Coat of Arms

I've been reading the first book in the Game of Thrones series. One of the things that I've noticed in reading the book, is the detail given to each of the houses banners. The author takes some time to make sure they are described well so you can get a solid picture of what they would look like. I had been reading for a while when I realized (or at least I think this is correct) that these "banners" are in fact the houses coat of arms.

The coat of arms has been a bit of a fascination for me for some time. I actually have my family's coat of arms on the wall of my office. With my dad's help I discovered that my last name, Jake, was in fact originally Schack. Sometime in the past it was changed. We have theories as to why it was changed, however, we can't ever be sure why it was altered. Here is a picture of my family coat of arms.

Have you ever looked up your family coat of arms? It's really easy. Here is a web site that can get you started. Let me say I have NO FINANCIAL GAIN from this site. They do sell replica's for your wall. I just googled them so please don't think I have some sort of ties to them I do not.

http://www.houseofnames.com 

A lot of the sites can also give you an explanation of your last name. For instance your last name may have been derived from the type of work your ancestors did for a living. 

So dive in and enjoy. I wish you luck in finding your family crest. Keep in mind you may have to go back like I did and find the original name for your family. Good Luck.

-Red

You can follow Jeff at:

www.jeffjake.com

www.facebook.com/jeffreyrjake

Twitter @MortisG187

Email Jeff at author@jeffjake.com

Also you can download Jeff's book Assassin's Retribution or his short story A Dead Run at www.smashwords.com