The arms are canting: the foot sole is a play on words on the surname of the armiger as voet means foot in Dutch. It also seems that the etymology of “Dievoet” influenced the design of the arms. DIVIDERE means dividing in Latin, and DIE means day, thus, the shield is divided between night and day. The crescent is also split between night and day and represents Diana, the goddess of the moon, often accompanied in ancient iconography by Phosphorus (the morning star, here seen at dexter) and Hesperus (the evening star, at sinister). A DIVIDICULUM means a castle (tower) placed on a division of land, or a ford (the etymology of “Dievoet” is either “sacred ford” or “public ford”).

Jean-Baptiste van Dievoet I (1663–1751) was baptised on 6 March 1663 in the St. Gudula collegiate church, and died in Brussels on 4 April 1751 in the house he built called the Iron Dragon. It was so named due to being located where, according to the legend, the dragon that Saint Gaugericus slayed had its lair. He was buried in the family's tomb located in the church of the Franciscan Recollects convent of Brussels. He was a wine merchant and dean of the Coopers Guild of Brussels. He was a churchwarden of St. Gudula.

Jean-Baptiste was the son of Gilles van Dievoet (died before 1672), bourgeois of Brussels, and of Gertrude Zeevaert (died 22 July 1705).

He was the brother of the famous sculptor Peter (or Pierre) van Dievoet (1661–1729) who sculpted a number of the guild houses of the Grand Place of Brussels as well as the statue of King James II now located in Trafalgar Square. He was also the half-brother of the goldsmith Philippe van Dievoet called Vandive, councillor of King Louis XIV.

In 1696, he married Anne van der Borcht (1670–1707). They had nine children:

1) Pierre van Dievoet (1697–1740), studied at the Faculty of Civil Law of the University of Louvain, priest, vicar, vice-pléban, and secretary of the chapter of Anderlecht;
2) Gertrude van Dievoet (1698–1731);
3) Catherine van Dievoet ( 1699–1745);
4) Dorothée-Philippine van Dievoet (1700–1722), Benedictine nun at the Kortenberg Abbey;
5) Anne-Marie van Dievoet (1702–1792), wife of Jean-Noël Bodesse (1704–1772), notary, solicitor at the Council of Brabant;
6) Marie-Anne-Thérèse van Dievoet (1703–1738), wife of Jean-François van den Velde, dean of the goldsmiths' guild;

7) Jean-Baptiste van Dievoet II (1704–1776), dean of the wine merchants’ guild, husband of Elisabeth van der Meulen (1720–1769);
8) Pierre-Jacques-Joseph van Dievoet, (1706–1764), studied at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Louvain, priest, canon, and treasurer at the chapter of Anderlecht;
9) Nicolas van Dievoet (1707–1708).