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)“Sa. three bends ar. in chief a castle of the second”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Chiarello family of England.
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Sa. three bends ar. in chief a castle of the second”

The Chiarello arms were recorded in England, c. 1620.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in York.
Yorkshire is the largest of the English counties, and it held more gentry families than any other. Land there was split among a great many households rather than a few, so a great many of them carried arms.
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.
English heraldry allowed arms to be shared by all legitimate descendants of the original owner. These symbols were treated as personal property that moved through the generations to all children. While the eldest son kept the original design, other family members could use the same shield without needing to change it or register their own unique versions.
The surname Chiarello originates from the Italian language, where it functions as a diminutive form of the name Chiaro, meaning clear or bright. While the name is deeply rooted in the regions of Southern Italy, historical records indicate that members of the family were present in York, England, as early as 1620. This suggests that the family was part of the early modern movement of merchants, craftspeople, or religious refugees who traveled between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. During this period, York served as a significant hub for trade and administration, providing a stable environment for families arriving from abroad to settle and integrate into the local economy. By maintaining their distinct name while adapting to life in a new country, these early ancestors established a legacy that bridged the cultural traditions of Italy with the evolving society of seventeenth-century England.
Derived from the Latin word clarus meaning clear or bright.
