Can I make my own coat of arms?

Yes. Anyone can design a coat of arms for personal use, like a reunion, wedding, gift or fantasy house. A homemade design is not an official grant, though. In England and Scotland, official arms come from the College of Arms or the Court of the Lord Lyon, and in the US anyone may assume arms.

What should be on a family coat of arms?

At minimum, a shield with a colored field and one to three symbols, called charges. Many families add a crest on top of a helmet, flowing mantling, and a motto on a scroll. Pick symbols tied to your name, home, work or history so the design means something to the people who use it.

How many colors should a coat of arms have?

Two or three is the classic choice: usually one metal (gold or silver) and one or two colours (like red, blue or green). Old arms are often just two tinctures. Fewer colors make the design bold, easy to recognize and easy to print or embroider at small sizes.

A blazon is the written description of a coat of arms in heraldic language. It names the field first, then the main charge and its color. For example, Azure, a lion rampant Or means a blue shield with a gold lion standing on its hind legs. A herald can draw the arms from the words alone.

How to Make a Coat of Arms | 7 Steps, Free Maker

To make a coat of arms, pick a shield shape, color or divide the field, add one to three symbols (called charges), then finish with a crest, mantling and a motto. Keep it to two or three colors and follow the rule of tincture, and your design will look like real heraldry instead of clip art.

These steps follow the order heralds have used for centuries. You can work through them on paper or right in the free coat of arms maker, where each step has its own tab.

What you need to know before you start

A coat of arms is the design on the shield. The full display, with helmet, crest, mantling and motto, is called the achievement. People often say “family crest” for the whole thing, but strictly the crest is only the part on top of the helmet. The family crest vs coat of arms guide covers that difference in more detail.

A design you make yourself is fine for a reunion, a wedding, a tattoo or a fantasy house, and yes, you can make your own coat of arms. It is not an official grant. In Scotland, using arms that are not recorded in the Public Register is a criminal offence, according to the Court of the Lord Lyon. In the US there is no heraldic authority, so anyone may assume arms.

How to make a coat of arms in 7 steps

Pick a shield shape.
Divide the field (or leave it plain).
Choose your tinctures.
Add one to three charges.
Add a crest, helm and mantling.
Add a motto.
Write the blazon and download your design.

Here is each step in more detail.

Step 1: Pick a shield shape

The shield, or escutcheon, is the base of the whole design. The heater shield (flat top, curved sides meeting in a point) is the classic English shape and works for almost anything. French and Spanish shields have flatter, rounder bottoms. A lozenge (diamond) was used for the arms of women in British heraldry, and oval shields show up in church and Italian heraldry.

In the maker, open the Shield tab and choose from Heater, French, Spanish, Swiss, Kite, Polish, Oval, Lozenge, Banner (square) or Round.

Step 2: Divide the field

The field is the background of the shield. You can leave it one solid color or split it with lines. “Per pale” splits it down the middle. “Per fess” splits it across. “Quarterly” makes four sections.

You can also add an ordinary, which is a bold band across the shield, such as a chief (a band across the top), a bend (a diagonal band) or a chevron. The heraldic divisions and ordinaries guide shows all of them. The Shield tab has 11 divisions, 12 ordinaries and 5 patterns like Paly, Barry and Chequy.

Step 3: Choose your tinctures

Heraldic colors are called tinctures. There are two metals, Or (gold) and Argent (silver, drawn as white), and five main colours: Gules (red), Azure (blue), Vert (green), Sable (black) and Purpure (purple).

The most important rule is the rule of tincture: don’t put a metal on a metal or a colour on a colour. A gold lion on a blue field is good. A red lion on a blue field is hard to see from far away and breaks the rule. The heraldry colors guide lists every tincture and its traditional meaning.

In the maker, click any part of the shield to change its tincture. The color picker lists tinctures by name, so you can stick to proper heraldic colors.

Step 4: Pick one to three charges

A charge is any symbol on the shield: a lion, an eagle, a tree, a key, a star. Good arms usually have one main charge, or three of the same charge. More than that starts to look busy.

Pick charges that mean something to you. Medieval families often chose a pun on their name, like bees for Beatrice or bows for Bowes. You might choose a tool from your trade, a plant from your home region, or an animal you like. The coat of arms symbols guide lists common charges and the meanings people usually give them.

The Charges tab has about 157 charges grouped into Beasts, Birds, Monsters, Plants, Arms and armor, and more. You can recolor, resize, rotate, flip and duplicate any of them. The Shapes tab adds simple heraldic shapes like roundels, mullets (stars), crescents and crosses.

Step 5: Add a crest, helm and mantling

On top of the shield sits a helmet, called the helm. On top of the helm sits the crest, often an animal or an arm holding something. Flowing cloth called mantling hangs from the helm around the shield. Mantling is usually drawn in the main colour and main metal of the arms.

Find the great helm, visored helm, barbute and mantling in the “Helmets and crests” group in the Charges tab. Place the helm above the shield, then add a smaller charge on top as your crest. The parts of a coat of arms guide explains the helm, torse, crest and the other pieces around the shield.

Step 6: Add a motto

A motto is a short phrase on a scroll, usually below the shield in English heraldry (Scottish mottos often sit above the crest). Keep it short, two to five words. Latin is traditional, but English or any other language works.

The Motto tab adds a curved scroll in one click. Type your text, pick a font like Cinzel or Blackletter, and use the Curve slider to bend it. Need ideas? See Latin mottos for a coat of arms.

Step 7: Blazon it and download

A blazon is the written description of a coat of arms. It follows a fixed order: field first, then the main charge, then anything else. Tinctures come after the thing they color.

Here is a worked example:

Blazon	What it means
Azure	The field is blue.
a lion	The main charge is one lion.
rampant	It stands on its hind legs, forepaws raised.
Or	The lion is gold.

Put together, “Azure, a lion rampant Or” is a blue shield with one gold lion standing up. A real example is the royal arms of England: “Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or,” which means three gold lions walking and looking at you, stacked one above the other on red.

Writing your own blazon is a good test. If you can’t describe your design in one short sentence, it may be too complicated.

When you’re done, open the Download tab. Save a PNG with a transparent background at 1200, 2400 or 4800 px wide, or export JPG or SVG. You can also save the design in your browser or make a share link.

Common mistakes to avoid

Too many charges. Three lions look strong. A lion, an eagle, a castle, a sword and a tree look like a sticker sheet.
Breaking the rule of tincture. Red on blue or gold on white gets muddy when it’s small or far away.
Too many colors. Most strong arms use two or three tinctures.
Writing words on the shield. Text belongs on the motto scroll, not the shield.
Tiny details. Arms have to work on a ring, a patch or a letterhead. Big, simple shapes read better.
Copying someone else’s arms. If you take arms from a surname website, you are using arms that belonged to one person, because not every last name has a coat of arms. Design your own instead.