How To Create Your Own Coat Of Arms?

Coat of Arms or something like that? For Lithuania-- Hear me out?

• Alright, Im awfully confused. Over the past few months, I researched my familys history. My Great Great Grandfather Andrew immigrated to America from Lithuania around 1892. We've always had this little glass dish with a coat of arms on it, with a P in the middle of it, and it states my family's name under the coat of arms in fancy writing. Is this a coat of arms? I've read online some say its not authentic and it doesnt belong to a surname. My dad told me this morning he got it from my great grandpas house when he died-- Andrews son. I have no idea what Im really talking about with this. What does the coat of arms represent? Is it possible Andrew passed this down to my great grandpa before he died? The time period would be around 1860-1892, thats how long Andrew lived in Lithuania. He was the eldest child, so is it possible his father gave it to him? Its a little square thing that kind of turns into a dish-- its not big at all. You can tell just by looking at it how old it is, due to the fade of the white around the dish and the red and blue coat of arms. The dish is made of glass. Thank you for any info provided! My surname is Palsis.

• Answer:

  It is a coat of arms if it is on a shield. According to the "gavelkind" law of arms all coats of arms are inherited by all the sons alike, not just the oldest. Women inherit arms if there are no sons ( If the heraldic heiress has no brothers) along with all her sisters. If there is a failure in the male lineage that coat of arms goes "extinct" and no longer follows the surname. In Scotland and nowhere else can only the oldest son inherit the coat of arms that is exactly the same as the father's. In Scotland there is a fee owed to the exchequer when you inherit arms. So all coats of arms must be re-matriculated and younger sons have a difference added to the coat of arms. Everywhere else the right of arms follows the male lineage un-differenced as labels are a courtesy and not a law of arms like gavelkind. You should post a picture so we can tell you if what you have is a crest or a coat of arms. The letter P is not a heraldic charge so it has no place on a coat of arms. Lots of things are red and blue besides coats of arms. I don't really know what you have but since you called it a coat of arms I would think you see heraldic images of some kind. It would be very interesting to see. A coat of arms represents a lineage it is heritable and follows a specific male lineage that may change surnames in the case of an heraldic heiress as stated above. Lithuania was formed where it is now in 1918, during the age of heraldry it was part of Poland and Russia (Belarus). In the case of Poland the character in the middle would be the battle-cry not the letter P.