Coat of arms help!!?

Question

I have a project and i need to find my coat of arms- McKinnon
Not Mackinnon on Makinnon it's MCKINNON

Answer 1

Feel free to print this out for your teacher. It's amazing the number of teachers who give students this assignment not having a clue.

A coat of arms (the crest is part of the coat of arms) was granted to an INDIVIDUAL, not to a family. And for it to be YOUR coat of arms, you would have to show direct paternal descendency from that person (not his brothers, or uncles who likely bore the same surname - for it was not their coat of arms).

Without that direct descendancy, what you have is a way-cool coat of arms that at sometime way back when was granted to someone who happened to have your surname (there can be many coats-of-arms for a given surname). Nothing to do with you.

That said, there are a bizzillion places that will gladly sell you a coat of arms, and even one that likely was in fact granted to someone with your surname. Any Stuckey's along US interstates has racks of coffee mugs and key chains with coats-of-arms with a surname.

But there is no family (surname) coat of arms, in fact, many coats-of-arms were granted before surname usage was common or stable. It is the coat of arms of the direct paternal descendants of the person granted the coat of arms. And surname is irrelevant. Somewhere in that paternal line, someone could have changed their surname for any number of reasons -- but as a direct descendent, you can consider it your coat of arms even though you don't have the surname of the original grantee.

Answer 2

Mckinnon Family Crest

Answer 3

I agree with Mind Bender. Your teacher is seriously misguided if she/he thinks that a coat of arms is determined by your last name, and that everyone with that last name has the same coat of arms. Coat of Arms were granted to an INDIVIDUAL, not to a surname. IF you have an ancestor who was granted a coat of arms, then you MIGHT be able to claim rights to it IF you are the first born, of the first born, of the first born, of the first born, of the person who was granted the coat of arms. If you do not have a direct ancestor who was granted a coat of arms, AND you are not in the line of first born from that person all the way down to you, then you have NO coat of arms.

Answer 4

If you want to really impress your teacher, print out what others have shared with you and then research the real coat of arms that your family would have fought for...the one for the prince who ruled their land. A quick search of legitimate heraldry sites shows that no McKinnon was ever given heraldry honors. Family coat of arms didn't exist, but a country did have one. Here's the one for all of us who didn't have royal ancestors or knights in shining armor clamoring in our tree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland

Answer 5

I always get a shed load of thumbs down for this answer, but it's what you asked for, and I am just answering the question,
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=MCKINNON
hope this helps.

Answer 6

I might mention, we have some of this board that resent our warning people of the dishonesty in the coat of arms business. I don't know if they are in the pocket of House of Names or what. However, the links I have provided you are from the most reliable sources. They cannot provide you with any links from reliable sources to contradict the link from the British College of Arms or The National Genealogical Society. I can also provide you with links to sources on Irish coats of arms as well as Italian coats of arms. There is chicanery regardless of the nation the arms originated. Open those links I have provided you and give them to your teacher or if you are a little afraid to do so, put them on her desk before class or after class when she is not around. Many people on this board can give you numerous links to websites peddling coats of arms. However, we would not be honest if we did not tell you that the ones they have possibly have nothing to do with you or your family.

Since you have asked for "MY coat of arms" then to say "but this is what you asked for. and I am just answering the question" is a wrongful statement. What you asked for no one can tell you that what is being provided belongs to you or anyone which whom you are related without research your family history.

There are no laws regarding heraldry in the U.S. and there are merchants of deceit that take advantage of gullible Americans. In some countries a person would risk prosecution displaying a coat of arms without documented proof that it belonged to them.

Coats of arms DO NOT belong to surnames.

They were granted to individuals. Only a legitimate direct male line descendant of those individuals are entitled to the coat of arms.

I understand those granted to men that are knighted are not hereditary.

See the links below, one from the British College of Arms and the other from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U.S., The National Genealogical Society

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.htm

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm

People who display those tacky little walnut plaques on their den walls are just displaying one that was granted to someone with their surname and might not even be related.

Actually there might be several that were granted to individuals with your surname. House of Names or any of the other peddlers that sell them will not have all of them. They just need the one to sell to gullible Americans.

House of Names has the following in fine print at the bottom of its page

"We encourage you to study the McKinnon genealogy to find out if you descend from someone who bore a particular family crest.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .No families, not even royal houses, can make sound claim to the right to bear arms unless a proven connection is established through attested genealogical records." Also House of Names are known to attach an Irish name to an English coat of arms. After 1603, the Irish as a rule had disdain for coats of arms.

Now, some Americans who have acquired money have had one designed and applied to the British College of Arms and paid to have them granted to them. Those that live on Boston's Back Bay if they have any they have bought them that way.

It is quite possible for you to have legitimate claim to several in your family tree. That doesn't mean you yourself are entitled to any of them It just means several direct ancestors were granted one and if you do a book on your family tree it is quite legitimate for you to put a picture of their coats of arms in your book. But you shouldn't put a picture of one just because it has the same surname of one of your ancestors.

If you have any English lines that goes back to early colonial days in the American South you have a good chance of having more than one in your family tree. Actually, some in the South have the ones their ancestor brought over from England 300-400 years ago. They don't display them. They can't buy groceries with them. You know something else, Walmart won't even take them.

Answer 7

i found one that might be the one your looking for im not sure if i can put the picture here so i'll give you the website.

http://www.coats-of-arms.com/mckinnon%20coat%20of%20arms.htm

Answer 8

it's definately irish, lol. mac's are scottish while mc's are irish.