An approximation of the
William Shakespeare family Coat-of-Arms
Shakespeare Coat-of-Arms
PERMISSION TO DISPLAY A COAT
OF ARMS
The Shakespeare
family made an application for the right to bear a Coat of
Arms
The application
cost 30 guineas
On October 20,
1596 permission from the Garter King of Arms was granted
John
Shakespeare, and his children, had permission to display a
coat-of-arms
The
Shakespeare's were entitled to put "gentleman" after their
name and the coat-of-arms could be displayed on their door
and all their personal items
DESCRIPTION OF THE COAT OF
ARMS
The description of the Coat
of Arms grant to the Shakespeare family was as follows:
'Gold, on a bend (diagonal
bar) sable (black), a spear of the first (i.e. gold), steeled argent
(with a silver tip); and for his crest... a falcon his wings displayed
argent (silver), standing on a wreath of his colours supporting a
spear gold, steeled as aforesaid, (i.e. silver) set upon a helmet with
mantles and tassles'
The motto was "Non sanz
droict" or "Not without right"
The actual design of the
crest design would have not formed part of the Heraldic Documentation
The Shakespeare family would
have given the description and Heraldic Documentation to a designer
The designer would have then
made an interpretation of the description and drawn a crest
The original crest design is
not in existence so there are various interpretations of the Shakespeare
Coat of Arms
The image shown on this page
is an interpretation of the description of the Coat of Arms designed by
william-shakespeare.info - it should not be viewed as a factual
representation
