What is the best website to search for pictures of your family crest?

Question:

What is the best website to search for pictures of your family crest?

All the websites I have visited have only tried to sell me merchandise with my family crest on it. I just want to see, in good, clear, detail a picture of it. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

Places I've tried:
Ancestry.com
4crests.com
coat-arms.com

Anything other than these would help aid my search.

Thanks All in advance!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: No such things. Crest were added to coats of arms and about the Elizabethan period all coats of arms issued had crest. They were passed from father to oldest son.

There are no laws regarding heraldry in the United States. A person is free to display a coat of arms if they wish that has their surname but that is like putting up a picture of a famous person with their surname and claiming him as their ancestor whether they know he is or not.

There are companies all over the internet peddling coats of arms. They don't care whether you have documented proof that you are entitled to it or not. I understand some will do a family history and "link" you to a noble family.

Someone will eventually furnish you wish a link. These people themselves do not know that this is not valid or I sort of have the suspicion that some might be trollers working for companies that peddle coats of arms.

Not everyone with the same surname come from the same root. There was a time people did not have surnames.

Men named Jack, not necessarily related, had sons and their sons became Jackson.

Sam lived on a hill and he became Sam Hill, but other people not kin to Sam lived on a hill and they took the name Hill.

Some took the name of the town they were from or the castle they lived close to and a person can make a mistake in assuming that if an ancestor lived close to a castle with their name that they were part of the noble family that owned the castle.

Some names were occupational, Smith, Miller, Fisher, Carpenter, Barber, Clark(clerk) etc.

Often times there are more than one coat of arms with the same surname. The surname Lewis, for instance, has about 200.

The best thing to do is to search your famiy roots.
Start with your parents and your grandparents and go backwards.

Now, the Anglo Saxon people of the American South, including people of humble means, have them in their family trees, frequently more than one. There are Southern people who have the one their ancestor brought over from England. They don't display them. They can't buy groceries with them. So if you have Southern Anglo Saxon roots you stand a good chance of finding them in your famiy tree, not that you have a right to display one.