Where could I find my family's coat of arms?

Question:

Where could I find my family's coat of arms?

I really want to know what they look like.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There is no such thing. C of A were granted to specific individuals and inherited by their oldest legitimate son. So, if your last name is Smith, Carpenter, Miller or Johnson, you'll have dozens to choose from. Merchants who sell coffee mugs, plaques and elaborately decorated parchment-like scrolls perpetuate the myth of a "family" coat of arms. What you get is one issued to someone who has your surname. He may or may not be someone related to you. To take an extreme case, if your ancestor changed his German surname "Zimmerman" to "Carpenter" in 1914 to avoid bad feelings from his American neighbors (Or the equivalent in Polish, Czech or Bulgarian to "Baker" or "Cook" in 1885, so people could spell it), what you'll get is a C of A issued to some Englishman who was 600 years and hundreds of miles from your ancestral roots.

Just Google ["coat of arms" {surname}] to see a wide selection at attractive prices from several such merchants.