What is a good website to find a free picture of my Family Coat of Arms?

Question

My last name is Gutknecht. I've never seen it and would lke to check it out. Thanks

Answer 1

I’m sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a Coat of Arms.  Coat of Arms were granted to INDIVIDUALS, not assigned to surnames. Just because someone of your last name MAY have been granted one at some point does not make it yours.  Also, it may be that several men of the same surname were granted a coat of arms....each one different.....and maybe none of the men were related to each other.  Likewise, it may be that NO ONE of your surname was ever granted one.  In order for you to be able to claim any Coat of Arms you must be able to do the following:

1. research your family tree to see if you have any ancestors that were granted a Coat of Arms.

2. If you do have an ancestor who was granted one, then you can only claim it IF the following is true: The person who rightfully can claim a Coat of Arms that was granted to their ancestor is a male descendant who is the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, etc., all the way back to the person who was originally granted the Coat of Arms. If you do not fall in that line, then you cannot claim it.  If you do fall in that line, then chances are you are already aware you have one.

To use a Coat of Arms based on your last name is meaningless.  It is about as accurate as buying a picture frame at the store that has a piece of paper in it showing an image of a child holding a flower and claiming that is actually a picture of your child.

Answer 2

houseofnames.com is the one most of us suggest but:

There is no such thing as a "family" coat of arms.

Some surnames have dozens of C of A that were once given to INDIVIDUALS with that surname, and people with that surname can buy coffee mugs with one of them. Some surnames don't have any.

If your last name was Smith, you could claim that the Smith Brother's of cough drop fame were your great great uncles. It wouldn't be true, but who's to know?

The C of A vendors work the same way - Here is a C of A once granted to a man named "Smith", so for $39.99 you can have it on a plaque and give yourself airs.

Answer 3

Likely you will have to pay $20-$30 to get one. I found mine and was surprised that it wasn't the same as one on a family history book that we have. I printed it out in color on photo paper and sent it to the cousin that authored the series of books. She was delighted to see it and said that the one used on the cover of the books is one she found at a shopping mall in a large city. She said that coats of arms were for wealthy people in the middle ages and if you weren't wealthy in the middle ages, there was likely not one for your family name. Those that are given out today are often those that are somewhat close to the name sent in for a coat of arms. By all means, see if you can google your name and see if there are any that are free you don't want to pay too much for something that isn't at least possibly authentic. Good Luck!

Answer 4

www.goldenmemories.co.uk

Answer 5

I would research what Coats of Arms are first.  There are only about 400 individuals living in the US today who have the rights to family Coats of Arms.  Only the eldest son in Direct descent may bear them.  And Just because there might be one for your name it isn't necessarily yours, but they will tell you its yours just to make the money.  Do the Family research first in primary records and then if it leads to a Coat of Arms so be it.  Otherwise you might as well make up one.

Answer 6

Certainly for England it is not correct to say that arms were passed only from eldest son to eldest son.

In the first instance the grant of arms was made to the male head of a family, and was passed equally to each of his sons, each one of his sons added their own marks of cadency to those, the family arms, The eldest son had a label - a horizontal strip with three pendant drops - (during the lifetime of his father) the second son added a crescent, the third son added a five pointed star, the fourth son added a martlet, the fifth son added an annulet, the sixth added a fleur de lis, the seventh added a rose, the eighth added a cross moline and the ninth,a double quatrefoil, which were then displayed on their shields to distinguish themselves from each other and their father, the sons passed their arms, complete with their own cadences, on to their own sons, who then added a second set of cadences to distinguish themselves from each other, their father, uncles and cousins.

When a man died, his eldest son then had the right to bear his father's arms without the differentiation marks, that son's children would then add only one set of cadency marks, instead of two, and so on, the brothers of the eldest son continued to use the family arms with their own cadency marks, which were later passed on to their own sons in the same manner. It all got very complicated.

Daughters could also display the family arms, if there was no male heir, a daughter could pass her father's arms on to her sons. Wives widows and daughters had a courtesy right to display their husbands or father's arms, normally displayed on a diamond lozenge.

