where to find coat of arms?

[joliz]

Hi,i am not sure if this is the right site to ask on,but here we go anyway.could anyone please tell me were i can get a family crest/coat of arms info from,
any help would be great,
 thanks
    jo

[findem]

Hi joliz,

Try these.

http://www.allfamilycrests.com/family-crest-names-e.shtml

http://www.heraldry.ws/index.html

http://www.irishsurnames.com/coatsofarms/gm.htm

[joliz]

HI,
Thanks for the reply.
regards
jo

[behindthefrogs]

If you are looking for a coat of arms which might have been associated with your ancestors you need to be very wary of the commercial sites which sell products decorated with your family arms.  They will have a coat of arms for every name and often one which has no connection with the name.  Similarly their descriptions of the origin of a name are very suspect.  At least one of the above sites is a commercial site.

In England Coats of Arms belong to an individual and no one else has a right to bear those arms or strictly even to use them without the owner's permission.  If you were looking for a more general description you might find the following sites useful

http://historymedren.about.com/od/pimbley/a/pim_o.htm
http://www.baronage.co.uk/jag-ht/jag014.html
http://www.heraldica.org/

David

[joliz]

Thank you for your reply,and yes i have already came across some of the commercial sites,so now i can look at the site you mentioned,thanks again
 regards
 jo

[behindthefrogs]

If you post a name and a place there are a number of us who have reference books from which we might be able to help.  If you are back to the 17th century and have a family which you think might have been granted arms then you need to look for the Heralds Visitations to the County involved.  These were for most counties published by the Harlian Society around 1900 and can usually be found in the main reference library in the county and surrounding counties.  They will also be found in major reference libraries world wide.

They will be accompanied by a pedigree of at least three generations and if there is no picture there will be a description called a blazon.  If you can't understand the blazon post it here and someone will interpret it for you.

David