Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Or, a cross flory gu”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Anny family of Scotland.
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Or, a cross flory gu”
The Anny arms were recorded in Scotland, c. 1748.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh was the seat of Scotland's government, its courts and its heralds. Families with business there settled nearby, and being close to where arms were recorded is exactly why so many of them appear.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
Scottish heraldry is unique because it treats a coat of arms as a piece of personal property protected by law. Only one person can own a specific design at any given time. When a family grows, the head keeps the original shield while other relatives must apply for their own distinct version with slight changes to prove their specific identity.
The family name Anny has deep roots in the historic city of Edinburgh, where records confirm that members of the family were well-established residents by 1748. During the eighteenth century, Edinburgh was a bustling center of the Scottish Enlightenment, and families living there were often involved in the city's growing trade, legal, or academic circles. While the name is relatively rare, its presence in the capital suggests that early ancestors were part of the urban middle class who helped shape the city during a time of significant architectural and cultural expansion. These early residents lived through a transformative era in Scottish history, witnessing the rapid development of the New Town and the intellectual growth that defined the period. By tracing their lives in the heart of Scotland, we see a family that was present during the very moments that modernized the nation.
Derived from the Hebrew word channah meaning grace or favor.
