Coat of Arms

The Difference Between a Family Crest and Coat of Arms

Although the terms are now used interchangeably, the family crest and coat of arms are not the same. The family crest is the symbol above the helmet or helm on top of the coat of arms. The crest is often used to adorn a knight’s helmet or in place of the whole coat of arms for simplicity. In the case of the Drągowski surname, The family crest would be the Raven with the ring in it's mouth.

The Genesis of the Drągowski Family Crest and Coat of Arms

My research into the Drągowski Family Crest and Coat of Arms has revealed some interesting facts on the subject in general. For instance, it turns out that not all surnames have a coat of arms or family crest. And for those that do, not all of them are unique to a single surname. A coat of arms can only be used by nobility. And many nobile families can share the same coat of arms between themselves. This usually happens to nobile families living in the same region or geographical location. In fact, according to Tadeusz Gajl’s Polish Heraldry site, there are roughly 993 surnames that proudly claim this particular coat of arms as their own.

The Coat of Arms associated with the Drągowski surname is based on an older design belonging to the Ślepowron clan.This coat of arms has an interesting, and even romantic, origin. According to This Wiki notation, this is how this coat of arms came to be:

By Bastian, CC BY 3.0, Link

”Baroque writers agree on a rather romantic version of how this clan shield was acquired in its present form: When a handsome knight from one of the Korwin families had the good fortune to marry a beautiful daughter of the Pobog clan, he redesigned the arms by adding to The Horseshoe and cross of his bride's coat of arms to his own ancestral Raven with A Ring. The Ślepowron coat of arms are seen as an earlier version of the Korwin coat of arms, which many families decided to adopt as a more 'fashionable' crest. ”

This becomes more evident when comparing the coat of arms of the two families.

When viewing the Pobóg coat of arms, we can see Cross pattée, or Iron Cross variant (inspired by the order of the Teutonic Knights) displayed above the inverted horseshoe with the cyan blue color domination. I'm not sure why the helmet is slightly turned to the right in the final result, but I imagine it's more of an artistic interpretation of the original. I would argue the helmet should be pointing straight ahead, as in the Pobóg version.

When viewing the Korwin coat of arms, the Raven is prominently displayed on the shield, even through the various transformations of the coat of arms over time. This was the contribution of the Korwin knight added to the final version.

Drągowski A.

April 4, 2012 at 4:03 am

Herb rodziny Drągowskich , to ŚLEPOWRON , ród wywodzi się z okolic Sokół , gniazdem jest miejscowość Drągi w powiecie wysokomazowieckim ( podlaskie ) . Bezpośrednio potomkowie pochodzą z rodu Bujno , który pojawił się na Podlasiu za sprawą Ks.Janusza Mazowieckiego na początku wieku 15 a przywędrował z okolic dzisiejszej Łodzi. Więc proszę o nie upublicznianie nieprawdziwych informacji zmieniając herb i pamięć o przodkach.

Adam Drągowski

February 6, 2013 at 7:39 am

Podkowa ocelami do góry na niej krzyż , w klejnocie jastrząb pierscień w pysku trzyma.

Aleander Drągowski

September 24, 2020 at 12:23 am

Thank you, Adam. I have seen the error in my ways. I’ve made the updates and between you and me, I like this version of the coat of arms better! Thanks again for keeping me honest. Dziękuję Ci Bardzo.