A Roll of Early American Arms

Compiled by Eric Hall, Arian Collins, and Joseph McMillan
Illustrated by Eric Hall, Robert Tucker, Scott Denison, Joseph McMillan, and Chuck Glass

Personal heraldry has been used in what is now the United States since the earliest European settlements. This roll of arms borne in the present-day United States before 1825, compiled by AHS members, is intended to document the vitality of the American heraldic tradition over the years.

Note: Arms are included in this roll based on use as attributed by the sources given. Where it has been possible to validate the user's right to the arms or actual use of them, that information is provided. Names given in italics indicate that we are unaware of any contemporary evidence that the person to whom the sources attribute the arms actually used them, but this should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence of non-use of the arms.

Arms are indexed by the first letter of the armiger's last name. Names beginning with the particules "de," "von," "van," and the like are generally found under the name of the principal word in the surname. Where a person bore multiple surnames, or a surname and title, the arms appear under the name by which he or she is best known in the United States.


  • ARM NAME BLAZON COMMENTS SOURCE
  • Wythe, George (Elizabeth City Co, Va, 1726-Richmond, 1806) Graphic

    Wythe, George (Elizabeth City Co, Va, 1726-Richmond, 1806)

    Azure three griffins passant two and one Or

    Bookplate; signer of the Declaration of Independence

    Bolton
  • Wynne, Dr. Thomas, (in Philadelphia, 1682) Graphic

    Wynne, Dr. Thomas, (in Philadelphia, 1682)

    Quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules three boars’ heads couped at the neck in pale Argent; 2nd and 3rd Gules a Saracen’s head couped at the neck proper wreathed around the temples Argent and Sable

    Crozier 1
  • Wynkoop, Peter (Kingston, N.Y., 1755-New York, 1835) Graphic

    1. Wynkoop, Peter (Kingston, N.Y., 1755-New York, 1835)
    2. Wynkoop, Augustus (New York, 1777-Kinderhook, N.Y., 1836)

    In a landscape, upon a terrace a boy brandishing a musket and a man holding up a wine cup, both in their dexter hands, between a wine-cask upon a rack in dexter and a grapevine fructed in sinister all proper

    1. Bookplate
    2. Bookplate

    1. Bolton
    2. Bolton
  • Wyck, Cornelius Barentse van (in Long Island, New Netherlands, 1660) Graphic

    Wyck, Cornelius Barentse van (in Long Island, New Netherlands, 1660)

    Sable a cross Or between eight thistles two in each quarter Argent

    Crozier 1, Matthews
  • Wyllys (Willis), George (Fenny Compton, Warwick, 1590-Hartford, 1645) Graphic

    Wyllys (Willis), George (Fenny Compton, Warwick, 1590-Hartford, 1645)

    'See Willis, above.'

  • Wyche, Henry (England, 1647-Surrey Co, Va, 1714) Graphic

    Wyche, Henry (England, 1647-Surrey Co, Va, 1714)

    Azure a pile Ermine

    Descended from Wyche of Davenham, Cheshire

    Crozier 2
  • Wyatt, James (Bristol, Eng, 1748-Baltimore, 1826) Graphic

    Wyatt, James (Bristol, Eng, 1748-Baltimore, 1826)

    Sable a fess dancetty Argent between three eagles displayed, a chief Or.

    Matthews
  • Wyatt, Margaret (of Cambridge, Mass, and Windsor, Conn, mid-1600s) Graphic

    Wyatt, Margaret (of Cambridge, Mass, and Windsor, Conn, mid-1600s)

    Per fess Gules and Azure a pair of horse barnacles Argent

    Mrs Matthew Alleyn

    NEHGS #192
  • Wyatt, Rev. Hawte (Kent, Eng, ca. 1594-1638) Graphic

    1. Wyatt, Rev. Hawte (Kent, Eng, ca. 1594-1638)
    2. Wyatt, Sir Francis (Kent, Eng, 1588-Boxley, Kent, 1644)

    Per fess Azure and Gules a horse barnacle Argent within an annulet Or

    Brothers; both appear on the pedigree in which the arms are confirmed to their father George Wyatt of Boxley at the 1619 visitation of Kent. Crozier and Bolton blazon the horse barnacle as "ringed."
    1. In Virginia, 1621-?.
    2. To Virginia, 1621; governor of Virginia, 1621-25 and 1639-41

    Crozier 1, Crozier 2, NEHGS #515
  • Wright, Thomas (in Wethersfield, Conn, 1639) Graphic

    1. Wright, Thomas (in Wethersfield, Conn, 1639)
    2. Wright, Deacon Samuel (in Springfield, Mass, 1641)
    3. Wright, Edward (in Somerset County, Md, 1660)

    Azure two bars Argent in chief three leopards’ faces Or

    1. Crozier 1
    2. Matthews
    3. Crozier 1