How to Find Your Family Crest: A Scottish Guide

Type your surname into a search engine and you will be offered a "family crest" within seconds, usually on a certificate sold by a surname-crest site. It looks official. For most surnames, it is not.

The real answer is more interesting than the souvenir version, and it is genuinely findable. This guide walks through what a crest actually is, who it belongs to, which register to search depending on where your family came from, and what you can legitimately display once you know. It is written for Scottish surnames in particular, with notes on Ireland, because the rules are not the same across these jurisdictions.

What People Usually Mean by "Family Crest"

In everyday speech, "family crest" is used loosely for any heraldic-looking badge attached to a surname. In heraldry the word is far more specific. The Court of the Lord Lyon — Scotland's heraldic authority — defines it plainly: "A crest is simply the representation of a three-dimensional object which is placed above the helm over the shield in a coat of arms."

So a crest is one component of a coat of arms, not a synonym for it. The shield is the central element; the crest sits on top of the helmet above it. If you want the full breakdown of crest versus coat of arms versus the marketing phrase "family crest", we covered it in detail in Clan Crest vs Coat of Arms vs Family Crest: What's the Difference?

The Rule That Changes Everything

Before you start searching, there is one rule that determines what you will and will not find. The Lord Lyon's own guidance states it without ambiguity: "There is no such thing in Scotland as a 'family coat of arms' in Scotland: a personal coat of arms can only be borne by one person at a time."

The same guidance adds that "A clan cannot have a coat of arms. The Chief of a clan has his or her personal coat of arms but that belongs to the chief and cannot be used by anyone else."

This is why searching for "the Campbell coat of arms" or "the MacDonald family crest" as though one single design covered everyone of that name will always give you a misleading result. Arms in Scotland are granted to an individual and pass down a defined line of descent. They are not attached to a surname.

That does not leave you with nothing. It means you are looking for two different things, and it helps enormously to know which one you want:

A clan crest badge — the chief's crest shown inside a strap and buckle, which clansfolk have long used to show which clan they belong to.
Your own arms — either arms already recorded for an ancestor in your direct line, or a new grant petitioned for in your own name.

Step 1: Start With the Surname, Not the Picture

Work forwards from the name rather than backwards from an image you found online. The first question is which clan or family your surname is associated with, including as a sept — a name historically connected to a larger clan.

You can search your surname on the Tartan Today home page, or browse the full directory on our list of Scottish clans and families. Many surnames connect to more than one clan, and some connect to a district rather than a family at all, so treat the result as a starting point for records research rather than a verdict.

If your interest is really in the tartan rather than the heraldry, the companion guide is How to Find Your Clan Tartan: A Complete Surname Lookup Guide.

Step 2: Search the Register for the Right Jurisdiction

Heraldry is administered by jurisdiction, not by surname. Which register to search depends on where the family line was based, not on the surname. The Lyon Court's guidance routes applicants by domicile: those domiciled in England, Wales or Northern Ireland should approach the College of Arms in London, and those domiciled in the Republic of Ireland the Chief Herald of Ireland. The earlier post linked above sets out what each of those authorities is; the rest of this section is about what you can actually search.

If the Line Is Scottish: The Register of 1672

Scotland keeps a single statutory record of its heraldry. An Act of 1672 established the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, and the Lyon Court's own description is categorical: "Since its creation in 1672 in the reign of Charles II, the Public Register of All Armorial Bearings in Scotland has contained all arms legally in use in Scotland."

It also carries real legal weight. The Court states that "If a coat of arms is not properly recorded in the Public Register, then it is a criminal offence to use it in Scotland." The register is maintained by the Lyon Clerk, who is "responsible for... the maintenance of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and other Registers."

If your line is Scottish, this register is the authority. Anything presented as Scottish arms that is not recorded there has no standing, however convincing the artwork looks.

If the Line Is Irish: The Register Held in Dublin

Irish heraldry is administered through the National Library of Ireland. As the Library explains, "The Office of the Chief Herald, formerly the Genealogical Office (GO), has been a part of the National Library of Ireland since 1943", and it is responsible for "the granting and confirming of arms to individuals and corporate bodies in Ireland."

One practical note if you are planning to apply rather than simply research: at the time of writing, the National Library states that "The Office of the Chief Herald is not accepting any new applications for grants or confirmations of arms until further notice due to resourcing capability." Historic records remain consultable; new grants are paused.

