family crest

[RJ_Paton]

How do you go about obtaining your own coat of arms, or is it not available for "us peasants"

If you are Scottish , or of Scottish descent, you can apply to the Court of Lord Lyon

If English or Welsh the application would go to the College of Arms in London and in Ireland I believe it would be the Office of the Chief herald in Dublin.

If you can trace your lineage to an individual who already has a coat of arms you can then make an application to have a grant or matriculation of arms which would show your descent from that line.

[Guy Etchells]

In England and Wales any person may assume arms.
There is absolutely no need to have the heralds at the College of Arms make a grant of arms.

Sir William Dugdale (Garter Principal King of Arms 1677-1686) admitted that arms could be acquired by “prescription of usage”, they did not require a grant of Arms to be legal. See Lansdown MS. 870 (fo.88). This was in 1668 when Dugdale was Norroy King of Arms.

To say anything else is actually in direct conflict to the heralds visitations.
Nothing since that day has changed the law on this despite what the College of Arms may say. If there has been a change of law then let them quote the Act that changed the law.
Cheers
Guy

[behindthefrogs]

However they have to be your own arms not those to which someone is entitled which is the danger of using those of someone else with the same surname.  In particular commercial use starts to fall over the laws governing trade marks.

David

[Dancing Master]

http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/216.181.html]]

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

I think this will explain the true facts.

[Guy Etchells]

I will disregard the first link as it is about the Scottish system which is different from the system in England and Wales

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

I think this will explain the true facts.

The College of Arms website gives a very elementary view on the subject and unfortunately contains mistakes.

For example:
“Coats of arms belong to individuals.”
Depends what they mean by belong, if they mean no one else may use those arms then that is total rubbish.
The children of an armiger may use his achievement without differencing.


“For any person to have a right to a coat of arms they must either have had it granted to them or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or confirmed in the past.”

What a load of hogwash.
All daughters of an armiger are entitled to display the coat of arms of their father without differencing.
Daughters may also inherit arms

Differencing is not compulsory in English arms unlike other systems.
The College of Arms need to talk to their boss the Queen as according to their definition she is not entitled to and achievement.
Of course we all know that as head of the Royal Family the ordinary rules of heraldry do not apply to her, but that is not what the dumbed down website says.
There are also a number of women who have been granted arms which have been inherited by her children.
The history of the subject is easy to check rather than take a website as gospel.
Cheers
Guy

[behindthefrogs]

I agree with what Guy says however what he fails to say is that he also is simplifying.  The complete story of who may display a coat of arms and when is extremely complex depending the precise family situation at a particular point in time.  It is also different in each country.

To keep it very simple, to have the right to display a coat of arms a close relationship to the person to whom they were granted must be shown.  Once that is established there are fairly precise rules which determine who has the right to display them, when they need to be differenced and often how that should be done. 

David