New Registrations of Arms

Because the U.S. lacks any heraldic authority to grant and regulate the use of coat armour, many Americans find themselves scrambling to protect their arms.  In the U.S., armingers for the most part assume their arms, meaning they design and then assign those arms as their own rightful property.  There are many Americans who look abroad for legitimacy, claiming grants of arms from Lord Lyon in Scotland, the Heralds' College in London, or even the Bureau in South Africa.  Each authority has strict regulations and requirements for eligibility, usually being able to document a direct lineage and descent.

In the U.S., the pre-eminent authority on arms is, perhaps, the Committee on Heraldry working under the auspices of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston.  The Committee is the oldest non-governmental organization to research and register arms in the U.S.  Click here to see my previous post on the NEHGS.   During this lockdown, I went through my inbox from 2014 to find some official confirmation that the Committee had in fact registered my arms on September 2, 2014.  After a few email exchanges, I was excited to receive the following confirmation letter.

Official letter of registration from the Committee on Heraldry, May 3, 2020.

Well, that letter ignited a fire in me to get my arms out there and registered in a few other places. 

Certificate of registration from the Society of American Armingers, May 7, 2020.

Certificate of registration from The Armorial Register, May 9, 2020.

Thus, below is the listing of registrations completed.  

• 2 September 2014 - The Committee on Heraldry, New England Historic Genealogical Society
• 4 February 2015 - U.S. Heraldic Registry, Registration #20150204G
• 7 May 2020 - The Society of American Armingers, Registration #AA0076
• 9 May 2020 - The Armorial Register, International Armorial, Registration #0550, Volume 4
• 30 July 2023 - Discord: The Heraldry Community Roll of Arms