Shield or Crest, Just a bit of light hearted Talk - Page 1

Do any of you Guys have a Family Crest or Shield, Here is my supposed Family Shield which hangs in my Hallway, Given to me by my Father some 50 years ago, He said it was passed on to  him by his Father other than that he does not know much about it
Steve1

Very interesting! We need to see the back of it, too... especially if you can see any makers marks. Is it bronze? I am leaning toward shield. Probably a ceremonial shield?

Very cool Steve! I would love to dig deeper into my family tree (probably find root rot haha!)
My paternal Grandfather was adopted so we have no idea of his background
Stacy

Just a few more questions for you Steve:
Do you recognize that building, being the Cockney Lad  that you are?  And are there any distinguishing symbols anywhere on the banner or the horses garb? Also, is that a true portrait or a stylized face? 

Thanks.

Kinolog - is the lion eating his penis? lol ;)

Okay Steve, I found out more for you, I see this depicts an armored man on horseback with the castle in the background.

The portrayal of the bent arm in armor signifies a person with qualities of leadership. The castle depicts safety and a horse shows readiness for all employments for the king and country. Also the style of the Heraldic Line on the horse, the deep-vee cuts called a Dancette Line, signify water.

So I would venture a guess that your ancestors served the king in a position of leadership, in defense of King and country. The style of the shield is probably called "badge" and usually determined by time period and place.

bump

Steve, that is a nice family shield. My family has existed with our present last name for nearly one-thousand years of that we know. Past that point nearly everyone was illiterate so there is no recorded history for us. The avator I use for Bob-O is not a family shield; rather it is the shield for the town of Walluf since I was born in Niederwalluf.

Herein is the problem - many centuries ago parts of my family migrated across Europe as far north as Finland, as far east as Byelorussia and as far west as Scotland and did so without modernizing their name. Me? I was born German but quite a distance from the oldest trace of my ancestors in the fomer Germanic settlements between Poland and Byelorussia. Remarkably in a manner of speaking; these days there is nearly no one in all of Europe with the family name. Since I am the last man in this part of the family and have no children; as far as I know the German group of the family ends with my passing.

So, there exists three (3) distict shields for the family - depending where the family resided after migrating either through choice or by force. I think that a combination of Viking raids and the former powerful Swedish monarchy lent itself to the far migration north and establishment there. The ones that wound up in Scotland were probably due to military recruitment by the Scottish king. The ones who remained in Germany slowly disappeared and many of them arrived in the New York area by the late 1700's and early 1800's. The Scottish group left Scotland a bit later and settled in the area now known as the Carolinas. Afterwards they pushed west and are scattered across the USA.

It is very seldom that I meet someone with my last name, but when I have done so they always ask me if we are related. I tell them that we are cousins of course, but I must know much more to tell them how. Sadly, most people who are American-born have no idea of their ancestry past their parents or perhaps there grandparents, and the cousins I have met here do not know any family past their grandfathers, and just from that I cannot help them.

I think that native-born Americans often wonder why many of us with European origins still cling to the knowledge of our individual pasts. To me; it defines who I am, and it defines who I am not. I am one who was not born with any trace of nobility, but my ancestors achieved awards for distinguished service from the ruling royal houses in their individual lands of residence. It remains a good subject to discuss with my father as although he is very old; he sometimes shares an interesting bit with me.

Best Regards,
Bob-O

Very interesting Bob! Man, I'm jealous not knowing my family history!
Stacy