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. Here we have a knight in armour holding a swo...
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, although this one’s tooled up with a little sword. Aside from being really cool, this will be a representation of the chief holding ...
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 place in Kinross-shire. The crest is an upturned crescent. In modern Scottish heraldry this symbol is often used as a mark to indi...
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 whose motto is a command rather than a brag: the Latin ‘Laus Deo’ meaning ‘Praise God’. ...
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. A good story behind this crest, with some less fun Latin grammar. Two armoured arms bringing down a pole-ax...
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...
-250x250.jpg)
