Coats of arms were issued to individuals who passed them on to their sons. There are no laws n the U. S. regarding heraldry and there are companies that sell them based solely on a surname. Does everyone know that not everyone with the same surname comes from the same root? There was a time when people did not have surnames and they took the name of their occupation, habitation, or their name indicated they were the son of a person say for instance John. However, a lot of guys named John had sons. There were a lot of cooks, taylor, clerks(clarks) smiths and they were not all related. There were a lot of guys living on a hill, not just Sam. Do you know that many coats of arms have the same name? About 200 for Lewis. The companies that sell them will only have one for any name because they just need to sell the one to every gullible person that is looking for their "family crest," which is a misnomer for a coat of arms.
2007-06-22 09:57:43 · 5 answers · asked by Shirley T 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Royalty
No, but a lot of people doing family histories are being led astray, particularly by the vague family histories that come with the coat of arms. Those histories might be their family and they might not.
2007-06-22 10:07:46 · update #1
It's just an ego thing. My Uncle has it in his head that our family comes from greatness and has spent God knows how much money to find our family coat of arms. He's a putz.
2007-06-22 11:18:12 · answer #1 · answered by Julia B 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Yes,some of us are quite aware.Debrett's made a coat of arms,for this,(my) family's generation,for a fee;it was based on the many coats of arms in my family's name.Since we don't hold a common surname,and descendants were traced(also for a fee),we are satisfied that we are entitled to display our coat of arms.
Many reputable companies do tell clients about the proper use and history behind coats of arms and family crests.It always pays to do research on a subject.
2007-06-22 18:48:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I know that perfectly well. All you have to do is to send in the money and you get someone's coat of arms with your name on it. As the saying goes "there's one born every minute". If people want to waste their money, there's not much that can be done about it.
2007-06-22 17:12:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I dont know about anyone else in the United States, but my family went to Ireland and did a thorough search to find our family crest. We certainly werent royalty. Few are, but it's still my family crest and I'm very proud of it. What do you suggest? Should the government do a door to door search and confiscate all fraudulent family crests?
2007-06-22 17:04:38 · answer #4 · answered by phlada64 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
A family crest, just like a coat of arms, can have on it whatever you choose to put on it to represent yourself. In this country, there is no need for "heraldry".
2007-06-22 17:02:06 · answer #5 · answered by essentiallysolo 7 · 3⤊ 5⤋