Genealogy Friday: Tracing Your Coat of Arms

posted in: Genealogy, Miscellanious | 0

McKee_Arms_2Did someone in your family have a Coat of Arms?

What is a Coat of Arms?

      The distinctive heraldic bearings or shield of a person, family, corporation, or country {According to Dictionary.com}

How do you find your Coat of Arms?

   Many websites offer searches and plaques of the surname coat of arms today.

                Heraldry books can be found in local libraries that have Coat of Arms

Many people use Coat of Arms for their family name.  However, there is no coat of arms for a family.

Proving an ancestor had a right to bear arms will include a large amount of genealogical research.

Heraldry became established in the later part of the 12th Century.  The first arms were the sign of greater nobility.  However, within a century of being introduced lesser nobility. Balkans Trip 1015

The College of Arms is responsible for controlling, granting and confirming arms.  The Official Registers of the College include the arms granted or confirmed from the 15th Century until present day in English and Welsh families.

Arms and the proper insignia are only granted by the Kings of Arms in England.  Other countries such as Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and Sweden have an equivalent office.

Coat of Arms for King Henry VIII--He had two Coat of Arms throughout his Reign
Coat of Arms for King Henry VIII–He had two Coat of Arms throughout his Reign

A proper Coat of Arms can only be passed down to a legitimate son.  When a new son inherits a coat of arms, the arms is changed to reflect the son that inherited it.

This does not stop many websites from selling what they claim are family coat of arms.

What is your coat of arms?

Coat of Arms for Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII. Notice how her COA is a variation on King Henry VIII's.
Coat of Arms for Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII. Notice how her COA is a variation on King Henry VIII’s.

For a more detailed explanation, click here.

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