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Question: Surnames - history & 'family crests'!?
To seek images of the above for your FAMILY NAME, is there some source from which they can be downloaded without co$t!.!.!.!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
There is no such thing as a family crest!. A crest is part of a coat of arms!. Coats of arms do not belong to surnames and actually they belong to individuals not to families!. The only exception in Europe is probably France and Poland!.

They were and are granted to an individual and are passed down through the direct legitimate male line descendants!. Only the oldest son is entitled to his father's!. All sons are entitled to one with some differences!. Sometimes a daughter might inherit one if there is no male heir!.

There are numerous pedders who sell surname products like coats of arms and family history scrolls on the internet, at shopping malls, in airports, in magazines etc like they belong to everyone with a particular surname and they don't!. Actually, not everyone with the same surname are related and shares ancestors, even those of the same national origin!.

There frequently were more than one man with the same surname, not all necessarily related, that were each granted their own coat of arms, all different!. No one peddler will have all of them!.
The onloy time they will have more than one is if more than man from different national origins were granted one!. Then they will have one of each and there might have been others!.

The family history that comes with them might be your family history and might not!.

See the links below, one from the British College of Arms!. They are the most authoritative source and one from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U!.S!., the National Genealogical Society!.

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There is no such thing as a family crest!. A crest is just a part of the Coat of Arms!. Coat of Arms were granted to INDIVIDUALS, not assigned to surnames!. Just because someone of your last name MAY have been granted one at some point does not make it yours!. also, it may be that several men of the same surname were granted a coat of arms!.!.!.!.each one different!.!.!.!.!.and maybe none of the men were related to each other or to you!. Likewise, it may be that NO ONE of your surname was ever granted one and the one you find in souvenier shops was made up by some company trying to make money!. In order for you to be able to legally claim a legit Coat of Arms you must be able to do the following:

1!. research your family tree to see if you have any ancestors that were actually granted a Coat of Arms!.

2!. If you do have an ancestor who was granted one, then you can only legally claim it IF you are a male descendant who is the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, etc!., all the way back to the person who was originally granted the Coat of Arms!. If you do not fall in that line, then you cannot claim it!. If you do fall in that line, then chances are you are already aware you have one!.

To use a Coat of Arms based on your last name is meaningless!. It is about as accurate as buying a picture frame at the store that has one of those pieces of paper in it showing an image of a child and then claiming that is actually a picture of YOUR child!.

Most people are disappointed to learn this and do not accept it very well, but this is the way it is!.
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Heraldry -- and family crests are one aspect of that study -- was historically only the provenance of the rich!. The vast majority of us don't have crests and coats of arms and all that stuff!.

But if you want to see if your family does, a simple Google images search -- use "familyname crest" or "familyname 'coat of arms'", linking the phrases with the quotation marks -- and see what you get!.

And be aware that one family will have many different branches, so potentially many different crests (if any)!.

Here's what I got when I tried my last name and "family crest" -- a commercial site with a crest of dubious authenticity!. You'll have even more work cut out for you to determine whether the crest they show you has any relation to your branch of the family!Www@QuestionHome@Com

If you are in the US, your family crest is very likely so obscured that any effort to pin it down is phony or fraudulent!. If you have a very unusual name, or have been here only a generation or two, you might be able to get it!. But if you come from an old American family, you are so diluted from the rightful heirs of the crest as to be eliminated!.Titled Europeans have crests!. No one else!. unless you have claim to a barony or earldom, or can prove you are Count Jones, save your money!.
For example: Geller family crest hangs in a tavern in a small German town!. My father has seen it!. But in 1850, his grandfather left that town!. His father was tenth child, and Dad was 2nd!. I am third!. I am so far from heir to that crest in Germany that I cannot claim it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Family Crest!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

So sorry they have made a business of this kind of information and we need to pay !.
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