The Farquharson crest includes a red lion holding a sword, on top of a cap of maintenance. The lion was taken by Alexader Nisbet in his 1722 System o...
The Erskine crest us a hand holding a skene (knife) on a chapeau hat. The motto is Je Pense Plus, French for ‘I think more’. The chief of the Erskine...
The Elliot crest is a hand holding a cutlass. The modern version has an armoured arm, although the hand is left bare. The motto is Fortiter et Recte,...
The Durie crest is a simple golden crescent. We’ve already seen the crest of a crescent used for Arnot and Cathcart and there will be more to come (H...
The Dunlop crest of a right hand holding a dagger, with the motto ‘Merito’ (deservedly). This crest was recorded in Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry...
Lions were a popular symbol for the Dundas kindred. The old shield of the chiefly family, Dundas of Dundas (or ‘of that Ilk’) had a red lion rampant,...
The crest of a ship in distress for the Duncans has never been registered with the Lyon Court to represent the chiefly family, but has a long traditi...
This crest has been in use since George Dunbar (1340-1422) Earl of March and Dunbar, Lord Annandale and Man, whose crest was a bridled horse’s neck a...
The Drummond crest is a goshawk atop of a strawberry-leaved crown. The motto is ‘gang warily’, i.e. ‘go carefully’. It’s not clear if this is a recom...
The Douglas crest is a green salamander on fire, sat atop of chapeau (a type of prestigious medieval hat). Far from an act of animal cruelty, the Rom...
The Dewar crest is an armoured arm holding a sword, emerging from a crown with strawberry leaves. This is the crest of the Dewars of Vogie, the succe...
The Davidson crest is a stag’s head. In Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry, the motto ‘Sapienter si sincere’ is recorded for the Davidsons of Curriehil...
Here we have the crest of the Dalziels, which is a dagger with the motto ‘I dare’. This is attached to the rather garbled arms of a naked man with hi...
The crest of the Dalrymples is a rock. and comes from the senior family, the Earls of Stair. The crest is recorded in the Lyon Registers on 2 June 1...
This is one where the symbolism seems straightforward at a glance, but increasingly harder to grasp on deeper exploration. Three theories are given i...
Anyone who knows the story of St Paul’s Cathedral in London knows how Wren supposedly found a broken tombstone in the ruins of the burnt-out medieval...
A dragon breathing fire. It’s rare to see a dragon in Scottish heraldry and this is something of a puzzler. The original recorded crest of the Lords ...
During the reign of James I (1406-1437) the abbey of Holyrood first used the image of a stag with a cross between its antlers. The story behind this ...
The crest and motto are recorded in Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry. Where some Scottish crests are meant to inspire awe, fear, virtue or resolve, h...
The Craig clan crest is one of the most impressive and memorable: a knight (chevalier) in full armour with broken lance. Exactly what this is referrin...
The Colville crest is a hind’s head. The golden hind is the most famous version of this animal, referring to the adventures of Hercules in Green myth...
The Colquhoun crest is a male red deer, a hart. Deer like these found on Scottish crests tend to have double meanings. On the one hand they are mean...
Although this Borders kindred is somewhat coy in pronouncing all the letters of their name, instead usually going for ‘Co-burn’, in contrast for thei...
A horse. There are a few possibilities of what this might be referring to. Unfortunately, as the crest and motto are recorded in Nisbett’s 1722 Syste...
The Clelland Crest has some relatively straightforward symbolism. It was mentioned in 1722 Nisbet’s System of Heraldry, but has an older pedigree. Th...
We can trace a boar’s head being associated with the Chisolm/Chisholms back to at least 1296, when Richard de Chesehelme of Roxburghshire used a boar...
Clan Chattan takes its name from Gilchattan Mor, the great servant of Saint Cattan, or Cathan. Saint Cathan was the son of the Dál Riatan King Áedán ...
We were kindly contacted by Antony Cummins, who has made some very interesting videos of his tartan projects. Be sure to check out the rest of his cha...
Something of a pun here, albeit a slightly sinister one. The name Charteris is assumed to refer to Chartres in France and the family’s origins there....
The Chalmers crest is a lion with the motto ‘avance’, French for ‘advance’. On the surface this is pretty standard stuff, a lion being a famous symbo...
As discussed with the Arnot crest, the crescent is one of the older heraldic symbols, very popular among knightly circles, sometimes as a reference t...
Carnegie. Here’s a more unusual crest, a winged thunderbolt. In Ancient Greece the eagle and thunderbolt were symbols of Zeus, and this continued wit...
The crest for Carmichael is a broken lance raised triumphantly. This is a reference to the Battle of Baugé on 22 March 1421, during the Hundred Years...
Unlike the Campbells of Inveraray and the Campbells of Breadalbane who use a boar’s head as a crest, the Campbells of Cawdor (and Campbells of Airds)...
Our Autumn 2020 range of kilt pins, just in time for Hallowe’en, celebrates the wonderful and unique Scottish art found on seventeenth century tombs. ...
CAMBPELL Here we have a boar’s head and the Latin motto ‘Ne Obliviscaris’, meaning ‘don’t forget’. There are two stories behind this crest. The boar ...
This crest was adopted in the 1740s by Donald Cameron of Lochiel, known to history as ‘Gentle Lochiel’, replacing an older crest of an arm holding a ...
