Find My Family Coat of Arms

Find My Family Coat of Arms

Are you tracing the origins of your family history? Wondering to yourself, “how do I find my family coat of arms“, or maybe “how do I find my family crest“?

Find My Family Coat of Arms

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Trust me when I say that discovering what your arms, or crest, look like is interesting as you discover the meaning of the symbols and what it means to your family.

First, let me say that I cannot possibly list all of the different coats of arms in this post. There are 1,000s of them!

For that reason, I list below 3 sources where you can find yours and also discover the origins of these fascinating ‘logos‘.

Find Your Coat of Arms!

House of Names

Cool products that feature your coat of arms. They offer free shipping on T-shirts, cups, hats, glassware, and more. There is also FREE stuff that they offer on their site as well.

Amazon Guide Books

Great guides to introduce you to the world of heraldry. These two fully illustrated books reviewed in this post will discuss both the origins and how the coat of arms developed.

These you will want to own these two books if you love heraldry.

COADB.com

This site not only offers products with your coat of arms but also helps you to research your family’s heraldry. One of the impressive products that I like is the 3D sculptures.

Before beginning your search!

Before you start looking for your family’s coat of arms you may want to know just What Is Coat of Arms? and What Are The Symbols On A Coat of Arms?.

In these two posts, I discuss the origins, the different parts, and also the symbols that a coat of arms is made up of.

Credit: Shadiversity

6 parts to a coat of arms!

It is one thing that to know what your family arms look like but to understand all the different parts that make it more fascinating, (well to me it does anyway).

Once you understand what a coat of arms is all about you can then know what you are looking for.

You can then find the answer to your question, “what is my family coat of arms“, (or rather “what is my family crest“).

And therefore make sense of the design of your coat of arms.

Check out the designs in person!

If you live in the United Kingdom then your first stop is to check out the College of Arms. If you are from the United States then please check out The American College of Heraldry.

Both of these organizations maintain a record of all the coats of arms that are registered within the respected country. They will be able to help you with your search.




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House of Names – Really Cool Products With Your Coat of Arms!

The first option available to you is the House of Names website, which operates from Canada. This site is great as it will show you how to find your family crest.

 

They are an independent resource that offers both family crest and coat of arms products. These range from the usual T-shirts to your coat of arms on cups and mugs

Why buy from House of Names?

  • Free shipping to any residents of North America if the order is over $85 US.
  • International shipping, however, there is a delay of 5-10 weeks, so bare this in mind when you order from overseas.
  • All products are given a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so if you are not satisfied with the quality, condition, or workmanship then you can return the product.
  • Return shipping charges may apply unless there has been an order error or error in shipping.

Please note: This site will offer you a single coat of arms heraldry design for your surname.

This is despite that arms are inherited through the family tree and symbols are usually added by descendants.

What can you discover from House of Names?

They have been researching since 1968 by the in-house team to deliver to you the oldest known version of your family’s coat of arms.

Bare in mind though that therefore there is no such thing as a unique coat of arms for a surname.

There are just so many different products for you to choose from. What I find particularly cool is that you can have the history of your surname or coat of arms.

This you can easily download as a PDF file.

The plaque with your coat of arms and the history of your name is a great gift for a loved one who is into their genealogy.

Popular Products:

House of Names Products

  • Mouse Pads
  • Hats
  • Jewelry
  • Glassware and Steins
  • Plaques
  • Shirts and Apparel
  • Coffee Mugs

Easy shopping experience!

The House of Names is site has a fresh look and is very user-friendly. You can find out all about your name from its history to notable people who share your last name.

I even discovered people who worked and died on the Titanic that has my last name. Although they were no relation to me it was still an interesting find.

House of Names products

It also lists the different spellings of your surname. This is particularly useful when you check either online or offline databases.

Sometimes we can’t find any records of our ancestors so checking under a different name may prove helpful. It has for me in the past.

So, a list of different spellings for your name can be quite helpful.

What is available at House of Names?

