This coat of arms was officially registered for a Garriott in Rietstap's Armorial General.
The Garriott name is of French origin (most popular in the Midi Region of France). It's likely root is the French word
"garer", which literally means "to station or to take shelter". The arms' official blazon (description) according
to Rietstap's Armorial General, page 744, is given in french as:
"D'hermine a la fasce de sable, charge d'un coq d'or."
The Blazon of Arms properly translated into English, is "Ermine, a fesse sable, charged with a cock or."
*Ermine is a fur and was actually many weasil or ermine pelts sown together with the tails attached and hanging down.
The appearance of the fur depends on the actual animal used and the season. In winter the ermine's fur turns white
while the tip of it's tail remains black. Hense the coat appears white with many black 'tails'. This pattern can be illustrated
using a variety of interesting symbols.
*The fesse is one type of 'major ordinary', a wide horizontal strip on the middle of the shield. It represents the Military
belt and Girdle of Honour which was worn in ancient times. Sable means 'black'.
*The 'coq or' appears above the fesse by default. Both the fesse and the cock are charges on the field,
however the fesse is mentioned first so the cock is a lesser charge and cannot be placed 'on' the fesse without
specific terminology. It faces left (dexter) also by default. The cock as the herald of dawn is often used as an emblem
of watchfulness and may be used in armory to signify either a herd in the field, or an able man in the senate. The crest
is also a 'cock or.'
OTHER Surnames and Arms
If you want to check out any rules or terminology of heraldry or 'blazonry', try these links:
- No "WE" don't. If we take a strict view of heraldry (heraldry is quite strict), we find that individuals, (not families) were awarded coats of arms, and that these were
often passed down to the oldest son, sometimes changing slightly in subsequent generations. But whether any other descendants actually have the right to claim and
display those arms is seriously questionable. Different countries have had different rules; in general, a person can bear their ancestor's arms if they can prove they are
directly descended (via oldest sons) from an ancestor who was officially awarded a coat of arms, as well as prove that each subsequent generation CONTINUED TO USE
THOSE ARMS. In addition, many living in the USA had ancestors who were affiliated with the American Revolutionary forces; they and their descendants forfeit the right
to continue to bear arms of English origin as their ancestors were considered traitors (I told you heraldry was strict). Ah, yes, but remember the Garriott arms depicted
here are of French origin....hmmm Well, in any case our family has no extant claim to a coat of arms; we simply identify with a common symbol that is agreed to have
once belonged (in the strict sense) to an ancestor.
* What about other similar names or claims of different coats of arms?
- Remember that a PERSON, not a family, was awarded a coat of arms. These arms often changed as they were passed down and so there is no such thing as a single
coat of arms that represents the whole Garriott family. This coat of arms is generally believed to be the most ancient of arms known to be registered for a GARRIOTT
(and thus 'casually' laid claim to by many Garriott decendants). Other arms may be found for the same name, but may not be as old. Only careful research could uncover
the colourful truth. Since the Garriott name later changed form (and probably started as GARRIOTTE), you might think Garriots, Gariets, Garrious, and possibly Garretts
(inter alia) might share similar ancestral coats of arms. Well, if you do any searching on the internet, you'll find that this is not so. Below is a brief overview of similar
name variations and their known coats of arms. It is possible, even likely, that several of them originated from Garriotte like ours may have.
