Watty Heraldry

According to research the Watty family heraldry began with the founding of our coat of arms around the year 1840, by Johann Georg Watty of Hamburg, Germany.

Johann was the chief collector of the Hamburg city lottery, a banker and money changer. During this time period in the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg, a member of the wealthy middle class like Johann, would be expected to have a coat of arms. It was also beneficial for business reasons.

A heraldic letters patent or deed of foundation has not yet been found for our coat of arms. The first officially published copy can be seen in a journal dating back to 1919. It was published in the premier edition of the Hamburg Genealogical Society Journal "Zeitschrift der Zentralstelle für Niedersächsische Familiengeschichte" (The Lower Saxony Journal of Family History) by the author of the first Watty family genealogy, Carl Friedrich Robert Watty, a member of The Central Office for Lower Saxony Family History.

It is important to note that The Central Office for Lower Saxony Family History has changed its name over time. It was formed in 1918 from a group located in Dresden that had been researching heraldry since 1902, "Roland, Verein zur Förderung der Stammkunde" (Roland, an organization to promote regular customers). In 1919 another group, "Hamburgischen Verein für Familiengeschichte, Siegel- und Wappenkunde e. V." (Family History Society of Hamburg, seals and heraldry e. V.) merged with The The Central Office for Lower Saxony Family History. Then in 1946 the name changed to "Verein für Niederdeutsche Familienkunde" (Association for Low German Genealogy) and finally in 2002 was renamed to "Genealogische Gesellschaft, Sitz Hamburg e. V." (Hamburg Genealogical Society e.V., commonly abbreviated GGHH)

1918 Coats of Arms - Click to enlarge image

In 1918 our coat of arms can be seen in the supplemental communications from The Central Office for Lower Saxony Family History in Hamburg. It is in the upper row, 2nd from the right. Below it is written ‘Carl Hch. Robert Watty’ (The abbreviation Hch was incorrect and should have been written Fch for Friedrich). The design was made in 1918 by the renowned Hamburg heraldist and merchant Eduard Lorenz-Meyer, who since 1916, had been working on an armorial for the members of the local Hamburg "Roland" association.

1918 Coat of Arms - Click to enlarge image

An article from 1931 in the Lower Saxony Journal of Family History leads us to believe that the armorial was not printed after Eduard's death in 1926. The original hand drawn work was 208 pages long, bound in leather, 11.41 x 6.88 in, and contained more than 175 coats of arms, 11 of which were B/W and 101 without personalized entries. The remaining coats of arms were recorded with members personalized entries or third party mottos. Our coat of arms was on pg. 101. This hand written copy was kept at the Hamburg Genealogical Societies library during the bombings in 1943 and was more than likely destroyed when the library caught on fire.

Since a letters patent for our coat of arms has not been discovered, it is protected by law from the date that it was first published and may not be used by anyone other than the male line of descendants.

The helmet on our coat of arms is designed according to the principles of heraldic rules for rank and social status of a commoner. It conforms to the decoration and symbolism during that time. It is possible that some of the colors and the harp are references to Irish origins because of the similarities to the coat of arms of Ireland. The gold and silver colors were probably used to symbolize the economic success as merchants and bankers or the gold and silversmith tradition. The shield design was against the heraldic rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour, but exceptions were allowed. The naked goddess Fortuna may seem out of place, but wasn’t unusual because of her symbolism.

The following illustrations represent coats of arms from the 2nd Watty family genealogy in 1925, A hand drawn coat of arms by Fred Watty in 1988, from the the book "Durener families coats of arms and genealogies " by Lothar Muller-Westphal in 1989 and from the 5th Watty family genealogy in 2008.

1925 Coat of Arms - Click to enlarge image
1988 Coat of Arms - Click to enlarge image
1989 Coat of Arms - Click to enlarge image
2008 Coat of Arms - Click to enlarge image

A blazon is a formal description of, most often, a coat of arms or flag, which enables a person to construct or reconstruct the appropriate image. The Watty family blazon is as follows:

A coat of arms motto, is a phrase, or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention of families with coats of arms. The Watty family motto is not included on our coat of arms but it serves the same purpose. Our motto is taken from page 21 of the reworking of the ancient Greek tradegy Iphigenia in Tauris by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe :