I need an easy way to find my family crest.?

Question

This is for an English extra credit project. We need to find our family's crest and the saying that goes with it. I've already found the crest but I can't find the quote. I need a website or something easy to access it for free....a little help please!
Thanks :)

btw- my current last name is "Landis" if that helps anyone

Answer 1

If your teacher gave your such an assignment she knows absolutely nothing about heraldry or genealogy.



There is no such thing as a family crest. A crest is part of a coat of arms. Coats of arms do not belong to surnames and except maybe in Poland they don't belong to families. In England,Wales,Scotland and Ireland they are granted by a specific heraldry authority to individuals not families. They are in inherited by individuals. In continental countries they frequently are assumed by individuals. Frequently more than one man with the same surname, not all necessarily related, were each granted their own coat of arms, all different. No one peddler who sells them on the internet, at shopping malls, in airports, in magazines etc will have all of them. They don't need to in order to sell to suckers. The only time they will have more than one associated wit the same surname is if more than one man with the same surname from different national origins were granted or assumed a coat of arms. Then they will have one of each and there might have been 50 others. Most men with that same surname are not entitled to a coat of arms at all as they do not have a direct male line ancestor that was ever granted or did they assume a coat of arms.



The surname product business is an outright scam. We have no laws regarding heraldry in the U.S. and a person is free to display any coat of arms they wish but to do so is actually identity theft.



Anytime you go into someones home and see one of those walnut plaques with a coat of arms on it on their den wall, over their fireplace or in their entrance hall it is okay to smile to yourself. However, chances are they really think it is theirs and it just isn't polite to laugh at people in their own homes about something like that.



Now you might have more than one in your family tree. That doesn't mean you are entitled tp any one of them. It just means that if you do family research and you find more than one ancestor that was granted or assumed coats of arms and if you have a book printed or even published, it is legitimate for you to put pictures of your ancestors' coats of arms in your book. It wouldn't be legitimate however for you to put in your book those that just happened to be granted to or assumed by someone with the same surname as your ancestors.



If you have any English lines that go back to early colonial days in the American South you have an excellent chances of having several in your family tree. In that case you probably have some distant cousins somewhere that have the ones the ancestors you share in common with them brought over from England 300-400 years ago. As a rule they don't display them. They aren't any good for buying groceries or gasoline.



Here are some links to heraldry authorities in several countries.



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

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/About/12.htm

The 'College of Arms grants coats of arms for England and Wales



http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/216.181.html

The Lord Lyon grants coats of arms for Scotland



Please feel free to put this on your teacher's desk and definitely give him/her the links I am furnishing you.

Answer 2

Read GrayPict's reply. He's correct. While a few normal data you would get might be proper, a reputation doesn't suggest some thing. People difference names, spelling converted, humans lie, humans used the surnames in their lords and masters, and one surname can come from a dozen distinctive origins. Greathouse might had been utilized by any loved ones which lived in a large residence wherever. All the ones crests are simply scams. And a whole lot of gullible humans are glad to pay for such matters.

Answer 3

Well so much for education...............a teacher who gives you an assignment when he/she clearly has no knowledge about Coats of Arms..........and this comment comes from a teacher.

Ther is no such thing as a 'family Crest' families don't own Coats of Arms they are awarded to the individual, not the family and certainly not to every family who happens to have the same surname. A crest is the top part of a Coat of Arms.....so I would suggest you do the research about this and hand that in along with the references you get from your research as then your 'teacher' can do nothing but to give you the extra credits for doing correct research and maybe your teacher will learn about the subject of the projects he/she gives to his/her students before asking them to research incorrect information.



Hope this website helps you get started http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

Answer 4

Shirley is 100% correct. There is no such thing as a family crest and unless you are in direct line of decent for in inheritable coat of arms your family does not have a coat of arms. It is a common misconception that "crest" are attached to a name. For your extra credit project I would recommend instead of providing incorrect information that you provide accurate information on "coat of arms" the misconceptions about "family crest" and the fact that the vast majority of people do not have one