Family Crests

Family Crests

A crest is a component of an heraldic display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head.

The earliest heraldic crests were apparently painted on metal fans, and usually repeated the coat of arms painted on the shield, a practice which was later discontinued. Later they were sculpted of leather and other materials.

Originally, the crest was often "continued into the mantling", but today the crest normally stands within a wreath of cloth, called a torse, in the principal tinctures of the shield (the liveries). Various kinds of coronet may take the place of the torse, though in some unusual circumstances the coronet sits atop a torse, and is either defined as all or part of a crest.[1] The most frequent crest-coronet is a simplified form of a ducal coronet, with four leaves rather than eight. Towns often have a mural crown, i.e. a coronet in the form of embattled stone walls.

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests

Family Crests