Dear Fern: I can only answer from (part of) my ethnic heritage. Till about 250 years ago, most Irish people were illiterate. Yet they were truly proud of the family from which they were descended. For Irish clans (e.g., super-families), a Crest was unique. Hence (in my case), there were not a dozen or so O'Connell crests, but only one. Nobility of any kind, while it existed in Ireland, was rather rare. In Ireland, not only families but regions had standard crests. Thus all of Ireland has one crest, all of County Mayo (from which my forebears came) had another, and so on. Finally, in Ireland, a crest doesn't indicate one is descended from Royalty (as I am), but that one belongs to a very old, well-established family. In other countries, of course, it is probably very different. Cheers, Daniel O'Connell (Rio Rancho, NM)