How do you know which is your coat of arms?

[HenningWalker]

I have recently been compiling several different family trees for various parts of my family and I thought it might be a nice touch to include a coat of arms for the family name in the top corner of each tree. However, when searching for various names online and their coats of arms there seem to be several different variations and some which contrast completely! Is this because there are many different ideas regarding the origin of a name or is it because many people just tend to produce their own? Either way, is there a standardized layout of each families crest and if so is it possible to find out what it is without paying an extortionate amount for a document from one of these online companies?

For now, I am really looking for the Walker family coat of arms, but as is the usual story I have found several of these online and therefore would like some help on this matter!

Thanks and regards,

Henning Walker

[dawnsh]

Hi Henning

I don't want to disappoint you but have you seen this?

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

Dawn

[Stephen J F Plowman]

I'm afraid the only way to see if there is a "correct" coat of Arms is genealogy.  You need to show legitimate male descent from the original grantee of Arms.  Otherwise any Arms will be just random heraldic decorations.

Topic: Looking for “Your” Coat of Arms - A few pointers
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,490335.0.html

[HenningWalker]

Thanks for filling me in on that! I don't suppose it's easy to acquire that information, but I'm glad to know that is the case!

Regards,

Henning

[bodger]

Our trasatlantic cousins love to prove their heritage, so a market developed to give everyone a "coat of arms", I have lived in Ireland for over forty years, and the American _ Irish connection has coats of arms for every name, but i suggest you read Wikipedia before you think you are desceded from a knight

The issue of the chiefs' succession arose again after the creation of the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1943. Some Chiefs of the Name favour tanistry while others see primogeniture as a more practical system. In an address to the Irish Senate in December 2006 John O'Donoghue, the then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism also expressed the opinion that it was a matter for those who bore these titles to decide on the system they used for succession, but that he found it strange that an English system had been used for the succession of titles originally created under a native Irish system.

Following advice from the Attorney General that the recognition of Chiefs of the Name was without basis in law, the practice of courtesy recognition was abandoned in July 2003.
                                                 bodger