Olmste(a)d Coat of Arms or Crest
The crest or coat of arms reproduced here was taken from the 1912 Olmsted Family in America. The text below was taken from page vii of that same work.
The Arms which appear in this volume are recorded as being borne by one Richard Olmsted, a man of some social standing, and his connection with the immigrants, James and Richard, is pretty well established. They were found int he study of the Rector of Dimmington, born abt. 1580, who was a native of Felsted, Essex County, England, the headquarters of the Olmsteds, after they disappear from Olmsted Hall.
Another Olmsted Coat of Arms is that of John Olmsted, of Stansted Hall, in Halsted, County Essex. He was Master of the Horse to the Earl of Oxford, A.D., 1518.
S. 3 horses’ head erased. Bits, reins, and tassels, arg.; canton, ermine.
Still another is that which is described as follows: “The arms of the Olmsted Family are described by James Usher, who painted them, and gathered a part of his information through his London agent from the College of Heraldy in that city, and also from the collections of John Coles, who flourished as a Heraldic writer and collector of arms, at or near Hartford, Conn., about the year 1785, as follows: Ermine on a fesse, gules. Three towers, argent. Crest, a Tower, sable. Issuing therefrom, a lion’s head, argent. Motto, Bes vivit que bene. He lives twice who lives well.
“Ermine signifies white, dotted with black figures. It is an emblem of unsullied honor, and indicates that the original bearer of the arms held high judicial position. The towers indicate that some bearer of the arms was in command of a Fortress. The lion’s head is used in arms to denote bravery, magnanimity and strength. The feese indictes a belt of a Knight. In heraldic language gules means red and is an emblem of courage; argent means silver and is an emblem of purity; sable means black and is an emblem of antiquity.”
It is well to call attention to the fact tht the motto, used with coats of arms, is not an essential part of the insignia, the bearers being at liberty to select such motto as may suit their own taste.