How authentic are family coats of arms obtained from the internet?

[WarrenD]

I have done a little bit of online research on my family name and found a family crest. The same crest appeared on more than one website. If it is an authentic crest, that originated in Europe at least 100 years ago, I might be interested in obtaining a copy of it for display. However my family is not noble or royal as far as I know.

I am not pretentious enough to want a coat of arms simply because someone else has one, but if there is an authentic coat of arms I would like my family to be able to display it. The coat of arms I have seen could have been designed using a web design or photoshop program. and I don't want something that was created simply to separate me from a few hard-earned dollars.

Any experts out there on family heraldry who can advise me on this? I don't NEED a coat of arms, but if there is an authentic one I would like to add it to our family's historical documents.

The graphic products advertised are not expensive, but would be too expensive if they don't accurately represent me or my family.

Thanks.

 

[TedPack]

It is probably authentic,but probably not yours. We answer questions about coats of arms every week. This is my stock answer.

(Crests are the top part of a Coat of Arms.)

House of names -
http://www.houseofnames.com
will probably show you a Coat of Arms / Crest that was (probably) once issued to someone with the same surname as yours, BUT:

Coats of arms were designed so knights could tell each other apart when they were buttoned up in their suits of armor. They were given to individuals, not families. If, for instance, every knight named Smith used the same coat of arms, there would be a small army riding around with identical shields. It would be as confusing as a basketball game where both sides wore blue and every player was number 12.

The eldest legitimate son inherits his father's Coats of Arms. He passes it on to his eldest legitimate son, and so on; that's where the myth of a "Family" Coat of arms comes from. Only one person can PROPERLY (See below) have a given coat of arms at one time. People who sell T-shirts and coffee mugs, however encourage the gullible to believe Coats of Arms are for a surname.

Below:

If your surname is Smith and you come from Shropshire, you may find that Sir Albert Smith, Sir Bruce Smith and Sir Charles Smith, all from Shropshire, all had C of A. If you do your research, you may find you descend from Sir Charles, but you are nowhere close to being the eldest son of the eldest son of the . . .. Now comes the question - Is using his coat of arms proper? Opinions differ.

Some say it is like demanding "your" room in the ancestral Smith estate in Shropshire, from the current owners - ridiculous and illegal.

Some say it is like wearing a Regimental tie if you didn't serve in that regiment. (Land's End sells those by the thousands to Americans. I would never buy one.)

Some say it is like wearing a Scotch Plaid shirt when you don't belong to that clan. (LL Bean sells tens of thousands of those; I have Lindsay myself.)

Some say it is as harmless as wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap when you didn't play for the team, or a UC Berkeley T-shrt when you didn't attend the University. (Or an Ohio State one, but as long as you're going to wear a University T-shirt, why not the finest?)

So, there's the facts and three opinions about using a "Family" coat of arms. You can make up your own mind, after you do your research.

 

[ShirleyT1]

Many are valid. However, if one is valid it belongs to one man and one man alone. They certainly don't belong to surnames. To display one of those little walnut plaques, tshirts,keychains, coffee mugs with a coat of arms on it is usurpation of another's identity.
If you have pride in yourself and your family, you certainly don't want to take on another's identity.

Countries have different law. But coats of arms were granted to or assumed by an individual man. Now in Britain when a man is granted a coat of arms, all sons are eligible to apply and have one granted with some differences. Only the oldest son inherits his father's upon his father's death.

Also frequently more than one man with the same surname, not necessarily related. were granted a coat of arms, all different.
No one peddler that sells them on the internet, at shopping malls, in airports, in magazines will have all of them. They don't need to in order to sell to suckers. The only time they will have more than one is if more than one man with the same surname from different national origins were granted one. Then they will have one of each and there might have been others.

See the links below regarding heraldry in various countries.

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.htm
This is the Britisn College of Arms. They grant coats of arms.

http://www.bothwell.cx/arms.shtml
This link regarding Bothwell arms gives the rules on Scottish Arms

http://www.heraldry.ws/info/article10.html
This is regarding Irish heraldry

http://www.regalis.com/onom.htm
This is regarding Italian heraldry

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frherald.htm
This is regarding French heraldry

http://www.szlachta.org/heraldry.htm
This is regarding Polish heraldry.

France and Poland might be the only 2 countries in Europe where they belong to a family. However, they still don't belong to a surname.