A coat of arms (Family crest) gift is one of the best ways to celebrate someone’s family name, and all the history attached to that name. The arms may date back over eight hundred years and some of them contain enough information in the design of the shield to formulate the story of the grant of arms. Many potential customers, however, seem believe that as long as they can see the coat of arms they wish to have in an image online, then everything is hunky dory. In some cases, they often find a decent result, in some cases not so much. Check it out yourself. The part of the coat of arms above the helmet is actually the crest. These were made from leather or light plaster to make the Knight appear taller in the saddle. Sometimes ( As in Spanish heraldry, where crests rarely exist) you will see some ostrich feathers up there. The problem with online images is that the ostrich feathers are used frequently when the “researcher” can’t be bothered to include the proper crest and bungs in some colored plumes to fill the space. Don’t believe me? Okay, find me an arms with a crest section with three ostrich feathers ( Usually two of one color with a second color in the middle) and call me Toll-Free 866-289-2798, or e-mail shieldandcrest@gmail.com and I will check my reference books for the correct crest ( And prove it)

Buying a coat of arms (Family crest, as some call it) is something that can be a wonderful link with the family past. Take some time to find out if the people you are buying from (A) Know anything about the subject, apart from some rehearsed fluff…and (B) Could care less.

At www.shieldandcrest.com we are several generations into heraldry. Our customers, over the years, have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II. Give us a call for a no-obligation research into the coat of arms associated with your name. Give us as much information as you can and we will find the right arms. Then have the arms hand-painted on our battleshields, Copper stamped plaques, parchment  and canvas framed giftware, all hand made in our studio.