From an armorial panel on Crathes Castle, this crest seems to have been in use since the early 1600s at least. A very interesting story here. This em...
BUCHANAN Here we have a hand holding a ducal cap topped with a rose, between two laurel branches. The earliest reference to this design comes in 1657...
The crest of the Lairds of Auchmacoy.Here we have a sunflower enjoying the sun. This is a very rare symbol in Scottish heraldry, although was quite ...
The term ‘Celtic’ is best thought of as a language and artistic group, which spread across northern Europe in ancient times, and now primarily represe...
Bruce. A proud lion has obvious connotations to Scottish royalty. The Latin motto ‘Fuimus’, meaning ‘we have been’ is a little more cryptic, although...
The Brodies are one of the most enduring laridly families of Scotland, with an impressive castle not far from Inverness. Here in their crest we have ...
Here we have a double headed eagle ‘parted’ with a wiggly line. Not to imply some sort of Frankenstein’s bird, or bad taxidermy, the double-headed ea...
The Lordship of the Isles - Part 3 Somerled’s death at the battle of Renfrew to the forces of the Bishop of Glasgow in 1164 essentially ended the kin...
In 1572 the Boyds were said to be ‘a surname of right hardie men’ (Estimate of the Scottish Nobility, 1873, p.21). This is the crest of the Lords Boy...
The Borthwick Crest consists of a Moor’s head in profile and the Latin motto ‘Qui Conducit’. In 1522 a seal of William Lord Borthwick had a horse’s h...
Bethune, sometimes better known as Beaton. The crest is of an Otter’s head. The crest and motto are recorded in Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry. The...
So we learnt in part 1 that the old kingdom of Dal Riata was supplanted by incoming Vikings after 849AD. Raids on the Isles had started from 793, and ...
Today we have a reiving family, whose name is thought to derive from a French word for fair or handsome. Not much to explore with the crest: a dagger...
A surprisingly aggressive crest for a family famous for its Quakers. Here we have a hand holding a dagger emerging from a cap of maintenance. The dag...
Unsurprisingly, this family were the bearers of the royal standard in the tenth and eleventh centuries. However, due to conspicuous bravery at a bat...
The Lordship of the Isles – Part 1 The Western Isles have always been a distinct part of Scotland. Where the sea dominates communications, the culture...
Another griffin (see Baird), although this one’s tooled up with a little sword. This was the crest of the Bannatynes of Corhouse (now known as Corra ...
A gryphon’s head. The griffon had the body, tail and legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle… so we just have the eagle bit here, but take...
The first of many severed boars’ heads, perhaps the single most popular symbol in Scottish heraldry. A major cluster of boar-head heraldry could be f...
A surname from the placename in Kinross-shire. The crest for Arnot is an upturned crescent. No crest was recorded for the senior line of the family A...
Not much subtlety here. A strong arm, or Arm-Strong if you will. The ‘Invictus Maneo’ literally translates as ‘I remain unvanquished’, but there’s so...
In Scotland, the chief of a clan/kindred will have their own coat of arms, consisting of the shield, supporters, crest and so on. Followers of that ch...
Named after the lands in the Mearns, this is the first crest so far whose motto is a command rather than a brag: the Latin ‘Laus Deo’ meaning ‘Praise...
Above you can see a machine-stitched kilt on the left, and a completely hand-stitched kilt on the right. What’s the difference? Both have their own a...
The restrained beep blue tartan of the Earl of St Andrews has a similar story to that of Royal Stewart: initially a restricted personal tartan for ro...
Another surname from a placename in Fife. There is a good story behind this crest, with some less fun Latin grammar. Here we have two armoured arms ...
The sons of the unknown Andrew. The arms of Anderson of Sterheuch, the leading line, are well recorded from at least 1563 in the Forman Manuscript, b...
This surname comes from Saxons who fled to Scotland from the Norman Conquest of England. The crest here has a naked arm wielding a scimitar – a state...
When it comes to early art from Scotland, most attention is usually turned either to the enigmatic Pictish carvings, or the glorious Book of Kells, wh...
Two possible origins for this surname, either the Norman de Agneaux or the Ulster O’Gnyw. Either way, this crest comes from the Agnews of Lochnaw. He...
The Abercromby surname comes from the place in Fife. Here we have a falcon and the Latin motto 'Petit Alta'. The meaning behind this is nice and stra...
First and foremost, a sgian dubh is not a weapon and never was. Of course, it could be used as a weapon, and no doubt often was when the desperate ne...
St Kilda offer two clan maps of Scotland. One version is online and can be found here the other is available to buy as a print, by the artist Hugh Dia...
Properly pronounced with the guttural ‘ch’ (like loch), the word quaich comes from the gaelic cuach, literally meaning cup. Yet this isn’t the sort of...
It happens to us a lot: you find a piece of tartan, but can’t for the life of you remember what one it is. Is that a MacDonald of Clanranald, or a Cam...
A few things to make clear first – there is a big difference between Arms and Crests. Crests are taken from a chief’s Coat of Arms, and are the featur...
Have you ever wondered about the black rosette worn on the bonnet? Often cap badges are mounted on these, indicating either an organisation, pipe band...
Sewn-in garment pockets are a relatively new invention, only appearing, it seems, from the 1600s. Now they are more or less universal in every type of...
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