Step 3: Trace Your Own Line

Finding arms recorded under your surname is not the same as finding your arms. To connect yourself to a recorded coat, you need documented descent.

For Scottish families the starting point is ScotlandsPeople, which describes itself as "the official Scottish Government site for searching government records and archives" and is "run by National Records of Scotland, a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government". It is where you can work through birth, marriage and death records and build the chain of names and dates that any heraldic claim would rest on.

Clan societies are the other underrated resource. Many hold member-contributed genealogies, published histories and local knowledge about which branches went where, which is often the fastest way past a dead end in the official records.

Step 4: Decide What You Are Actually Entitled To

Once you know your clan and have traced what you can, there are two legitimate outcomes.

Wearing the Clan Crest Badge

This is the route open to almost everyone with a clan connection, and it is the origin of nearly every clan badge you have ever seen. Members of a clan may display their chief's crest within, in the Lyon Court's words, "a strap and buckle bearing their Chief's Motto or Slogan". The Court is explicit about what that encircling strap signifies: "The strap and buckle is the sign of the clansman."

The strap and buckle is not decoration. It is the device that makes the badge honest — it shows you are displaying your chief's crest as a follower of that clan, rather than claiming the crest as your own arms. The Lyon Court describes clansmen and clanswomen as including those "whether bearing the Clan surname or that of one of its septs".

That is exactly what a clan crest badge on a flag, a blanket or an ornament is showing. On our Clan MacLeod page, for example, the badge pairs the chief's crest with the motto "Hold Fast" in the strap-and-buckle form that clan members have used for generations.

Petitioning for Arms of Your Own

If you want arms that are legally yours, you petition for them. The Lyon Court explains that "the governing factor in the case of an original Grant of Arms is the domicile of the petitioner or the ownership of property in Scotland", so anyone resident in Scotland, or owning property there that they can live on, may apply.

There is a route for the diaspora too. If you are not resident in Scotland and own no property there, you may be able to apply for arms to be granted in the name of a Scottish ancestor, provided you can prove descent from that ancestor. And where an ancestor already held Scottish arms, the process is matriculation rather than a new grant: you must, in the Court's words, "prove his relationship to the original grantee and show that s/he comes within the destination of the original Grant of Arms". Matriculation does not require Scottish domicile.

What to Be Careful About Online

The Lyon Court is blunt about surname-crest sites: of heraldic information found on the internet, it warns that "Unfortunately most of this information is completely inauthentic", and of arms sold on that basis, that "What you have bought is simply a souvenir and has no authenticity."

The distinction worth holding on to is this. A certificate claiming that a coat of arms belongs to everyone sharing your surname is making a claim that is not true in Scots heraldry. A clan crest badge makes no such claim — it identifies the clan you follow, which is precisely what it was designed to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Are Scottish Arms Officially Recorded?

In the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, established by an Act of 1672 and maintained by the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon. The Court's position is that the register has contained all arms legally in use in Scotland since its creation.

Do I Need to Live in Scotland to Petition for Arms?

For an original grant, the governing factor is the petitioner's domicile or the ownership of property in Scotland. If you are not resident there and own no property there, you may still be able to apply for arms to be granted in the name of a Scottish ancestor, provided you can prove your descent from that ancestor.

What Does Matriculation Mean?

Matriculation is the process for recording arms that already exist in your family line, rather than applying for new ones. You must prove your relationship to the original grantee and show that you come within the destination of the original grant. Unlike an original grant, it does not require Scottish domicile.

Can the Chief Herald of Ireland Grant Arms at the Moment?

Not currently. The National Library of Ireland states that the Office of the Chief Herald is not accepting any new applications for grants or confirmations of arms until further notice, citing resourcing capability. Its historic registers remain part of the Library's collections.

I Am American or Canadian With Scottish Ancestry. Where Do I Start?

Start with the surname and the clan connection, then trace your line through ScotlandsPeople and clan society records. If you can document descent from a Scottish ancestor, a grant in that ancestor's name or a matriculation may be open to you. In the meantime, the clan crest badge is yours to display as a clansman or clanswoman.

Sources

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How to Find Your Family Crest: A Guide for Scottish Surnames