# Family coat of arms tattoo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670 "2019-03-28T17:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/21 "2019-03-29T04:52:43Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > In Scotland, you can be prosecuted and fined for using another person (or entity’s) coat of arms; protection of armorial bearings is part of the remit of [Lyon Court and its head, the Lord Lyon King of Arms](http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_the_Lord_Lyon). Unlike the English College of Arms, the Lyon Court is part of the Scottish legal system, and misuse of armorial bearings is a crime, akin to trademark violation. Rich people need more to do. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/22 "2019-03-29T04:52:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Legally, crests are a little bit different. Plain crests - the bits inside the belt and buckle - are parts of coats-of-arms, and may only be used by the owner of the arms. However, clan chiefs and heads of noble families in the 17th century would adorn their clansmen and supporters with their crests worn around the neck on a belt. This evolved into the crest-within-belt-and-buckle shown in your post. The convention is that anyone who bears the surname of a Scottish clan (or a recognized sept) is considered a member of that clan and may wear the crest within buckle of its chief. Neat, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/23 "2019-03-29T05:54:56Z")
> [@skipnwork](#): > > What does everyone think about a person having a coat of arms tattooed on themselves even though it isn’t their “surname”. I think if you like the design, go ahead. Just don’t claim it’s \*your \*coat of arms if you want to be truthful. But no-one really cares nowadays - even in the UK. Despite the fact that it’s illegal in Scotland, it’s only ever going to be an issue if it’s the arms of someone who wants to raise a ruckus. > [@](#): > > Also the coat of arms i have has some different colors in it but i feel like i want to just do it a black/grey type of a tattoo. Do you think this will take away from the “true look” or diminish it in anyway from it original meaning as I know color and shapes have different meanings in Heraldry. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks If it’s in different colours, it’s a different device, plain and simple. But if you like the monochrome version, use it. I wouldn’t say it “diminishes” it to do so. Since you aren’t the legitimate bearer, you can’t diminish it any more than you already would be just by using it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/24 "2019-03-29T06:25:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’ve got [this](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/11/e4/82/11e48235d721fb620a976e1b51e7023b--get-a-tattoo-beautiful-days.jpg) tattooed on my arm, Quite cool. It’s got five arrows like the Rothchilds. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/25 "2019-03-29T09:17:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A coat of arms belongs to an individual, not to a family, and certainly not to a family name. The rightful owner of the arms–there’s only one heir–might not even have the same family name. Varies by location. I know, I know: amazing that something used throughout more than a continent for more than a thousand years may have rules that vary by location! In Spain we have both: family coats of arms, and individual ones which may be distinguished (identical to the family’s coat except for an addendum) or quartered (each quarter corresponds to each of the person’s first four lastnames… what, you thought we only _had_ two? No, we only _use_ two for ID :D). For example, if your lastname is any kind of variation of Ochoa (Basque for “wolf”), you have two wolves. Depending on which Ochoa (firstname plus name variation) you have other stuff, but the two wolves are there like the rain is wet. To the OP: as with any other tattoo, what matters is what it means to you. You like it? Go ahead and do it. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/26 "2019-03-29T12:00:16Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > To the OP: as with any other tattoo, what matters is what it means to you. You like it? Go ahead and do it. Also, if you think you want a certain tattoo, wait for five years and see if you still want it. Then have it done. As for the heraldry thing - if it’s just for a bit of fun and family history, then do what you want. Just don’t take it too seriously - as others have said, it isn’t yours and doesn’t grant you any special status. Relevant anecdote - I had a childhood friend who turned up to school one day wearing a signet ring bearing ‘her family crest’. We all thought she was being snobbish and idiotic, as her family was in no way aristocratic, and her surname meant ‘coal carrier’. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/27 "2019-03-29T17:23:18Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > So if a person gets some random coat of arms cuz it looks cool and they go to Scotland & it turns out to belong to someone else … what then? > > (Flay the skin off?) Theoretically, you could be fined and have the offending arms destroyed. Realistically? Probably nothing. The Lyon Court mainly goes after businesses and organizations which use arms for which they have no right. Again, this is a form of trademark protection, and they consider it an offense roughly on the same level as tax evasion. The Lord Lyon King of Arms is always an attorney; the current one is a Q.C. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Rich people need more to do. Well, it’s not completely silly. For example, in the UK, certain businesses have ["Royal Warrants of Appointment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_warrant_of_appointment) - that is, they sell goods or services to the royal family. It’s prestigious, and considered to be a sign of high quality, so such businesses are permitted to display the royal arms in their advertising, as well as using the phrase “By Appointment to …. (whichever royal granted the warrant).” If a chippie in Motherwell, say, displayed the royal arms and said “By Appointment to HM the Queen, purveyor of fish and chips”, the Lyon Court would have jurisdiction to slap that nonsense down. The Lyon Court also oversees the [messengers-at-arms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger-at-arms) , another post that sounds archaic but is not; these are the officers who serve legal documents and court orders, throughout Scotland. Process servers, in other words. Man, you’d be _amazed_ at how infrequently I get to show off my knowledge of Scottish heraldry and clan history. Get me on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and I will go to town! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/28 "2019-03-29T20:31:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I think that depends entirely on how much weight you give to the authority of the College of Arms. Perhaps a useful self-test would be to consider how you might feel about meeting someone who wears a flashy very expensive looking watch which, on close inspection is spelled ROWLEX. Do you think - [a] ‘wow! chunky gold watch - what a classy person, they’re probably better than me somehow’; \*\* ‘its their watch and their money, so that’s fine’; [c] ‘poseur / wanker’; [d] ‘fraud victim?’. Other people might be likely to have the same range of reactions on seeing your tat and asking what it means. Of course, if its just for you and not visible or paraded as a conversation starter, then who cares what other people think, although I’ve read somewhere than about 3/4 of tattoos were for other people to see, not for the wearer. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670/29 "2019-03-30T11:36:31Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Perhaps a useful self-test would be to consider how you might feel about meeting someone who wears a flashy very expensive looking watch which, on close inspection is spelled ROWLEX. > > Do you think - [a] ‘wow! chunky gold watch - what a classy person, they’re probably better than me somehow’; \*\* ‘its their watch and their money, so that’s fine’; [c] ‘poseur / wanker’; [d] ‘fraud victim?’. Heh. A friend of mine is a horologist. He primarily collects Rolex watches, which he constantly buys/sells. He has a side collection of extremely good fakes, including watches made entirely of Rolex parts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-coat-of-arms-tattoo/831670.md?page=1)