Thread: Coat of arms

I've got blue blood back in Germany somewhere (a duchy if I recall correctly), but I don't have the name anymore. I was told we were a big deal at the time.

I have one somewhere. I'll have to see if I can get my dad to dig it up.

Hmm. I posted a response, but the post disappeared. Does the system not like me?

Anyway, here's a pic of ours, and a modified version that I created for a Pathtag.

Originally Posted by bevansmw

I have a whole history with lots of pictures of castles and stuff my family (mom's side) used to have from 1500s-1900s in what is now the Czech Republic. I visited there last September to see some of what're now ruins that used to belong to my family. I know some of the history and could read a little, I think they originally came to power in the Hussite revolution and ended with communism coming to Czechoslovakia after WWII (my grandpa fled the country). He went from Czechoslovakia to Austria, crossing by an armed guard who, thankfully, didn't fire. Then to France, then Canada where he met my grandma and my mom and uncle were born and finally to California in the US where I was born and raised.

There were two castles, I only got to see the old one in ruins while I was there but wanted to see the other - I do have a black and white photo of my grandpa in front of the more modern one though.

Have coat of arms too, it changed over time and I can scan a picture of it showing how it changed. Have some family history stuff too but its all written in Czech and I can't read it.

I'll scan and post some stuff later

Wow. So your the guy decended from Vlad the Impaler eh?

I think that guy was from Romania.

I haven't scanned the pictures yet, will have to do that this weekend.

I had a coat of arms done some years ago,it sort of gives an idea as to where my family may have come from, since most records from monasteries were burned by Old Henry the 8th.

Heraldry has been a hobby/passion since I was a kid (knights, castles, etc.). Most heraldic awards were granted to landowners, merchants, nobles, etc. for services to the local lord/sovreign. As time progressed, more families had coats of arms (not crest - that is the part above the helmet, above the shield). There are many Colleges of Arms, which are organizations for registering (and in the UK, granting) Coats of Arms. Heraldry has it's own language (from Old French) and has, thankfully, changed with the times to allow modern devices. There is a huge amount of information about heraldry on the internet. In the US, there is a group called the American College of Heraldry. THey have tons of references and can register you coat of arms in the US. This is not the same as being granted Arms by the Queen, etc., but, as we do not have any official method for granting Arms in the US, it allows those who are interested. You should be careful about claiming arms from a family with which you have not actual relation. It would be better if you created your own. Your Arms can reflect who you are, what is important to you, major events in your life, etc.


I have attached a picture of mine, which is what I use as my avatar, along with the blazon (description) in heraldic terms and in plain English.

Main Arms - Quarterly, First and Fourth, STARR MODERN; Second, STARR ANCIENT, and Third, HINRICHS, an escutcheon with the Arms adopted as a Mason and Knight Templar surtout ensigned with a German Noble’s crown, proper.

English - A shield divided in quarters, in the first and fourth quarter (quarters go upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right), Starr Modern (adopted in the US), second quarter, Starr Ancient (meaning Old) - from the Starrs in Kent, England to whom I have traced my family back to 1530, Hinrichs (adopted in the US, but as there is only one type for Hinrichs, no need for "Modern"), in the center, the Arms adopted personally (meaning if I had kids, they would not inherit this portion) when I was made a Freemason and entered the York Rite as a Knight Templar, with a coronet on top of untitled German nobility, as this occurred in Germany a large portion of my fmaily is German.

Starr Modern - Gules, semé of billets, and a Griffin segreant Or, armed and langued Azure, supporting a halberd, proper.

English - On a Red field (Gules), strewn with rectangular block (billets) and a griffin rearing on it back legs, all Gold (or), with toungue and claws in blue (Azure), holding a halberd in normal colors (brown shaft silver blade). Meaning: Red for the blood I was willing to shed in defense of my nation, a nation scattered with riches (the gold bars strewn across the field) the griffin, can fight on land and in the air (I was in the Army, but was also in a helicopter unit), the halberd portrays my Danish ancestry, as it is popular in Scandinavian heraldry (as in the Arms of Norway).

Starr - Ancient - Azure, a scales in an orle of 8 estoile, all Or.
English - On a blue field, a scales in a border of 8 wavey-pointed stars, all gold. This can also be termed a "canting" arms, meaning there is a bit of humor of double meaning...thus "stars" on the shiled for the "Starr" family..get it?

Hinrichs - Party per pale, Azure and Argent, a horse galoppant, Gules.

English - A shield split down the center, blue and white, with a galloping hors in red. This is the arms adopted for the German side of my family. It is a variation on the Arms of the Kingdom of Hanover (red horse), which is where they came from. The blue and white symbolize their trip across the Atlantic.

Star - Masonic - Argent, a Mount, vert; in chief, a cross potent, Gules, (Knight Templar) with a Nimbus, Or; in middle base point a Swan, its wings expanded, Argent, gorged and chained of the Third, swimming on water, proper.

English - On a white shield, a mount in green, at the top, a cross potent (a cross with arms at the ends) in red, in a ring of clouds and sun rays, in the middle, a swan with raised wings, white, with a gold chain and collar around it's neck, swimming on a lake, blue. Those of you familiar with German and French Medieval literature will understand parts of this.

Motto for Starr - Modern - Praetium Laborum Non Vile (The rewards of labor are not cheap)

Motto for Starr - Ancient - Vive En Espoir (Live in Hope)

Motto for Hinrichs - Gott und Recht (God and Justice)

Motto for Starr - Masonic - Fiat Iustitia Ruat Coelum (Let Justice be done, though the Heavens Fall)

You can also add supporters to hold up the shield, weapons, awards, medals, etc. There are big differences in how British and Continental heraldry are depicted, but many of the rules are the same (Continental heraldry has more colors). Heraldry can be addictive and very interesting. It can be complex and informative and can reflect your family and yourself. It does not come with any benefits (no free parking, no discounts at the store). It is just an interesting side aspect of genealogy and history

well according to the interweb this is mine

Here's mine




You can read more about it here if interested : http://www.faye.cc/thefayefamily.html

Amund.

Finally got around to scanning some of the stuff I have in so I can post it. I'm posting several coats of arms as my understanding is the coat changed over time. The large one is my grandfather's coat of arms. I've also posted some information about the family history, when they were ennobled. I have a lot more history, mostly written in Czech which I can't read. My understanding also is that at one time someone in my family line married a queen and had one child with her but neither survived (woman or baby). Wish I knew a lot more, need to get this stuff translated, I have a family tree and some other stuff too. I visited one of the castles that is now in ruins during my visit there last year. There were two, but I didn't get to see the second more modern one on my last trip but I have some photos of a visit my grandpa made before he died.