>From: evert@meulie.net (Evert Meulie esq.) > >Some days ago I came across an Internet company that researches/ >sells Coats of Arms via the 'no cure, no pay' principle. Since my >last name, Meulie, is very rare (only 4 living people in the whole >world) I thought it was worth the 'risk'. Great was my surprise when >I received an email, with attached to it the coat of arms of the >Meulie family, or so they say... > >Is there any way I can verify that the coat of arms I received is >actually that of the Meulie family, and not something that has been >made by some random coat of arms generator program? ;) > >For who is interested, the image received is visible at: > http://www.meulie.net/CoA/ > >Anyone who can give me any info on this matter: yes, please! :) A good place to start is the rec.heraldry FAQ at http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/heraldry/faq.html Extract: Arms are not associated with surnames, but with individuals and, in some countries, with families. The important thing is who your ancestors are, not what surname you happen to bear. The fact that your name happens to be "Smith", for example, gives you no claim whatsoever on any of the thousands of arms borne throughout history by various people named "Smith." Unfortunately, there are lots of unscrupulous businessmen worldwide who are happy to promulgate false information about the subject of armory. They will happily take your money to tell you "Your Family Arms", which they supply simply by finding an armigerous family that happens to share your surname. Carol Botteron <botteron@alum.mit.edu>