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Heraldry
of the Estrada Surname
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Estrada Family
Crests
Below you
shall find information on several family crests of which we have
documentation.
There are more family crests; however, we do not have them
documented,
so we do not show them in this Web site.
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The
Coat of Arms
According
to the Heraldic and Genealogical Encyclopædia by the brothers
García Carraffa, the primitive
and pure coat of arms of the Estrada surname was:
"In a
field of gold, an eagle crowned by sable. This coat of arms was
granted, in 1188, to Gonzalo Fernández de Estrada by the Emperor
Frederick of Germany, after being present at the marriage ceremonies of
Conrad, Frederick's son, with doña Berenguela, daughter of King
Alonso VIII of Castille".
Because
of this coat of arms, some people believed the surname had a German
origin, but this is not true.
An
interesting observation is that the shield has a Spanish form similar to the French or Portuguese
shape, which is interesting because of the use of the word estrada in those
languages. |
The
Primitive Coat of Arms
Shield
569
Heraldic and Genealogical Encyclopædia |
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The coat of
arms according to Julio de Atienza and other genealogists.
The coat of
arms of Duque de Estrada according to Julio de Atienza and other genealogists. |
According
to the Spanish genealogist Julio de Atienza in his Nobiliary
Dictionary, the coat of arms of the Estrada surname is:
"In
a field of azure (blue), three stripes of gold, with seven ermine
sable (black ermine),
three in the center stripe and two in the other two. The coat of arms
is placed over an imperial German eagle by concession of the
Emperor Frederick, in the year 1188, to Gonzalo Fernández de
Estrada, who went to Germany to arrange the marriage of Conrad, son
of Frederick, with Berenguela, daughter of Don Alfonso VIII."
This
coat of arms, without the eagle and with bands instead of
stripes, composes the right half of the coat of arms of the Duque de Estrada
alliance (front view).
If
we read the description of the coat of arms of the Duque lineage in
the same Nobiliary Dictionary, it is very similar to the
one described there for Estrada, without the eagle and with bands
(diagonal) instead of stripes (horizontal), so we can
determine that there is confusion on the part of Atienza and other
genealogists who preceeded and followed him. The
coat of arms of Estrada, as described by Atienza, may have been one granted,
at a later date, to one of the several Estrada lineages derived
from the Tower. In the image at left-below, we can see what the coat of arms
of Duque de Estrada would look like if we follow Atienza'a description of both
coats of arms. The link to the Duque de Estrada coat of arms is below.
This is what the brothers García Carraffa have to say about this
coat of arms:
"Some writers of treatises describe as those of Estrada the
arms of the Duque lineage, obeying this no doubt, to the fact that
the Duque de Estrada family used these arms united in a shield of
alliance".
We,
therefore, consider that the primitive and original coat of arms of the Estrada
surname is number 569 described before, which is the one on the
left half of the Duque de Estrada alliance (front view).
This coat of arms is
shown here as some sources will erroneously supply it as THE coat
of arms for the Estrada surname, sometimes adding other heraldic
elements, to which there is no entitlement. |
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Other
coats of arms that have been granted to descendants of this
family.
Here
we show some samples.
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 An
Estrada lineage from Asturias used this: Of silver, with a rampant
lion of its color and a frame of red, with four golden asps and
four castles of the same metal, alternatelly.
Source:Heraldic and
Genealogical Encyclopædia - Shield
570
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|
 Francisco
de Estrada, neighbor of the city of Mexico, received from the
Emperor Charles V (I of Spain) the following coat of arms: In
a field of azure, a stone bridge of two spans over waves of azure
and silver water, topped by a golden tower, lightened with azure.
Frame of red, with seven pilgrim shells of silver, in its right
half, and frame of silver with seven black ermine, in its
left half.
Source: Heraldic and
Genealogical Encyclopædia - Shield 571
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The Coat of Arms at the entrance to
the Palce |
Don Gerónimo de
Estrada, first Marquis of Casa Estrada, used this coat of arms that
can be found at the Palace of Casa
Estrada, in Bimenes, Asturias.
