Federation of Family History Societies

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FEDERATION OF FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES

Official blazon

Arms : Potent Or and Azure on a Bordure Gules eleaen Acorns Or.
Crest : upon a Helm with a Wreath Or and Gules a Crane holding in the beak a Sprig of Oak proper fructed Or and supporting with the dexter foot a Terrestrial Globe proper the land masses Gules Mantled Gules doubled Or.
Supporters: On the dexter a Man habited as a Smith holding in the dexter hand a Hammer resting upon an Anvil proper and in the sinister hand a Horseshoe reversed Or and on the sinister a Woman habited as an Agricultural Labourer holding in the sinister hand a Sickle proper resting upon a Garb Or and in the dexter hand a Hank of Binder Twine proper.
Motto: 'One From Many'.

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on April 5, 1997.

The blue and gold field is in the form of a series of ‘Ts’ which represent the family trees that all family historians aspire to produce. The red border represents the Federation enclosing all those family trees and the 11 gold acorns stand for the 11 founder societies – the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, the Kent Family History Society, the Norfolk & Norwich Genealogical Society, the Sussex Family History Group, the West Surrey Borders Family History Society, the Irish Genealogical Research Society, the Scottish Genealogy Society, the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, the Bath Heraldry Society, the Macclesfield Heraldry Society and the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The crane is the traditional bird of learning. The French for a crane’s foot is ‘Pied-d-grue’ from which we get the word Pedigree. The crane normally holds a stone but in this case it is a globe of the world to represent the world wide membership of the Federation.

The supporters are one from each sex to denote our equal descent from both; an artisan and an agricultural labourer to represent the majority of our ancestors. The blacksmith is from the arms of the City of Birmingham where our foundation meeting was held but in this case he holds a horseshoe taken from the arms of our founder Chairman and first President.