I have already discussed a sample of the products that you can find on this site. So, besides a history of your surname that you can have on a plaque or in a PDF you can also have your family crest or coat of arms on any product of your choosing.

These products you can find by searching the menu at the top of the site. There are six different options for you to choose from.

Options available to you:

  • Prints
  • Apparel
  • Home products
  • Barware
  • Gifts, and even
  • Free Stuff

The House of Names sites allows you to sign in, check your basket, search for and add any product, and ultimately pay with any of the major cards or even PayPal.

But the free section of the site I love!

Get free stuff at House of Names!

There are coloring booklets that you can download which will give the kids endless fun coloring in.

They can color in castles, shields, animals, mythical creatures, and other symbols that you will find on a coat of arms.

There is also a blank family tree form that you can download. So, whether you want to use this or give it to your kids the choice is up to you.

Both of these are great ways to get the kids involved in ancestry.

House of Names - Design your Coat of Arms

There is also a Design your Coat of Arms booklet that you can download and print out. There are 11 designs that you can color in, or rather your kids can color in.

It’s just another cool way to get the kids involved and get interested in your family history. I love this bit of the site and have printed these out for my child.

She has endless fun with her coloring pens.

If you decide to buy anything from this site then please come back and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

Discover Your Family’s Coat of Arms!

And buy cool products too!

House of Names Review

Check Out House of Names Now!


Amazon – Two Great Books That Can Guide You!

Before I begin to tell you how to find your coat of arms I want to share with you two interesting and useful books that I have found on Amazon.

They are both packed full of illustrations and comprise more than 200 pages each.

They are also both very recent books, so there is little chance of them running out of stock.

So if you love all the different symbols or just want to know the history behind it all then these books are for you!

The Illustrated Book of Heraldry:

An International History of Heraldry and Its Contemporary Uses

This book is a great introduction for anyone interested in heraldry.

The Illustrated Book of Heraldry

Although the text may be small to read for some it is easy to comprehend and is chocked full of information as well as a ton of illustrations.

In this book, the origins and the development of the coat of arms are discussed.

It starts with the explanation that these arms were used to help distinguish between warriors during battle.

The book then covers its uses in the modern world.

The Illustrated Book of Heraldry Details

Book TypeHardcover
Pages256 pages
AuthorStephen Slater
PublisherLorenz Books
EditionJune 15, 2013
BUY HERE   ==>www.Amazon.comAlso available for Amazon Prime customers!

There is also a useful glossary at the back so that if you do get stuck with the wording then you can then refer to the back to help you.

         

Please note: This book is identical to The Complete Book of Heraldry that was published ten years earlier in 2003.


Heraldry: Understanding Signs and SymbolsHeraldry Understanding Signs and Symbols

This is a go-to book for anyone who is interested in the subject of heraldry and is a great starting point.

With this book, you will explore the complex imagery and its fascinating history.

You will learn the basics of heraldry from when these symbols were first used.

Heraldry: Understanding Signs and Symbols Details

Book TypeSpiral Bound
Pages224 pages
AuthorQuarto Publishing
PublisherChartwell Books
EditionJanuary 20, 2013
BUY HERE   ==>www.Amazon.comAlso available for Amazon Prime customers!

This book will also help you to understand the many different variations of designs that we see today.

Real coats of arms will be examined and will be broken down into their significant parts. From here you will learn what each part means.

         


COADB.com – Even More Cool Products To Check Out!

A fairly new website but has the potential to be the world’s largest online heraldry database. The Coat of Arms Database has at present 9,500 unique arms listed on the website.

Coat of Arms DB

Their goal is to amass more than 250,000 different coats of arms!

Simple searching at COADB.com!

Searching for your family name is quite straightforward on this site. You just enter your name in the search box and click the search button.

Alternatively, you can search for a surname by letter.

This will then bring up a list of all the surnames for that letter that have a coat of arms in the database.

If your search is not successful then you will be presented with a list of similar surnames. Below that then there is a form that you can fill in requesting assistance.

COADB.com offers a genealogy research package for $159. For this price, a genealogist will research your surname, and your ancestors, and can start to build your family tree for you.