It is a coat of arms of alliance,
which contains the pure arms of Estrada (N° 569) in its left half (seen from
the front) and that of Fernández de la Rosella or that of Angulo,* in its
right half.
*Until this moment it is
not possible to determine wether the arms in the right half are those
of Fernández de la Rosella or Angulo (both surnames are related to the
first marquis, the first his mother's and the second his wife's), as
both contain the same elements, but in different colors and metals. The
stone representation is colorless.
Courtesy
of Alfonso Sánchez Lorenzo |
| A branch settled
in Santillana del Mar, province of Santander and used this coat of
arms, which they had chiseled in the front of their house. This house
is presently known as "the Eagle's house" because of
the shield.
The shield, which contains
the crowned eagle (tha basic shield of Estrada), has a border with
eight asps or Saint Andrew's Cross. It is, however, not possible to
determine the color of the border or the metal of the asps.
Picture of the
shield courtesy of Pura Castresana Estrada |
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| A branch
descendant from Antonio de Estrada (c. 1588) from the Council of
Lamadrid,
settled
in Santander, where in a house that belonged to Antonio Fernández
Estrada (c. 1761) one can see this split shield of alliance that has
in its left (front view) a tree and a walking dog and to the right, in
a horizontal cut, on top the arms with the eagle of Estrada and on the
bottom the arms of Duque.
Picture of the
shield courtesy of Pura Castresana Estrada |
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A branch moved to Italy,
where a member of that lineage received the following coat of arms:
A split shield. The first
field of silver and in it a red castle with two towers. The second
field of azure with a golden walking dog. Crowned headpiece set in a
third of a turn towards the right. The shield is adorned with
lambrequins.
Source: Antonio Estrada. Torino, Italia |
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Another coat of arms for which we do not have clear documentation, but which
is offered by some genealogical and heraldic services as that of the
surname Estrada, is the one on the right. We have limited knowledge of
its origin, which we have found only in the "Armorial
Général" by J. B. Rietstap (in French). However, according to
what we can see below, it is possible that these elements are part of
a coats of arms of one of don Luis de Estrada's ancestors, who
may have been of Italian origin. |
Central detail of the coat of arms as supplied by a
genealogical service.
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The coat of arms on the leftt is the
one that, according to Francisco Piferrer, is the one of
alliance of don Luis de Estrada. In the center of this coat of arms
one can see the tree and the walking dog seen above, which are
enlarged on the figure on the right . This coat of arms has several uncommon components,
such as 5 bloodied moors' heads; the coat of arms of Duque
without the ermine in the stripes but rather spread around the border;
the eagle of Estrada is in red instead of black; and, a golden tower, with
a white flag that has a crescent (a symbol of Islam). This arrangement in a horizontal fashion and
with a center insert is not frequently seen.
This coat of arms violates several basic rules of Spanish heraldry, so
that gives us reason to doubt its authenticity, despite the source. |
Central detail of the coat of arms of
Luis de Estrada
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| According to Francisco Piferrer, the coat of arms of
Estrada is the one of Duque de Estrada as determined by him, but we
disagree, as that is one of alliance, not of a single lineage.
Other coats of arms may have been granted to family members; however,
we have no documentation to support either the grants or their
designs.
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An important note about coats of arms:
Coats of arms were and are granted to individuals, not families;
therefore, when a coat of arms is granted to a member of a family, the
coat of arms is his, not his brother's, offspring or other relatives.
Legally, the coat of arms of an individual may not be used by his
descendants or relatives unless one claims and obtains the title that
goes with the coat of arms. However, it has become common practice for
any descendant to use a coat of arms granted to an ancestor, as a means of identifying with the nobility of the lineage.
This is what the brothers García-Carraffa and other Spanish genealogists have
done and in their work, the surname's general coat of arms is the first one
granted to a member of the lineage. |
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