Pratt Coat of Arms

England
The Coat of Arms of Sir Charles Pratt -- Lord Camden. Various branches of the Pratt family have lived, loved, fought and died under a variety of banners in several nations. Information on some of the branches of the Pratt family and their coats of arms are listed below.

Arms in England, where our branch of the Pratt family originated, are assigned only to individuals according to royal decree and can only be passed from one generation to the next, father to first born son or by successful application to the Chief Herald. The least requirements if you are not a first born son is to show proof of direct blood decadency and evidence of intent to bequeath in the will and testament of the original bearer. Traditionally, then, arms have only been held by titled aristocracy, knights of the realm, and military leaders and heroes, and in many cases, by their direct descendents. To my knowledge my forefathers did not meet those requirements.

Sir Charles Pratt (1714-1794), the 1st Baron and 1st Earl of Camden, and his son Sir John Jeffreys Pratt, (1759-1840), the 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess Camden had a coat of arms. The Coat of Arms of Lord Camden is at the top right of this page.

Scotland
My wife and I were married in England but our first home was in Scotland at RAF Edzell where I was stationed with the United States Navy. While in Scotland I continued my interest in genealogy and studied the Scottish clan system. It was here that I found that clan Grant claims a branch of the Pratt family as a sept or directly affiliated family. In Scotland the Pratt family is a sept or allied family of Clan Grant. The name Grant may be Norman in origin. The clan first appears in recorded history in the 13th Century as Sheriffis of the Inverness region. The Scottish crest badge of Clan Grant is at the bottom right of this page.

United States
There has not been heraldry or coats of arms in the United States since we gained independence from Britain. Unless a family crest or coat of arms is a registered trademark or is copyrighted it has no legal standing in the United States. However, Americans may adopt and use any item of heraldry they choose, as long as the design does not infringe on a copyright or trademark. As you might imagine many Americans do use coats of arms associated with their surname or have just created their own family crests. Various branches of the Pratt family in this country family have done both.