If you have more money to spend then they also offer more elaborate research packages as well.

Buy products with your coat of arms on!

You can purchase your coat of arms on a range of products, which include t-shirts, mugs, posters, cuff links, and more.

Choose from over 100 different products for your arms to be featured on. You can also buy a JPG image as well for only $12.99.

A 3D Coat of Arms sculpture or plaque is also available to purchase. Both of these are made from high-density urethane (HDU) and come with a brass finish.

They do range though between $1,600 and $2,600. But they do look very impressive, especially if you want to impress any visitors.

Coat of Arms Products

COADB.com also offers a hand-painted coat of arms using acrylics on either canvas or paper. There are three different sizes to choose from 12×16, 16×20, or 24×30 inches.

These pictures range in price from $1,500 to $2,100. Although they have a hefty price tag they will stand out above the fireplace or wherever you may choose to hang it.


Thank You and Please Leave A Comment

I hope this article was of use to you if you are asking the question “how to find my family coat of arms?“. If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.

Please share with family and friends if you think this post will help others by using the social media buttons below.

Summary
Article Name
Find My Family Coat of Arms Guide
Description
Discover what family coat of arms is all about in this helpful guide. And where you can buy your own cool T-Shirts, cups, jewelry, and more.
Author
Publisher Name
The Genealogy Guide
Publisher Logo

20 thoughts on “Find My Family Coat of Arms”

  1. In ancient times, it was customary to create a family family coat of arms, which symbolized and characterized the genus.

  2. Hi Owain,
    Another great post. It is fascinating to find out about your forbears and having a coat of arms is a super idea. It does give you a sense of being a clan somehow. My Mom and Dad went on a trip to England and Scotland and brought a fridge magnet with our coat of arms. It was on my fridge for years but with the move it has been mislaid. Will have to go on a search for it. Many thanks for this reminder.

    1. Thanks Jill. I love to learn as much as I can about my family tree, the original meaning of surnames and also coats of arms too. You get to know more about your family history that way I feel.

  3. I would love to have a mug with our family crest on it at some point. I like your advice on searching house of names. It is a great way to find your crest or coat of arms if you are new. I would also recommend doing genealogy while you are at it.

    1. I have always been intrigued with anything regarding family whilst I was researching my own genealogy. So I felt it was only right to add to this site as I felt other people would be checking out their family crest while they are doing their own family history.

  4. A couple of years ago my dad purchased a hand painted family coat of arms to display in our home. Since then, it has inspired many of our friends to research their own family coat of arms. I think this is really cool because just like it says in this article, it can be a very exciting hobby to research your family tree!

    1. Genealogy can be a really exciting hobby. You just don’t know what you may find when you are researching. It’s also interesting to know about family coat of arms, what are the origins and what all the symbols that are in them actually mean.

  5. Wow, I know countries have coat of arms, I didn’t know families did too.
    I am from a long line of riverine warrior ancestors etched in the tributary delta of Nigeria in West Africa.
    We don’t have fancy or modern ways to track our ancestry, they are passed down through chronological and astute story telling techniques. So determining our roots centuries ago has never been a problem. But did each warrior family have a coat of arm? I wonder, I just wonder….
    Thanks for making me think, enough questions for those village heads and elders on my mind now

    1. I am not certain about your culture I’m afraid Koko. I was aware though that family history is passed down through the generations by story telling. That is how I have got many stories, by my father passing them onto me. I decided that I would record these so that they would not be forgotten and get lost in time.

  6. This is a great resource to help get started on finding my family coat of arms!
    One of the most difficult part is finding where to start and I am glad you listed The Coat of Arms and The American College of Heraldry. Are there other organisation that will give information on coats of arms for other countries as well?

      1. Thanks for the quick reply and the link. I will take a look at that.
        My husband side has some Italian and Spanish history so I was trying to see what I could find on that.

    1. The internet has a lot of information on our families. We just need to know where to look. That’s why I thought I would put this post together to show people how easy it actually is.

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