Hello! So lately I’ve been researching my family’s history and genealogy and I began to wonder if, in history, would a single individual have more than one coat of arms? For example would a knight maybe have a personal coat of arms and a family coat of arms? Any help and sources for me to read would be greatly appreciated!
Be careful with heraldry research. There are lots of folks looking to make money off of b.s., and will even go so far as creating fake drawings with your name on them.
A coat of arms was given to a specific family at a specific time in the middle ages. If you happen to have the same surname as one assigned to an established herald coat, it does not necessarily mean it belongs to your ancestry or even your distant family. A coat name wasn't meant to be the coat for everyone in the world and in its future who carried the same surname (there are many unrelated people with the same last name of course). People like to feel that there is an association, because it's fun to connect ourselves to the distant past, but there is likely no association to be made with us at all.
Not exactly an answer to your direct question, but it might help you add context.