Coat of Arms

 The similarities between the military of today and of the medieval ages are net very different in so far as the pride the members go. Every member of the Armed Forces today are instilled with pride of their unit, their brigade and of course their country. Besides all of this the family pride comes first and foremost, and there are very few soldiers that I have met who don’t know a little about the family name and are more than interested to find out if the family had a Coat of Arms and what it was like.

Finding Out More About Your Coat of Arms.

Just a little initial piece of advice before you go and spend a lot of money. You will not have a Coat of Arms if your name originated anywhere else other than a European country, you see Heraldry arose around the tenth and twelfth century in Europe as a means of identifying clans and tribes. It was quite simple really, the markings on the knights shield was painted on the shield so as when they were in battle, they could identify one another as to whether they were friend or foe. This is not to far removed from what we do today in our military, on the sleeve of every jacket, we have patches embroidered to denote what unit or brigade we belong to, and indeed the custom military rings we wear denote the same.

The first thing you must do is to have your name researched to see does it have a Coat of Arms and when this is done, then you can proceed further. There are many ways you can have the coat of arms displayed, and here are the main ones.

• Embroidered Coat of Arms
• Family Crest Rings
• Family Crest Plaques
• Family Shields
• Family Banners

 

Here at Military Gifts Specialists we can assist in all of the above, research, engraving and embroidering. They are all suitable for special occasion gifts and are shipped worldwide and in most cases your Coat of Arms will be complimented with a free family name history scroll.

What countries have a Coat of Arms

In the main the following countries have a Coat of Arms, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Sweeden, Norway, Denmark and a host of other European countries. The particular control of heraldry and coats of arms and the actual granting of armorial bearings is vested in the various offices of arms and these are the College of Arms in London, the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh, and the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland in Dublin.

What does Coat of Arms consist of.

The Coat of Arms consist of the following;

• The shield, often this is called the arms.
• The helmet.
• The lambrequin or mantling.
• The torse or wreath
• The crest.
• The motto. ( not every family had a motto)

These are the basic parts to any granted Coat of Arms and if you are luck enough to have one, display it with pride in your office or home. Remember that one of your earliest ancestors fought and died whilst using this on their shield.

Here is a picture of one of the famous family crest rings in gold, worn by many a soldier as a good luck charm.