Components of an Armorial Achievement (Coat of Arms)

So what is a coat of arms? Originally, the heralds, who were in charge of recording and maintaining the systems of arms, wore a surcoat that had an embroidered version of what was placed on their master's shield. Surcoat is where the "coat" in coat of arms comes from. Arms were originally and still rightly just the shield and its charges. Hence, Coat of Arms. The English language, being what it is, started to use that term to include the entire Achievement.

So what is an achievement? The proper full name of what most people call a coat of arms is an armorial achievement. Armorial, pertaining to arms or armory and achievement, still holding the same meaning. It includes, the shield and all its charges, the helmet, mantling and crest, the supporters and motto (if any) and the compartment (almost exclusively unique to Scottish heraldry).

One term that is absolutely incorrect is family crest. There has never been a crest granted without an accompanying shield. A crest sits atop the helmet, period. And although an achievement may be passed to a direct descendant, usually it is modified to some extent. There is no coat of arms for the family Richards. Achievements are just that; achievements of a specific person, not a family. So family crest as a term is completely wrong.

So what we end up with is that the full, proper name is armorial achievement, or achievement for short. The most common term that is acceptable in the modern language is coat of arms or arms for short. Arms is actually more correct than coat of arms, because except for royal coronations, there aren't too many people running around wearing a surcoat. Arms also has the advantage in being short and easy and that what you will see most of the time here at AssumeArms.com, though we sometimes use coat of arms because that is far and away what most people call it here in the US.

Yours In Arms,

Michael C. Richards
Executive Director - AssumeArms.com