England: Colman Coat of Arms / Family Crest

Many people are of the mistaken belief that a particular family coat of arms / crest is theirs just because their surname is the same or they come from the same country. This is not always true. For example the surname “SMITH” has over 100 different coat-of-arms for that surname. There can be multiple coat-of-arms for a particular surname from the same country or from different countries. The makeup of a coat of arms depends on many other factors as well. It can depend on which country and what year the coat of arms was made, along with who had it made, and how boastful they were, and what alliances the family had at the time the coat of arms was made, and these are just a few of the reasons that affect a coat of arms.

Always keep in mind that your surname can be derived from several origins; for example the occupation of a person. Like the surname “SMITH” could be from the occupation of a black smith, tin smith, and silver smith and so on. Or the surname can be from the place a person came from, or even a description of a person, along with several other origin types. We use the oldest coat of arms or surname history that is in our records. This does not mean it is the only coat of arms or surname history out there and there may be other origins for this surname then just the countries list.

The only way to be certain of your family heritage is to have your family line researched by a professional genealogist, which is a service we do not perform. Although research in the origin of a surname is a service we do offer and that service is discussed here. If you have a particular coat of arms that you would like us to match, then email the picture to us and we'll take a look. On orders with surname histories and Coat of Arms, we ask that you give us 2 to 4 weeks for those busy times of the year.

The Tree Maker asks that you please read the “Frequently Asked Questions” section before ordering.