For millions of people today, a Coat of Arms is synonymous with genealogy. Anyone who has ever typed their name into a search engine has no doubt discovered that there are hundreds of companies purporting to have their 'Family Coat of Arms' and the complete history of their surname. I almost wish that it were that simple, but to do that we would have to ignore the very reason those powerful symbols had meaning. Hopefully without over simplifying the subject I can offer a brief explanation as to why there is no such thing as a 'Family Coat of Arms.'
Heraldry is as old as warfare itself. Rival armies found it imperative to distinguish themselves one from another on the battlefield to prevent fratricide. Over the centuries, it grew from simple flags to elaborate tabards and crests and other vestiges; it evolved in pace with the machinations of war and civilization that spawned it. During the Middle Ages, a system of government called 'feudalism' was born. A hierarchy of nobles managed the realm from the king down to the serf in the field. A sort of caste system emerged that separated the noble from the common. Apart from the trappings of wealth and prestige, a symbol of rank was necessary to secure their station and set them apart from the rest of the populace. Thus the modern notion of heraldry was born, and it became inseparable from the caste that it represented. The Coat of Arms could eventually be seen in every aspect of a noble's life. It was displayed on his shields, banners, tabards, and even on his horse's trappings. On the battlefield, it helped prevent his comrades from mistaking him as the enemy, it also let his opponents know that he was a person of relative importance and worth a ransom if spared. Off the field, it represented his authority over his tenants and feed men.
A Coat of Arms was a title granted in the name of a sovereign power to an individual much in the same way a handgun license today is only valid for the person to which it was issued. In most cases, the Arms could be passed from the father to his eldest son. However, it was by no means a unique 'family' symbol. Any subsequent children who inherited lands or title from its bearer would have use an Armorial that had been visibly altered. It also evolved over the years. If a man were granted a new estate, he might modify his Coat of Arms to reflect it.
To this day, with the exception of a suit of full plate armor there is no other symbol more representative of knighthood than the Coat of Arms. The rank of knight was not bestowed on every person with the same surname, and the Coats of Arms were the exclusive right of their bearers. Many of those same concepts exist today and can be seen in various aspects of our everyday lives. Company logos and registered trademarks are inseparable from the products they represent. Practically every country in the world has some form of law to protect these symbols from duplicitous use. Other countries, chief among them is the United Kingdom, look upon the American enterprise of slapping a surname on a shield and selling it off as a 'family Coat of Arms' in the same way that we rankle at the Chinese making bootleg copies of Mickey Mouse merchandise.
The following armorial descriptions are taken from Bernard Burke’s “The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales”: (see "Coats of Arms" gallery for renderings of the armorials.)
- COLSON Sa. on a pale betw. two pales ar. three escutcheons gu. Crest—Two arms, couped at the elbow, habited, holding in the hand ppr. an escutcheon or.
- COLSTON (Essex) Az. two barbels, haurient, respecting each other ar. Crest—A spear’s head in pale, enfold with a savage’s head, couped, ppr.
- COLSTON (Essex) Ar. two dolphins, haurient, sa.
- COLTON, COULSON, or COULSTON (ESSEX AND LONDON. Visit. London, 1368, GABRIEL COLSTON, of London, citizen and grocer, was second son of ROBERT COLSTON, Esq., of Corby, co. Lincoln, by KATHERINE, his wife, dar. and coheir of JOHN MALORGE, Esq., of Walton, co. Leicester). Ar. two dolphins haurient, respecting each other as. chained together by their necks, the chain pendant or. quartering, or, a lion ramp. double queued gu., of MALORGE. Crest—A dolphin, embowed, sa.
- COLSTON The same, within a bordure engr. of the last.
- COLSTON AR. two barbels, respecting each other, sa.
- COLSTON AR. two barbels, haurient, endorsed, within a bordure sa.
- COLSTON Ar. three dolphin haurient, within a bordure sa.
- COLSTON Gu.two barbels, respecting each other, or.
- COLSTON (Originally of Colston Hall, co. Lincoln, subsequently of Filkins Hall, co. Oxford, and of Roundelay Park, co. Wilts). v Ar. betw. two dolphins haurient, respecting each other, an anchor, all ppr. Crest—A dolphin embowed ppr. Motto—Go and do thou likewise. These words were adopted in memory of the philanthropic EDWARD COLSTON, born in 1636, the eminent merchant of Bristol, who during his lifetime established schools and hospitals, and left, at his decease in 1722, more than 300,000 to different churches and charities in Bristol, London, and elsewhere, fully recorded on his monument in All Saints’ Church, in his native city of Bristol.
- COULSON (Jesmond, co. Northumbland). v Ar. on a bend gu, three fleur-de-lis of the field. Crest—In her nest ppr. a pelican feeding her young ar. vulned ppr.
- COULSON (Blenkinsopp Castle, co. Northumberland). v Arms and Crest, quartering those of BLENKINSOPP, Motto—Je mourai pour ceux que j’aime.
- COULSON (Cottingham Castle, formerly Colston, descended from the family of Edward Colston, of Bristol). Arms and Crest, as COLSTON.
- COULSON (Ayton, co. York, 1666). Ar. two dolphins haurient respecting each other sa. collared and chained together by their necks the chain pendent betw. them of the last.
- COULSON, and COULSTON. See COLSTON
- COULSTON (St. Ives, co. Hunts). Ar. a chev. engr. gu. betw. three dolphins embowed sa. Crest—An eagle with wings endorsed or, preying on a dolphin ppr.