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Every elite family should have its own Coat of Arms, the Covingtons are no exception |
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And
so to the Coat of Arms. Almost everybody who starts showing an interest in their
family tree, hopes to unearth the Family Coat of Arms to emblazon on their
letterheads, door post or, possibly worst of all, blazer breast pocket. One word
of warning, virtually anybody, and we Covingtons are no different to the rest,
can trace a connection to an armiger, one who has been given the right to bear a
coat-of-arms. However, do not assume that the arms go with the surname: they go
to the lineal heirs of the man awarded them, in strict accordance with the laws
of arms. With that point made and a confidence that should you
choose to use it in some way, it is extremely unlikely that the KGB of the
Coat-of-Arms world will catch up with you, it may come as a shock to learn that
the only one listed in Burke's General Armory is the Coventon Coat of Arms. The
description of this entry actually reads; "Az. fretty ar. a saltier parted
of the last betw. four estoiles or. (Crest) An heraldic tiger ramp. gu. semee of
estoiles armed and tufted or., supporting a tilting spear ppr. (Motto) Invidere
sperno. It
is likely that the above means very little to you, as it did to me. However,
detailed below is my best attempt at a translation, which may provide a slightly
clearer picture. Az. = azure (blue) and is the background colour of the
shield or "colours". fretty ar. = Interlaced fillets crossing the field or charge
lozengeways coloured argent (silver or white). A sort of trellis work effect. A saltier = The cross of St Andrew (an X shape) parted of the last between four estoiles or.
= an estoile is a 6 armed star shape, with the end of each "arm"
slightly curved, similar to a star-fish. These are coloured or. (gold or yellow)
and situated in the 4 gaps between the cross (saltier) and the edges of the
shield. The crest - An heraldic tiger ramp gu.
= a tiger standing on its back legs, rising up aggressively and coloured red (gu.
= gules). semee of estolies = strewed over more estoiles (see
above) armed and tufted or. = hoofs and mane coloured gold or
yellow. supporting a tilting spear ppr. = holding a weapon as used
in tilts or tournaments. (ppr = proper ?) The Motto, Invidere sperno = "I scorn to envy" and
is shared with the Davies and Saunders families. The
black and white interpretation of the arms is shown below, but it could be
considered as a little over elaborate in that no mention is made of armour
helmets or flowing ribbons in the General Armory record.
The coloured version below,
doesn’t bear too much scrutiny with regard to the description above, but it
still looks quite nice!!
However,
in January 2002 I have been sent a very nice version from Gene Covington whose
family comes from North Carolina USA. My thanks to him for his submission.
SITE MAP |
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Created by Martin H Covington June 2008. All Rights Reserved. |
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