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Coat-Of-Arms


Bleujayone

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I was looking around online for my family's coat-of-arms crest. It's been a bit of a mission because my family's name has several coats and I'm not sure which one I have a direct relation to. But also, like tartan paterns, a coat-of-arms is supposed to evolve over the generations to reflect the family evelution and to reflect where the family has moved to.

My Family name apparently has over a dozen coats in at least four countries in Europe. But none of them have been altered to reflect a move to North America and none of them have been modified in over a century. I imagine when I can narrow down which one it is, I'll be inclined to modify it slightly. I think it should reflect my family as it exists today.

Coat-of-Arms, were used on flags, shields, helmets, banners, tartans, and even badges. They were used in battle, sport, politics, and ceremony. One might argue these were the original logos, as families and clans were longer lasting and easier to organize than entire nations. They would not only tell others what family you were, but could also be "read" to tell a little bit about you as well.

I was wondering what coat-of-arms all of you might be related to, and as logo designers what you might do to modernize and modify them to better reflect the time and your families.

We all have our little faults. Mine's in California.

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well my family name as far as i know does not have an actual coat of arms. but i was toying around with ideas along that line many years ago and designed this one for me at leastJonsArms.jpg

i based the shield mostly from a flag i designed for myself which of course is now how it was done. amorial banners and flags were based on the family arms, not the other way around. Along that line my dad was pretty impressed with what i came up with for myself so he had me make up a basic one for him here

DadsShield.png

which is easier for me to explain than my own. the three crowns come from the Swedish Arms which he and I are. the Lion is taken from Edward I's arms which we are decended from somehow. the stars i took from mine, and the tree is because he and my mother traced my family tree...one branch going back to the 1200s. and the sword up on top is from the Gunn Clan's emblem. i've designed others for friends of mine so, i think i got a knack though i'm sure everyone here can do 1000x better than my limited Paint skills. wow that was long


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One word of caution to all that want to display a coat of arms for any name -

The arms are legally passed down only to the oldest son; and if I remember the info from the College of Arms in England - if the oldest son is dead - and his oldest is living - then it passes that way - brothers 2 thru how many get the short end of the stick so to speak -- not to mention the girls. I hear wearing a coat of arms that one doesn't have official claim to, is akin to wearing military medals or ribbons that one didn't earn.

You can check that out here: http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

Someone get back with me if they know better and I'm wrong. I spent a lot of years trying to find out what my coat of arms would be, only to find I had no right to any. Any design I come up with would have to be approved by the Queen and since I haven't done anything to earn them, I won't be sending her any designs.

-Daniel
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"Sorry the name Zierer was not found." :cry:

Plus I'm German, so who would I have to ask? :upside:

There are german names on the site I linked-

I also checked English, Scottish, French, etc...

But yeah, it doesn't have every name on it...

Comic Sans walks into a bar, and the bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve your type here."

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There's this place you can check for free without buying-

But I won't vouch for it's accuracy or inaccuracy-

I got this when I typed in "Creamer"

I like the motto--"The Sentinel sleeps not"

Sweet, thanks -- our coat looks very plain

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Most of these coat of arms sites aren't really the coats. Do some research and you'll see the same thing will carry similar elements, but they will all be different.

For example, I did alot of research on my last name on the internet trying to find our Crest and Coat of Arms. Basically I found the same major element in all of them, but none were the same set up.

cumcrest.jpg

CummingsClanCrest.jpg

CummingsCoA.jpg

I found these after a quick search just now, but I spent alot of time trying to find out and I found probablly at least 25 different examples of my family crest, all with the Bails of Hay and the motto "Courage."

Basically in my research the only common elements that I found all the time was the motto "Courage" and the 3 bails of hay on a blue background. Sometimes I found a lion with a dagger.

Now I'm no expert so I don't know all the rules on the crests and Coat of Arms. I'm of Scottish/Irish/German decent. I've always wanted a tattoo of my family crest/CoA...so at some point I'm thinking I might just get the 3 bails of hay instead of a full crest that might or might not be the true crest. Finding the Bails over and over leads me believe that this was indeed an element of the Comyn/Cumming/Cummings Clan's Crest.

