Heraldry, or the study of armorial bearings, is an adjunct to the study of family history. Coat armor, it is important to note, was completely unknown in Europe before the twelfth century, and did not appear in England until about 1250. Its sudden rise has been ascribed to several varied events, including the First Crusade (1097), the advent of body armor, and the growing use of seals on personal documents.

In any case, the early development of the use of heraldic devices followed closely upon the need for better identification, and the trend became widespread. First embellished on shields and other pieces of armor, the imaginative, elaborate heraldic designs soon were transferred to surcoats, horse trappings, and even private possessions. These early insignia, including bends (diagonal stripes), fesses (horizontal stripes), chevrons, and crosses, were chosen because they were conspicuous, even in the chaos of bloody battle. For the same reason bright colors were used. Charges, or representations of animals and natural objects, did not become popular until the second half of the twelfth century, when, as stated above, the use of surnames was revived.

With the advent of gunpowder in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the concomitant decline of armor as an essential in warfare, the need for armorial bearings also waned. By then, though, coats of arms were cherished for their decorative effect, and family crests were handed down from proud sire to aspiring son. The ancient art was debased by the frenzied efforts of many people to coin their own armorial bearings and adorn them with embellishments and devices of doubtful historical significance.

Central authorities were established to inquire into the validity of the new creations. Their work was generally ineffectual in maintaining the simplicity and purity of the earlier designs, but their thorough records have subsequently proved very useful to the genealogical researcher. These records, showing hereditary usage of certain symbols and devices, represent in many cases the only means for unraveling the complex familial relationships of medieval Europe.

In the United States, where the democratic tradition has mitigated interest in holding and preserving official armorial bearings, there is nonetheless a great informal interest in the science of heraldry. The question of rightful ownership of coat armor does not pertain in this country, for the very nature of the settlement and development of America makes it unlikely that any more than a few families have legitimate claim to specific insignia. Heraldry is instead highly regarded for its aesthetic and historical qualities-for the symbols, devices, and colors generally associated with any particular surname tell a story of our ancestors.

ARMS: Azure, on a pale radiant rayonny or, a lion rampant gules. Crest: A demi-lion. (Arms: On a blue field, a wide golden vertical bar whose edges are formed into rays, upon which is a red rearing lion. Crest: A silver lion cut neatly at the waist. See emblazon A.)

The arms of emblazon A are those of the house of Coleman and Colman in county Essex, England. The various branches of the Colman family have approximately seventeen coats of arms while the Coleman families have a total of six. Virtually all the Coleman and Colman arms are identical except for minor differencing and some crest variations.

There are two coats of arms legitimate to the American branches of the Coleman family. Emblazon A is the most common of the two and was copied from the interior of a silver wine-cooling basin which dated back before the American Revolution. The second Coleman coat of arms is identical to emblazon A except for its crest. The second crest features a caltrap (a four-pronged pyramid-shaped spike used to injure the hooves of charging cavalry horses) between silver wings. The caltrap was the nearest thing peasants had to a land mine to stop knightly cavalry.

Heraldry of the Coleman Family
Arms of the Rev. Benjamin Colman of Boston, Massachusetts (1728).

First Made Available online on 5/18/99 by Wes Coleman.   Last update 06/20/2005.