History Of Coats Of Arms
Coats of arms, often called family crests, were first worn by medieval knights and nobleman in tournaments and in battle. Covered in a suit of armour, it was difficult to tell who was who, so shields were adorned with the family crest. Surcoats (a garment worn over the top half of a suit of armour) also carried the family crests and gave rise to the term 'coat of arms'.
Shields with the family coat of arms were displayed in castles and these are popular today, although they are smaller - but so are the homes!
Some coats of arms include a motto, some do not. As a general rule, those coats of arms granted before 1660 do not have a motto, those granted after that date usually do.
Are you allowed to display the coat of arms for your family name? Of course. Some purists insist only the direct descendants of the person actually granted the arms should display them, but proving direct descent is difficult and expensive and no harm is caused by having a mug, print, or shield with your family name's coat of arms. Indeed, several of our customers use their coat of arms as a business logo - one has painted his on his fleet of coaches.
Some family names have more than one coat of arms, which leads some people to think a particular design is wrong if they have seen another. Our database holds the oldest version found by our researchers, who are the leading heraldic research company in the world.
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Your Family Crest Or Coat Of Arms..
With over one million coats of arms (often called family crests) in our database, we probably have one for your name available as a print or on various gifts. You can check name availability before you buy.| Coat of Arms Prints | Plates | Mugs | Keyrings |
Articles About Coats Of Arms
| The Origin Of Coats Of Arms | Coat of arms parts | Coat Of Arms Colours |
Prints..
Available printed on A4 or A3 parchment paper, framed or unframed. Your coat of arms
is also available as part of the
Surname Origin print which includes a 1,700 word description of early
histories of various surnames. This is not a 'family tree', rather it
reveals where the name was first found, where people with that name spread
to, various spellings of the name, famous ancestors etc. The Surname Origin
is an A3 size print.Click on the image to magnify.
We also offer A3 size Double Coats of Arms showing the coats of arms for the husband and the wife's maiden name. These are popular wedding and anniversary gifts. Also, if you have been researching your Family Tree, there is an A3 size print with double coats of arms and spaces for you to enter the names of your ancestors.
To order: phone us at All About Names on 01280 820767 Monday-Friday 9 - 7 or complete the box below and go through to our secure site.
Price of our Coat of Arms Unframed Prints:
A4 size: £6.50 plus P&P. A3 size: £8.50 plus P&P.
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You can pay with most debit/credit cards (but NOT American Express) or you can use your Paypal account if you have one.
If you have trouble paying with a Maestro/Switch card this is because of an extra security layer for Internet transactions introduced in January which is causing problems. We can take your order by 'phone.
All About Names Limited
01280 820767