Smith coat of arms?

Question

I'm looking for my families coat of arms. I've seen it before when my uncle showed it to me, but I can't track it down online.

There is a knight on each side, a hand coming out of the top holding a sword. It's red and white in color if I remember correctly. Also, the knights are holding large axes or halbreds. The last detail I remember is there are symbols that look like Fleur de Lisse's (sp?)

Thanks in advance if anyone knows anything about it.

Answer 1

Have a look at the link posted below,
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=Smith
hope this helps.
I will more than likely get a shed load of "thumbs down"
I am just offering an answer to the "Smith coat of arms" question.

Answer 2

If you or your uncle can trace your Smith family tree back to a single individual to whom the English or Scottish Crown has granted a coat of arms, as his posterity you're more than welcome to it.

Speaking for myself, however, I'm thrilled to finally have traced my Smith family back to my great-great grandfather, an Alden Smith born in Massachusetts in 1801. Census records show that Alden's dad was born in New Hampshire, but otherwise, I can't trace the Smiths any further back in time.

What's more, a mug imprinted with a Smith coat of arms sounds like you're trying too hard to impress. After all, the glory of being named Smith is that the bearer is judged by his or her actions rather than by any association with a particular surname. Poor Betty Windsor!

Answer 3

The first thing that should be explained is that everyone with the same last name is NOT going to be related. There is no one "Smith family". ESPECIALLY the name Smith.. one of the most common names in the country.
What your uncle had/ has is a rip off. There are many companies online who are KNOWN to be unreliable, because they will sell you anything, with no regard for it being factual or not. houseofnames is high on that list.
NO "family", Smith or otherwise, has a legitimate coat of arms. They are not issued or awarded to families.

Answer 4

Sorry, there is no such thing as a Smith family coat of arms. Coats of arms were granted to an INDIVIDUAL, not his brothers nor uncles who likely carried the same surname.

And once granted, the coat of arms then (in most countries) passed down to direct MALE descendants ONLY. And it doesn't matter if those male descendants carry the same surname as the original grantee (surnames changed all the time for many reasons).

If you can't show direct paternal relationship, the coat of arms is not yours. [note that in some countries, the person holding the coat of arms has to explicitly pass it to their male descendant - it isn't automatic, and many did not.]

Yes, these wonderful places where you can get a coat of arms (cheapest places are any Stuckies along US interstates where you can find coats of arms with surnames on way cool things like coffee mugs and key chains) aren't totally bogus. It is likely that the coat of arms they are selling was in fact granted at some point way back when to someone who just happened to have that surname.

This can be shown clearly in regards to Smith. I have a Smith line (actually a number of them) in my ancestry. I know of at least 9 different coats of arms that were granted to Smiths. And not a one of them has anything to do with anyone in my Smith line.

But, you can go to houseofnames and a bazillion more places on the internet and get a way cool coat of arms that was granted at some point way back when to someone who happened to have your surname, of course handsomely mounted on a simulated walnut plaque suitable for display in the finest of dens, often coming with, as a bonus, a three color framed history of YOUR family surname. If you time it right, you might also get a set of ginsu knives with it. BTW, I hope you live in the US. Because in many european countries, if you displayed this coat of arms you are guilty of the crime of usurpory (or however you spell it) - no kidding - because you are claiming something that is not yours to claim. That's why all of these places focus on the US as opposed to European countries.

Answer 5

Brandon, coats of arms do not belong to surnames. Any one of us could give you numerous sites for peddlers selling surname products including coats of arms, like House of Names, but we would not be honest with you if we did not warn you that what you see might not have anything at all to do with anyone you are related to.

Coats of arms were and are granted to individuals and are inherited only by their legitimate direct male line descendants. I wouldn't be surprise if there weren't 50 different men named Smith that were each granted a different coat of arms. The merchants that peddle them won't have all of them, as they don't need to in order to sell to gullible people.

Please 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

Now, if you are a student and your teacher has asked you to find your coat of arms, go ahead and print one off. However, also give her/him a copy of the links I have provided.
She/he would have to be impressed with your research. Also maybe she will be educated on the use of coats of arms.

Edit: I might mention all you need to do is to put Coat of Arms or Heraldry in your search engine and you will come up with many many merchants of deceit selling coats of arms.

Answer 6

Brandon, Shirley T is exactly correct.

Lots of Americans don't understand the concept of "coats of arms" and think that they are particular to a surname, but they're not.