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And that is why I said I can't vouch for the accuracy or inaccuracy of the link I posted--

the hay certainly looks like the key element...

Comic Sans walks into a bar, and the bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve your type here."

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CZzyzx41 raises a very good point -- the 'look up your family's coat of arms' places really aren't a great place to start looking. You'll finish up with a coat of arms, this is true; but it's only the arms of someone with the same last name as you to whom you may not even be related. (It is not surprising, however, to see people with the same last name having similar arms, as pcgd found.)

It's also entirely possible that your family don't even *have* a coat of arms. Back in the Day , only the richest families were armigerous; the overwhelming majority had more important things to worry about, you know, like eating. ;)

Most major countries have their own versions of the College of Arms, but most only grant to their own citizens or subjects. The UK's College of Arms is perhaps the best-known... getting arms granted is a long, expensive, and difficult process, so it's no small deal.

But we play by slightly different rules in North America. The USA has no heraldic authority, so it's perfectly acceptable to 'assume' arms of your own design. It's probably a good idea to make sure your design isn't a duplicate of someone else's and is in fairly good taste, but if you're interested enough to design arms for yourself you're probably careful enough to take those steps. ;)

In Canada, the process is fairly similar to the UK, but modernised a bit:

http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/index_e.asp

It's been a while since I've really read up on such things, but I believe the South African heraldic authority grants arms to foreigners, if having a nice grant is really important to you and you have money to burn.

Anyhow, there's more really good information here:

http://www.heraldica.org/

ObDesign: I designed a shield for myself a while back but can't seem to get the blazon to match, so I may have to tweak it a bit. I'm still taking suggestions for the motto, crest, and badge, though.

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Well my family's coat of arms actually is located on the Royal Exchange in London in the entry way. It belonged to Thomas Gresham, which is my direct family line, my last name is a touch different do to a name change around the late 1700's. No one has yet to figure out why the change took place, family folklore has it to do with the break off of from English rule around the time of the Revolution, but that is still unfounded at this point, and most likely might have to do with just a error in spelling at some time.

If you look at the top of the building you will find a Grasshopper, (on the pole extending from the dome) which is the family's above the family crest. Here is one verision of the crest with the grasshopper: screst.jpg ( I am working on a illustrator image of it for my father's use who has spent the last 25 years working on our family history)

The one on the exchange is just the stars, the black "^" with a white background. Most all the family crest carry that basic layout with they top being changed for each family, most are a yellow background versus the red as seen here.

Here is a pic of the Royal Exchange building for those who may not know what it is. FYI- If I remember right that is London's city Hall in the back ground the egg looking shape.

Royal_Exchange_london.jpg

"Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational."

- Charles Schulz

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In addition to obsessing over sports uniforms and logos, I have spent a lot of time looking into my family's history. Fortunately, the old family farm that my great-grandfather left in Ireland to come to the U.S. is still in the family. And it is only a few miles from the ancestral homeland along the southwestern Irish coast.

Our name goes back as far as the 10th century, or so I am told. The spelling is a modernized Irish version of O'Driscoll (great-grandpa lopped the O off the front when it wasn't fashionable to be Irish).

The bird is a cormorant.

The motto - "DURUM PATIENTIA FRANGO" - translates as "I overcome hardships with patience". Which is funny to my family, since there isn't much patience to go around!

The colors are black and white. Simple and understated. The ship is a reference to the family history of seafaring (or pirating, depending on which side of the situation you were on).

I made a soccer kit inspired by rmered's idea, and by the design of Newcastle United. The crest is below.

crest.png

"Start spreading the news... They're leavin' today... Won't get to be a part of it... In old New York..."

2007nleastchamps.png

In order for the Mets' run of 12 losses in 17 games to mean something, the Phillies still had to win 13 of 17.

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As I've said before, no contests here for now. We have enough going on with Logolympiad right now anyway.

But, the first person that creates a crest or crest jersey concept, feel free to open up a Family Crest Concepts thread!

Use this thread as inspiration.

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