The Right to Arms
by Betty Rhodes
Firstly, there is no law preventing the use of family Arms in the United
States or in Ireland. In Scotland and England to display the 'official' family
Arms one must obtain the legal right to do so.by Betty Rhodes
Secondly, the Coat of Arms being offered on the 'Red Thread' Genealogy section are not intended to be exact replicas of the original holder's Arms or Crest. The person who once was granted the original Coat of Arms was from either noble or upper class citizens, who passed their Arms and Crest down to their sons, who passed them on to sons. These Arms were displayed by the family with great pride, honor, and distinction. The original design of the family Arms and Crest belonged to the bearer and his descendants - and had a type of 'copyright' on the official design.That original design is in no way being infringed upon with Coat of Arms being offered on the Red-Thread website. The representations depicted on our Arms [including our free shield and crest] only reflect symbolically what the original bearer, who had the same surname, won the Arms for at the time - nothing more or less. If we were offering the exact replica of the original Heraldic Arms - that would be like Colorado using the official Crest of Vermont to represent the state of Colorado.
When you look at the sample Coat of Arms depicted on the 'Red Thread' Bailey Surname page you will see that the shield must be "blue with nine silver stars - the crest a black boar's head". This is the true description of the original Bailey Arms - what the original design looked like, at least in art, could be somewhat different than the one designed for this page - however, the description of the Arms has been followed as near as possible. The authentic symbols are depicted - but not duplicated in design - and certainly the original full mantles and helmets will be different than our designs, as the mantles and helmets are left up to the artist.
When it comes to the Red Thread Coat of Arms it is important for us to learn the symbolic items that were used on the family shield and crest as they may provide clues relating to the Identity of the Lost Tribes of Israel - especially the individual tribes. Colors are important - always have been, always will continue to provide clues. The use of the Lion, Eagle, Unicorn and Star, bear, deer, etc., are important as well - all have meaning much older than the Arms and Crests themselves.
As we have seen, there are distined traditions that pass down with the tribes by an unseen [but perhaps not unwritten] law that surface time and time again - all to leave a trail along the way for the tribes to trace back to their origins. For instance, take the surname, Evans; the name is Welsh and the Coat of Arms depicts a 'blue shield with a gold lion {Judah} rampant' [ready to charge], and the Crest is a stag [Naphtali ?]. All these old heraldic symbols should be studied and meanings gone over with great understanding and importance - for surely they hold clues to the Identity of the tribes and the Red Thread Bloodline.
It can be certain that staunch old families from the British Isles, who still bear their family Arms with great distinction frown [big frown here
] on Americans and others], who want to display a same-surname Coat of Arms - what right
have we to the honor? We are seekers, we are searchers and we will find the
evidence we need to find our ancestors.
So, do we have the right to bear Arms? In the light of research and the need
to know - the answer is an absolute - YES !Return to Genealogy Home