Coat of Arms T-shirt?

[Chas]

"Bucket Shops" generally do. <sigh>

Caveat emptor when dealing with places that sell "family crests" and coat-of-arms. It's always best to remember that a coat-of-arms belongs to an individual, and not to a specific surname in Scottish, English and Irish heraldic traditions.

Regards,

Todd

Well said Todd.

I, personally, would go further. These "Bucket Shops" are knowingly selling someone else's property - in other words they are thieves. But worse than that; whereas a common thief will steal something and sell it on, these swine will steal popular arms and sell them again and again and again.

Do not anybody get swayed by thinking that it will be alright if you wear it with 'Pride and Honour'. Tell me where you live; I will come and rob you; then I will use your property with all the pride and honour that I can muster. Is this any different - NO, it is not. Theft is theft. Whether it is a coat of arms or your grandfather's watch, it is still theft.

It can cost upwards of £3,500 to get a coat of arms granted and within days these swine are selling the arms to anyone with the same name. When the new head of the Serbian 'College of Arms' (Nenad M. Jovanovich) had new arms granted to reflect his promotion, he had them posted on the official Serbian Government website. It was discovered by a member of the IAAH that within 4 hours his new arms were on sale from a "Bucket Shop".

If you have your Clan Chief's arms on a garment and decide to wear that garment in Scotland; and if a member of the public sees it and complains then there is no end (in theory) to the penalties that the Lord Lyon could inflict upon you. The Lord Lyon takes the usurpation of another man's arms very seriously and he makes sure that the miscreant takes it very seriously as well. Ask Mohammad al Fayad (the owner of Harrod's), he had a pair of wrought iron gates valued at 1/4 million £ removed by the Lord Lyon because they bore another man's arms.

It is my belief that there is a very special place in hell reserved for people who run Bucket Shops.

Regards

Chas