue the article on this topic visit Wikipedia.)


Briefly, a "coat of arms" refers to a design on a shield or covering or coat over armor that identified you in battle - while you were in "arms" or ready for war. The European art of heraldry is nearly a thousand years old but is still practiced today in Europe.

According to England's College of Arms, there is no such thing as a coat of arms for a surname. The College of Arms states that unrelated families with the same surname will be entitled to completely different coats of arms and many will be entitled to no coat of arms. For any person to have a right to a coat of arms, they must either have had it granted to them or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or confirmed in the past.

England's King Henry passed laws prohibiting the free design and wearing of armorial bearings, or personal coats of arms. In 1483, King Edward IV established the College of Arms--or Heralds' College--to "oversee and regulate the granting of coats of arms."

However, a coat of arms can provide some insight into some of your family history research and tell you a bit about where you came from. Remember your ancestry didn't end or begin with your coat of arms, and you're related to many more than just one name and the coat of arms may have been from a lineage you aren't descended from.

If you happen to find your particular ancestry's coat of arms you may be able to find some sweet memorabilia related to it at House of Names.

Some other resources can provide a bit of insight into the meanings on the coats of arms.

Have fun with this fascinating aspect of family history!