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•
Make sure that
the design is
unique and
does not
infringe upon
the rights of
others. A coat
of arms is
personal
property, and
to have the
same or a
similar name
as an armiger
does not mean
that one is
necessarily
related to him
and entitled
to his arms or
a version
thereof. If
your father's
brother, for
instance,
assumed a coat
of arms, this
does not mean
that you are
entitled to
use it, unless
he made the
necessary
provisions. If
one cannot
prove
genealogically
to descend
from an
armiger in the
male line, he
cannot use his
arms.
•
Try to keep
the design as
simple as
possible. Arms
are still
meant to be
means of
identification
and
representation
and should be
easily
recognized and
remembered.
Crowded
designs do not
answer to this
condition.
•
Respect the
ethnic
background of
your family
and try to
keep the new
arms in the
style of the
country of
your origin.
If you are,
for example,
an American
citizen,
having a
German or a
French name,
don't use the
heraldic style
and charges
which are
characteristic
for British or
Italian
heraldry.
•
Do not use
badges of
Orders of
Chivalry as
charges for
your arms.
This can be
misleading.
Should you be
a member of
such an Order,
you can show
this outside
the actual
coat of arms.
•
Do not use
coronets,
crowns or any
other object
that may have
a particular
meaning in the
heraldry of
the historical
noblesse. Do
not use
supporters,
they have a
particular
significance
in heraldry
and should not
be assumed.
Avoid
everything
that could be
interpreted as
misleading.
•
In your choice
of charges you
might search
for symbols
which express
perhaps an
occupation or
profession
that was or is
characteristic
for members of
your family,
for a pun on
your name
(canting arms)
or for
something
relating to
the place of
origin of your
family. There
are
innumerable
possibilities
to create a
meaningful
coat of arms.
As for the
tinctures you
could use your
favourite
colour
combination
(preferably
limited to one
colour and one
metal) or the
colours of
your home town
or country.
Charges like
the rod of
Aesculapius
for physicians
or the
Caduceus for
merchants for
example have
been used only
too often and
are not very
original. Try
to avoid
heraldic
platitudes in
a new design.
A sailor does
not have to
use a whole
ship. Oars, a
sail, a boat
or a rudder
would do the
trick, and
artisans could
use the tools
of their
trade,
preferably in
their medieval
form. Show the
elements on
the shield
from the most
recognizable
angle; a hand
seen from the
side is
meaningless,
but palm
outwards with
space between
the fingers is
instantly
identified.
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