Looking for family Coat of Arms/History?

Question

My surname is GUERREIRO. My grandparents and their parents are from northern Portugal. I've searched so many times but I cant tell from good sites and BS sites.

I feel this site: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Guerreiro is some what good. they described my coat of arms-"The ancient coat of arms has the distinctive blazon of a red field, charged with a single silver lure." They didnt have a pic, so I have NO IDEA what it looks like...

I realize what surnames are and that they can originate from multiple countries...but is there a way to find my* surname history and coat of arms without costing me?

Answer 1

The blazon you found is: Gules a lure argent. It is a symbol used in falconry an heraldic lure was used to train hawks. I posted what it would look like at: http://www.rushings.info/images/guerreiro.gif so you could see it. I have no idea if it is valid coat of arms as the article does not give a reference for it, but maybe the picture and blazon will give you more clues for your quest.

Answer 2

Coats of Arms were awarded to individuals by the monarch, for a service or services performed. Once knighted the reward might include lands and titles, but that is only passed to to the eldest son and is only valid as long as the family is on the good side of the monarch.



Now if you would like to have fun with the Crest awarded to someone with your surname, look in a book on Heraldry. The Surname does not necessarily indicate when the coat of arms/crest came from(which Country) as people from other countries have been knighted

Answer 3

You probably don't have one. Coats of arms were awarded to individuals, not families. However, if you find one you like that is related to your name, the heraldry police will not come to your house and demand you take it off the wall.



GUERREIRO Name Meaning and History

Portuguese and Galician: nickname for a belligerent person or alternatively for a valiant soldier, from guerreiro ‘warrior’.





http://www.fleurdelis.com/

Answer 4

You would have to trace your family history. I understand in continental countries they are usually assumed by individuals rather than being granted by a specific heraldry authority like they are in British countries. However, they don't belong to surnames and generally they don't belong to families but to individuals. You need to study up on Portuguese and Spanish heraldry.



Here is the situation there might have been more than one man named Guerreiro that assumed a coat of arms, all different. No one of those peddlers who sell them on the internet, at shopping malls, in airports, in magazines 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 for any particular surname is if more than one man with the same surname of 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 were never granted or did they assume a coat of arms and their descendants aren't entitled to one at all.

Surnames themselves generally do not have a history. When surnames were assigned or taken in Europe during the last millennium, it wasn't impossible for legitimate sons of the same man to wind up with a different surname and still each could have shared his surname with others with no known relationship.



So when you go into someone's 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 halll, just smile to yourself. Chances are they really think it belongs to them and it just isn't polite to laugh at people in their own homes about something like that. Now if you see one as a tattoo by some guy it is okay to laugh as long as you can run faster or win in a fight.

Answer 5

As in the UK, Potugese coats of arms were awarded and belong to the one person, not everyone in the 'family' ad certainly not anyone who has the same surname.



To find out if anyone in your family was ever awarded a coat of arms you will need to research your own family history and you may find that several of your ancestors were awarded arms, you may also find out there were no ancestors granted arms..............



The numerous businesses on the internet and in street markets who sell 'family crests' based on coats of arms belonging to someone who happens to have the same surname are stealing property and get around it by calling it a 'family crest'...........this is theft, just the same as someone stealing your car and then selling it on to someone else.