Coat of Arms History

Coat of Arms History

History of Family Crest/Coat of Arms

Many people are mislead by the meaning of Coat of Arms / Or / Family Crests. The confusion is that the word

"crest" has become synonymous with "coat of arms". This is one in the same.

Coats of Arms were created and depicted to represent an individual, not a surname. Therefore, a coat of arms

or "family crest" was granted to a person with a given surname years ago.

Heraldry is a very old language that was originally used to identify warriors. Heraldy has been defined as the

art of blazoning, assigning, and marshalling a coat of arms. Knights selected symbols that best represented

them and wore these symbols as identifications on their shields and later on the surcoat of his armor.

This was the origin of the phrase "coat of arms". Coat of arms were passed down from one generation to another.

As generations grew from father to son and so forth, the coat of arms changed by simply making a small change

to the color or symbol that made it individualized for each person during that time. These coats of arms were

eventually recorded along with family histories in which devices were adopted that represented meanings to

the families by using specific symbols and colors.

You may have spent time searching for your family's coat of arms and found that there are many versions

of your coat of arms. This should explain the changing of coat of arms from generation to generation. Unless

you are specifically searching for an individual's coat of arms as you trace your family history, then the best you

can expect is to find a version of your coat of arms that may be commonly used or best known for that name.

Several websites and other companies sell coats of arms with a history of the family name associated with it.

But there is no such thing as "a coat of arms for your family name". Therefore, again, you can only expect

to find the most commonly used coat of arms that was signifcant for an individual with that family name, but it

really is meaningless because there is no connection between you and the arms depicted.

Therefore, we recommend DESIGNING AND COLOURING YOUR OWN COAT OF ARMS if you choose.

However, we do have a library of coat of arms and if you choose to research and use an existing coat of arms,

we will be glad to research our database to determine what is the "most commonly" used coat of arms that we

have on file. However, we do not guarantee that the coat of arms we design for you will depict your family.

Our library may vary from other companies libraries, therefore, purchasing coat of arms from any company

is at your own risk. We may not have all the necessary graphics to create your arms depending

on what we find or are requested to create. This will be identified upon your request for design order.

However, we have thousands of graphics to create all parts of coats of arms.

Updated September 2008

Preserving Generations of Heritage! Family Crest/ Coat of Arms Products Coat of Arms Pricing History of Coat of Arms Components of Coat of Arms Symbols & Meanings	Family Reunion T-Shirts & Memorabilia, Custom Shirt Designs,Family Tree Prints, Personalized Dominoes, Unique Anniversary Gifts \| www.familytreepaintings.com Back to: Family Crest/Coat of Arms Back to: Home
	Coat of Arms History History of Family Crest/Coat of Arms Many people are mislead by the meaning of Coat of Arms / Or / Family Crests. The confusion is that the word "crest" has become synonymous with "coat of arms". This is one in the same. Coats of Arms were created and depicted to represent an individual, not a surname. Therefore, a coat of arms or "family crest" was granted to a person with a given surname years ago. Heraldry is a very old language that was originally used to identify warriors. Heraldy has been defined as the art of blazoning, assigning, and marshalling a coat of arms. Knights selected symbols that best represented them and wore these symbols as identifications on their shields and later on the surcoat of his armor. This was the origin of the phrase "coat of arms". Coat of arms were passed down from one generation to another. As generations grew from father to son and so forth, the coat of arms changed by simply making a small change to the color or symbol that made it individualized for each person during that time. These coats of arms were eventually recorded along with family histories in which devices were adopted that represented meanings to the families by using specific symbols and colors. You may have spent time searching for your family's coat of arms and found that there are many versions of your coat of arms. This should explain the changing of coat of arms from generation to generation. Unless you are specifically searching for an individual's coat of arms as you trace your family history, then the best you can expect is to find a version of your coat of arms that may be commonly used or best known for that name. Several websites and other companies sell coats of arms with a history of the family name associated with it. But there is no such thing as "a coat of arms for your family name". Therefore, again, you can only expect to find the most commonly used coat of arms that was signifcant for an individual with that family name, but it really is meaningless because there is no connection between you and the arms depicted. Therefore, we recommend DESIGNING AND COLOURING YOUR OWN COAT OF ARMS if you choose. However, we do have a library of coat of arms and if you choose to research and use an existing coat of arms, we will be glad to research our database to determine what is the "most commonly" used coat of arms that we have on file. However, we do not guarantee that the coat of arms we design for you will depict your family. Our library may vary from other companies libraries, therefore, purchasing coat of arms from any company is at your own risk. We may not have all the necessary graphics to create your arms depending on what we find or are requested to create. This will be identified upon your request for design order. However, we have thousands of graphics to create all parts of coats of arms. Copyright © CcYoung Designs 2002 - 2008 All rights reserved Updated September 2008