"Mario" <mandm@flashnet.it> wrote > I am just starting to look into my family name coat of arms ( code > of arms ) and some backgroung history and origins. > [snip] > Please tell me good sources from which to start investigating if > possible on the web. This may help you further: Reference: http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/heraldry.faq [snip] 3: How can I find my coat of arms or my family's coat of arms? ================================================= This is a difficult question to answer; it requires a great deal of research and skill. In most countries in the world, you can bear any arms you want. This is the way in which arms were originally adopted, before codification and regulation by European heralds and rulers. However, many people consider it wrong to adopt someone else's arms. In some countries, notably Scotland, this is not only dishonourable but illegal. In particular, there are no laws regulating the use of _non-governmental_ arms in the US. The American government neither grants nor recognizes armory. You can adopt any arms you choose and use them however you want (unless you infringe on someone's trademark, which is an entirely different subject that has been beaten to death on this newsgroup so please don't ask about it); but you have no particular right to those arms or any other. If you are descended from someone who was granted arms by some heraldic authority then you may have some claim to those arms within the jurisdiction of that authority. The chances are very good that you do not have any claim on any actual arms. Most people in the world do not. Exactly what conditions you have to meet to establish such a claim vary considerably from one country to another. At the very least, you will have to prove that a recognized holder of the arms is your ancestor. In some countries, you would have to prove that you are the legal heir of that person. Getting an official recognition of your claim is likely to be expensive and time-consuming; in England, for example, it costs thousands of pounds. *** Your last name has nothing to do with the matter. *** 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. We suggest that you avoid these companies; if you want anything more than a decorative wall-hanging, they are a waste of your money. And if you will be happy with any pretty picture to hang on your wall, you can save yourself the trouble of dealing with these companies, and simply choose arms that you like. 4: What about those outfits in the malls that'll sell me my arms? ================================================= See question 3. "Unless you pay them thousands of dollars, the companies [in the malls, and in advertisements in many publications] won't do that research; they'll just look in their books under your surname, and tell you what's there. All that will tell you is that there is (or once was) a person sharing Your surname who bore arms. Suppose your name were "Jones"; it wouldn't be very significant to learn that there was once an English armiger named "Jones". ---------------------------------------------------------- more info can be found here: http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/faq.htm http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy.htm#nobility rec.heraldry Best wishes, "Tea Cup" <not-here@antispam.edu>