How to Find Family Crests
A family's crest, or coat of arms, ties that family directly to its genealogical history. If you know the original spelling of your family's last name and have a few minutes to browse the Internet, you can locate and print your family crest for free. For a small fee, you can often have the crest printed on parchment or engraved on a plaque.
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Instructions
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Research the original spelling of your family surname. Many family names were altered upon immigrating to the U.S., and it may be difficult to find your family crest without the original spelling. Families who emigrated from non-Western countries, such as Africa and Asia, may have a difficult time finding their family crests, as the tradition was primarily practiced in Western European countries. Don't give up the search, but do be patient.
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Do some genealogical research to discover your family's origins. Knowing the exact location your ancestors originated from will make it easier for you to locate the proper crest because in some cases, crests were assigned by village, as well as family name.
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Use the Internet to search for sites that offer free family crest images. Several Web sites can be used, such as All Family Crests, Tree Maker and House of Names.
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Enter your family name and information into the search bar and begin searching. Even if you only have the partial spelling of the surname, you may be able to search through spellings and narrow it down by village.
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Print your family crest. You might also consider doing more extensive genealogical research to untangle the extensive branches of your family tree. Extensive genealogical research begins in the library and may take you years to fully complete.
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- Photo Credit Flickr TrueGod
