Getting a COA registered

[SlackerDrummer]

So basically what we're talkin' about is a wee bit of artwork on a shield background that lets the person who sees it know who you are? Maybe there was a use for that back in the age of massive illiteracy but now it's just kind of another decorative bit...why not just say that you've designed a LOGO for yourself and have it registered as a trademark®...

The age of "paper heraldry" has existed for several hundred years now and is surely a tradition in and of itself. In fact there are many coats of arms that have existed for more than a hundred years that would have made horrible identifiers on the field of battle. There is nothing to stop someone from developing a logo for themselves, but logos do not have the same inherent meaning that a coat of arms does.

I'm sorry but any contemporary use of a Coat of Arms seems like a a bit of a pretension. Do people in the UK actually ride around in their autos with their coats of arms emblazoned on the doors? I'd think that a certain degree of anonymity would be a good security measure for anyone who might be considered wealthy or important....why advertise that you're "somebody"? I think that age has passed.

If so, they are more likely to have a very small (not more than an inch or so) painting of the crest from their arms above the door handle. But the simple answer is, no, they are not likely. Stationery, however is a different story.

I suppose that it's a fun thing to do...to a certain extent...my farthest back Scottish ancestor had a really nifty lookin' coat of arms and I do admit that I've been tempted to do a somewhat cleaned up version as a t-shirt only because it's great color and great geometry and would probably be mistaken for a comic book hero's emblem (like the Superman "S") but it would only be as a fun thing...I know full well that it belonged to him and not me.

In point of fact it does belong to you. Or at least a variation of it does.