I finally had a chance to view the arms on http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/members/schaern1.htm The object depicted is a key. I don't know how a key would connect with a smith's hammer, but keys are often used to represent civic positions like a mayor. I enjoy heraldry and will try to help help anyone with questions about what is on a coat of arms. <snip> The coat of arms of the Schawalder of Diepoldsau/Schmitter and Widnau is based on a seal used by Johannes Schawalder during 1730...39 : as Johannes Schawalder was a smith, this will be smith's tools - a hammer and another tool we are not quite sure about. Take a look at : http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/members/schaern1.htm The Diepoldsau line uses yellow on blue, the Widnau line black on yellow. Compare the design with the seal also depicted on that page. The coat of arms of the St.Gallen line (originally from Schmitter) is much more recent : not dating back to 1796, as one may assume - this is the year of birth of Hans Jakob Schawalder, the oldest proven ancestor of the St.Gallen line. Best regards - Wolf <snip> Trudy mailto:VikingRose@juno.com ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.