Looking for my family's coat of arms. Passanese americanized version, the original Italian name was Passanisi

My grandfather Lorenzo Passanese immigrated from Catania,Sicily. However, we believe they came from central or Northern Italy. The spelling was changed at Ellis island from the original Passanisi.

Looking for my family's coat of arms. Passanese americanized version, the original Italian name was Passanisi
I鈥檓 sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a Coat of Arms. Coat of Arms were granted to INDIVIDUALS, not assigned to surnames. Just because someone of your last name MAY have been granted one at some point does not make it yours. Also, it may be that several men of the same surname were granted a coat of arms....each one different.....and maybe none of the men were related to each other. Likewise, it may be that NO ONE of your surname was ever granted one. In order for you to be able to claim any Coat of Arms you must be able to do the following:





1. research your family tree to see if you have any ancestors that were granted a Coat of Arms.





2. If you do have an ancestor who was granted one, then you can only claim it IF the following is true: The person who rightfully can claim a Coat of Arms that was granted to their ancestor is a male descendant who is the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, etc., all the way back to the person who was originally granted the Coat of Arms. If you do not fall in that line, then you cannot claim it. If you do fall in that line, then chances are you are already aware you have one.





To use a Coat of Arms based on your last name is meaningless. It is about as accurate as buying a picture frame at the store that has a piece of paper in it showing an image of a child holding a flower and claiming that is actually a picture of your child.





But there are some companies out there that are more than willing to take your money to sell you something that looks like a coat of arms and swear to you that it is yours.
Reply:If this is a school assignment, please print off the links below and give them to your teacher. One is regarding Italian heraldry, the other from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U.S., The National Genealogical Society and last one from the British College of Arms(they issue coats of arms and also can usually find if someone is entitled to one, even from other countries).





http://www.regalis.com/onom.htm





http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...





http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...





As Violet stated, they don't belong to surnames. They were and are granted to individuals and only the direct male line descendants are entitled to them. I understand those granted to men who are knighted or to Americans who apply and obtain one are not hereditary.





The surname product business, which includes coats of arms, is recognized as one of the biggest scams there is in genealogy.





Anytime you go into someone's home and see one of those dinky little walnut plaques with a coat of arms on it and their name underneath, be polite and don't laugh. We don't laugh at people in their own homes. However, what they are displaying is just something that was granted to someone with their surname and might not even be related.





There are no laws in the U.S. regarding heraldry and those descendants of snake oil salesmen take advantage of American gullibility. In some countries a person would risk prosecution for displaying a coat of arms without documented proof that they are entitled to it.