The following information was found on Saturday 09 October 2021 WST (UTC+0800), and, therefore, the content as cited,
is as was displayed on the web pages as at that date.
The absolute authority for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
and, for the "British" Commonwealth, regarding heraldic Crests and Coats Of Arms,
is the College of Arms, and, the Kings Of Arms, who are part of the College Of Arms.
See
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/
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The College of Arms is the official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand.
As well as being responsible for the granting of new coats of arms, the College maintains registers of arms, pedigrees, genealogies, Royal Licences, changes of name, and flags. The heralds, besides having ceremonial duties, advise on all matters relating to the peerage and baronetage, precedence, honours and ceremonial as well as national and community symbols including flags.
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Coats of Arms
Coats of arms belong to specific individuals and families and there is no such thing as a coat of arms for a family name. From their origins in the twelfth century to the present day arms have been borne by individuals, and by corporate bodies, as marks of identification. They have also been used to denote other characteristics, which have changed over the centuries as society and culture have evolved. New coats of arms have since the fifteenth century been granted both to individuals and corporate bodies by the senior heralds in Royal service, the Kings of Arms.
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At
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/faqs
is
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Q. Do coats of arms belong to surnames?
A. No. There is no such thing as a 'coat of arms for a surname'. Many people of the same surname will often be entitled to completely different coats of arms, and many of that surname will be entitled to no coat of arms. Coats of arms belong to individuals. For any person to have a right to a coat of arms they must either have had it granted to them or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or confirmed in the past.
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and
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Q. What is a crest?
A. It is a popular misconception that the word 'crest' describes a whole coat of arms or any heraldic device. It does not. A crest is a specific part of a full achievement of arms: the three-dimensional object placed on top of the helm.
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At
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/the-law-of-arms
is
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The Law of Arms
The Descent of Arms
The descent of arms in England and Wales is determined by the laws of arms, which normally allow transmission only through the male line. The arms of a man pass equally to all his legitimate children, irrespective of their order of birth.
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and
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Heraldic Heiress
Arms are only transmitted through a female line when there is a failure of male heirs. A woman with no surviving brothers, or whose deceased brothers have no surviving issue, is an heraldic heiress. She is not necessarily a monetary heiress. Providing that she marries a man who bears arms, the children of their marriage may include the arms of her father as a quartering in their own shields. This is how elaborate shields of many quarterings come about.
Arms of Women
A woman may bear arms by inheritance from her father or by grant to herself. She may not use a crest, which is considered a male attribute.
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and
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The Control of Arms
Armorial Bearings in England and Wales derive from the Crown as the fount of honour. In 1417, King Henry V commanded the Sheriffs of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Sussex and Dorset not to allow any men to bear arms on the forthcoming expedition to France unless by ancestral right or by grant from a competent authority. Royal control was firmly established by 1530, when the Visitation Commission directed Clarenceux King of Arms to "reform all false armory and arms devised without authority".
Control is delegated to the Kings of Arms, or senior heralds, who are Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy and Ulster. They interpret the laws and conventions of arms, and are empowered to grant arms in the name of The Sovereign. Between 1530 and 1689 the Kings of Arms were given Royal Commissions to visit English and Welsh counties, to establish that arms were borne with proper authority. Anyone found using arms without entitlement was forced to make a public disclaimer. Although this system has been discontinued, the Kings of Arms regulate the devising of new arms by ensuring that each design is unique.
Court of Chivalry
The Court of Chivalry has had jurisdiction over cases of misuse of arms since the 14th century. It is a civil court, with the Earl Marshal as the sole judge from 1521. The best known medieval action was Scrope v Grosvenor (1385-1390), in which Sir Richard le Scrope was held to have a prior claim to the simple arms azure a bend or. The most recent case was Manchester Corporation v Manchester Palace of Varieties (1954), when a theatre was successfully sued for illegal display of the arms belonging to the corporation.
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And, at
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/court-of-chivalry
is
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Court of Chivalry
The legal forum for disputes relating to coats of arms, and where those regarded as having transgressed the law of arms can be prosecuted, is known as the Court of Chivalry.
This court, which has its origins in the martial law exercised by the medieval Constables and Marshals of England when on campaign, has for centuries had jurisdiction over all matters relating to coats of arms. It has had a complex and varied history, and has been used for different purposes at different times. Most of the records of the court's activities, for the post-medieval period, are held by the College of Arms.
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And, at
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/services/proving-a-right-to-arms
is
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Proving a right to arms
Armorial bearings are hereditary. They can be borne and used by all the descendants in the legitimate male line of the person to whom they were originally granted or confirmed. To establish a right to arms by inheritance it is necessary to prove a descent from an ancestor who is already recorded as entitled to arms in the registers of the College of Arms.
The first step in establishing whether there might be a possibility of having a right to arms by descent is to approach the officer in waiting at the College of Arms with what details one has of one’s paternal ancestry.
He will then be able to advise on the cost of having a search made in the official records for coats of arms recorded for families of one’s name. The search may show that no family of the name has possessed arms or that one or more have done so.
If the latter, and no known ancestor of the enquirer has been found on official record, the next stage will be genealogical research in records outside the College. This would be undertaken to extend the enquirer’s pedigree to see if a connection with an armigerous family could be found.
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So, the "bottom line" is, that no such thing as a "Busby Crest", or, a "Busby Coat Of Arms", exists, and,
it is unwise to claim otherwise, or, to associate a person or a family, with the above coat of arms,
without having authorisation from the College Of Arms, to so do.
Thus, neither I, nor any relative of mine, until otherwise proven, is entitled to be associated with any coat of arms.
Likewise, for any other family name, no such thing as a family name coat of arms, exists,
regardless of what the people trying to sell family names' coats of arms, may claim.
From the text above, to use or claim a coat of arms, as being associated with a person's family name,
may be unlawful, in the absence of authorisation from the applicable College Of Arms.
Note - at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Arms#See_also
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Arms
are listings of Colleges Of Arms and Kings Of Arms,
applicable outside the jurisdiction of the above College Of Arms.
I can be contacted by email at Bret
This web page was last updated on 09 October, 2021