The Coat of Arms below represent those published to be the CREAGER COAT of ARMS, but it is said that there is really no "authentic" coat of arms found in Heraldic books and records for any member of our CREAGER family. Please read the information below so that you will become familiar with how Coats of Arms came to be.
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"Until about 1100 A.D. most people in Europe had only one name. As the population increased, it became awkward to live in a village with so many of the same name. And so, to distinguish one from the other, a second name was needed. The four primary sources were:
1) Occupation - such as Cook, Shepherd, Hunter, Fisher, Driver, etc.;
2) Location - such as Hill, Brook, Lane, etc.;
3) Characteristic - such as Small, Short, Long, Young, Fox, Dove, Good, etc; and
4) Patronymical (father's name) many of these surnames are recognized by their ending in ...son. Some endings used by other countries to indicate "son" are: Armenian's ....ian, Danes and Norwegians ...sen, Finns ...nen, Greeks ...pulos, Spaniards ...ez, and Poles ...wiecz. Prefixes denoting "son" are the Welsh Ap..., Scots and Irish Mac... and Normans Fitz... while the Irish O' denotes grandfather.
In addition to needing an extra name, the fighting man found it necessary to have further identification. The fighting man of the Middle Ages wore a metal suit of armor for protection. This suit of armor included a helmet that completely covered the head and made him unrecognizable. To prevent friend from attacking friend, it became necessary for each knight to identify himself. This was accomplished by painting colorful patterns on their shields, as well as the same pattern woven into their cloth worn over the suit of armor. Thus was born the term 'Coat of Arms.'
To prevent knights using the same insignia, records were kept that granted the right to a particular pattern. His family also shared the right to display these arms. In many instances, these records have been preserved and lists the names and exact description of the 'Coat of Arms' granted to that family. Families who resent the attempt of our society to reduce each individual to a number in a computer especially takes pride in this one rare device remaining that can provide an incentive to preserve our heritage.
The 'Coat of Arms' were drawn by an heraldic artist from information recorded in ancient heraldic archives. Documentation for the Creager Coat of Arms can be found in Reitstap Armorial General, page 1136, under the variant Krieger."
There is no such thing as a Coat of Arms for a surname or a family name, in most cases. This is a false and erroneous misconception. A Coat of Arms belongs only to one individual of a particular legitimate family line, not to the entire family or group possessing the same surname. A Coat of Arms was granted to an individual most frequently in Medieval society, and only a small fraction of that society ever used a Coat of Arms. A Coat of Arms then likely passed from father to usually the eldest son through the generations, or to the male in the family who was considered to be of the legitimate male line. Other sons or male relatives from the same family bearing the same surname would have had to have their own Coat of Arms granted to each individual...different from the one originally granted.
The Krieger Coat of Arms, thus belongs to only one legitimate descendant from the Krieger individual who had the right to use it...not to all of us as a whole surname group, as many believe, or as we are led to believe. This even comes to light now more than ever since DNA is proving that the KRIEGER surname or its variants come from a variety of DNA beginnings. Many unrelated families share the same surname. A Coat of Arms does not uniquely identify a family.
Origins of Coat of Arms
Somewhere in Tyme
Royal Bergh of North Berwick Town History: Coat of Arms
Coats of Arms: The Fruits of a Family Tree
Intro to Heraldry: A Primer for Genealogists
Heraldry: The Use and Abuse of the Coat of Arms and Crest.