Looking to find my family's traditional coat of arms/crest?

Question

I want to try and trace my family's historical coat of arms, but haven't yet found a decent site. Anyone have any to give?

I'm sorry if you took offense to my question, grannytoad...The reason I ask is that my father claims to have seen the family crest when he was a boy in Spain. However, he's rather old now, and says he doesn't remember anything of what it looked like. I'm trying to see if he was correct and such a crest really exists, and if he is, I'm curious to try and find it. Decor or not, it's always interesting to delve into some form of your history or another...

Answer 1

http://genealogy.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=genealogy&cdn=parenting&tm=33&f=21&su=p284.8.150.ip_&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/geneal/index_gc.html


Since you mention Spain, I'll assume you need Hispanic records. I agree there is a valid middle ground between the numerous sites "BUY YOUR FAMILY CREST NOW AND GET A FREE COFFEE MUG"... and valid sites that have scholarly information regarding heraldry (and proper use thereof). I have looked at some of the rip off sites, checked certain of my names.. and know they are full of bovine excrement. Sadly, many of the persons posting here, don't care if they are getting scammed or not.
For background, if an ancestor had a legitimate claim to heraldry, the bonus is that your line is far more likely to have preserved accurate genealogical records that you can "tie" into.

Answer 2

It is possible a coat of arms was granted to one of yourr family. However, you have to be very careful. There are no laws in the U. S. regarding heraldry and there are companies all over the internet which I call Coat of arms peddlers. They sell them to people based solely on a surname, without documented proof that a person is entitled to them.

Sometimes more than one coat of arms has the same name. However they are only going to have one with any particular name as they are only interested in making a sale and they know many in the U. S. do not know the rules of heraldry. If you go into someone's home in the U. S. and they have a coat of arms in their den, they probably are not entitled to it. There are Anglo Saxon people in the American South that have the ones an ancestor brought over from England 300-400 years ago but they don't display them.

House of names is one of those peddlers.The vague family history might be or might not be the family history of someone that buys one of their coats of arms.

I understand some of these companies will do "research" and will "link" you to a person granted a coat of arms.

The crest was the plume on a knights helmet. In England, crest were added to coats of arms for some deed pleasing to the crown. Then I understand about the Elizabethan period all coats of arms granted had crest.

I can understand that if one was granted to your grandfather, great grandfather etc, you would like to see what it looks like

Answer 3

Some countries actually have laws about displaying a Coat of Arms which does not belong to your specific branch of a family. They consider it to be illegal if you don't have the correct branch, as each has a Coat of Arms which will differ in some small way.
You would need to be very sure of your lineage before claiming descendency from that particular branch.
Most serious Genealogists would advise you not to be taken in by somebody claiming to be able to show you your Coat of Arms without first seeing proof of your lineage.

Answer 4

Researching family history is a popular idea.

Fantasy "family coats of arms" isn't, that's only for decor. A man was awarded nobility, heraldry, and the right to bear arms. His son and son's son inherited down the line, not a family or someone hundreds of years later with the same surname.

Answer 5

As I belong to the category of people with what you are looking for, pls e-mail me your family name and I'll search in the european archives...
Don't ask arround, being a noble is unfortunately an insult nowdays....

P.S. The above links are either for english families, or not to be trusted at all...

Answer 6

You may not believe this but I entered my surname into Yahoo Search and within seconds there was my family history and a beautiful coat of arms in full colour.
I printed this out and very pretty it is too... worth a try unless your name is "Smith".

Answer 7

Is there a website for your family name? That is where I found mine.

Answer 8

Here's a few links:

http://www.allfamilycrests.com/

http://www.freecoatsofarms.com/catalog.html

http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/ASP/sId./qx/honsurnamesearch.htm