Help identify this crest

[ThistleDown]

Yes, there is a significant difference, but the intricacies of that I will leave to our resident heraldic experts, Rathdown predominant among them. In the meanwhile, using the stag as an example instead of your wolf:

a stag's head erased (also called couped):


and a stag's head caboshed:



But on a more familial note, be cautious if you are attaching yourself to the wolf`s head as different from other crests to be found among the Macqueens. The wolf belongs to a particular -- and very small sept -- of the Macqueens of the Clanchattan resident at the upper end of Strathdearn. Unless you are claiming descendancy of that family, or are acknowledging some degree of dependancy on them, you might want to look to the broader Macsweens and Macqueens of the Western seaboard.

Cheers, Rex

[SlackerDrummer]

Yes, there is a significant difference, but the intricacies of that I will leave to our resident heraldic experts, Rathdown predominant among them. In the meanwhile, using the stag as an example instead of your wolf:

a stag's head erased (also called couped):


and a stag's head caboshed:



But on a more familial note, be cautious if you are attaching yourself to the wolf`s head as different from other crests to be found among the Macqueens. The wolf belongs to a particular -- and very small sept -- of the Macqueens of the Clanchattan resident at the upper end of Strathdearn. Unless you are claiming descendancy of that family, or are acknowledging some degree of dependancy on them, you might want to look to the broader Macsweens and Macqueens of the Western seaboard.

Cheers, Rex

Erased is when the head or limb has a jagged edge as if forcibly removed. Couped is when the head or limb has a straight edge as if cut off.

In English heraldry, heads that are couped or erased will have a little of the neck showing. In Scottish heraldry, heads are couped or erased close, meaning right behind the ears. This is perhaps most noticeable in boars' heads.

Caboshed (cabossed, caboched) is a head that has been removed from neck and is shown affronty (from the front).

What you have shown are a stag's head couped and a stag's head erased respectively. A stag's head caboshed would appear thus:

[ThistleDown]

Thank you, Kenneth, for the gentle correction.