The original achievement remained the same through the generations, enhanced by the addition of the various cadences, but often, the arms of more than one family could be included on one shield, side by side, called impalement, or, if they were mixed together it was called compounding, in time, the coats of arms could include the arms of many families and became very complex.

Originally dating from before the adoption of surnames, the arms in effect, displayed the family "surname". With the onset and establishment of family surnames, those families who had the right to bear arms, then had a surname to go with those arms, in any case many new arms were granted to men who already had an established surname, and still are today. ( It is clearly argueable as to whether or not arms are attached to surnames)

Neither were they introduced by the Normans for taxation purposes. The Normans arrived in England some 100 years or more before the first Heraldic arms or devices began to appear.

Heraldry in Europe developed during the 12th. and 13th. centuries (1100-1200). Heraldic arms were a personal device, possibly for military purposes, or simply a display of status or vanity, it can only be guessed at because, today, no one knows the real reason.  At first, arms were displayed without authority from anyone, but gradually became controlled by the Crown, through Heralds, whereby, men who could prove their ancient use of arms by their family, were granted permission to continue displaying them. Total control finally came about in the 15th.century, when Richard III, in 1484, established what is now known as the College of Arms.

Answer 7

Coats of arms do not belong to surnames.

There were and are granted to individuals and are passed down to the direct male line descendants.

If this is a school assignment, go ahead and print off any that you see with your name underneath it.  However, also print off the links I am furnishing you and give them to your teacher.  One is from the British College of Arms(they grant coats of arms and also if you send them your familyhistory the can see if you have a coat of arms regardless of the national origin).

The other link is from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U. S., The National Genealogical Society.

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...

The coats of arms that you see being peddled on the internet, at shopping malls, at airports, in magazines or solicited by mail are usually valid coats of arms, but they are coats of arms that belong to specific individuals and not to everyone with the same surname.  

Actually, there might have been, for instance, 15 different individuals named Gutknecht that were each granted their own coat of arms, all different.  The peddlers that sell them won't have all 15. They don't need to in order to sell to gullible people.  The only time they will have more than one is if persons with the same surname from more than one national origin were granted coats of arms when iin fact there were 5 granted for each with the same surname of each national origin.

Now, if you are a student, let me advise you probably the same thing your parents would.  If you go into someone's home and see one of those dinky little walnut plaques on their den wall, be polite and don't laugh or make a comment making fun of it.  We don't do that in someone's home.

Feel free to print off what I have posted here and give it to your teacher.

Answer 8

view one here: http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/...

I think the name was translated to the English Goodnight (gutnacht) and has a distinguished history, just look up the history of Charles Goodnight whom the goodnight-loving trail was named after. I suspect people thought his name was German and translated it to Goodnight. America.(http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacoup/family...

If you go to hallofnames.com you will see the so-called family coat of arms. Notice that the spelling variations and history for Goodnight is the same as Gutknecht.

"Spelling variations of this family name include: Goodnight, Goddesknight, Goddesknyght and others..." - -Hall of names

"First found in an early record of a John Goddesknyght, who was documented during the reign of Edward II (1307-1327). It is thought that Goodnight was a nickname for a religious person, "God's servant." Although the history of this name is rather obscure, it is presumed that bearers of the name came to Britain with the invasion of Duke William of Normandy, and perhaps even offered assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Luke Goodnought, who was in the Virginia colonies in 1642; Gerick Goodnight, a German pioneer, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1754...."

Some of what others are telling you about the rights to display coats of arms is a lot of bunk. The rights to a coat of arms is transferred to every descendant male or female. While the grantee is still alive the sons must put a cadence mark to show which son they are (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.), but after the grantee's death the shield goes back to regular. As for females they inherit a right to the shield but it must be quartered with her husband's shield after marriage. There are thousands of Coats of arms that are American and registered with the college of arms in Britain, I have several huge volumes of American achievements (coats of arms). These people are copying and pasting answers that spread ignorance. Ask them: what is the purpose of cadence marks or quartering arms?

I fail to see what is wrong with proudly displaying an ancient piece of artwork that is associated with you own surname.