A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Coucy family of France.
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Barry of six vair and gu”
The Coucy arms were recorded in France, c. 1663.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Bretagne.
More families held coats of arms in Bretagne than anywhere else in France. The land was divided into many small estates rather than a few large ones, so far more households counted as gentry, and each needed a shield of its own to be told apart.
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.
The body that granted and recorded arms in France in this period.
Reigning in France when the Coucy arms are first recorded.
In France, a coat of arms was a mark of honor that passed down through the male line to all legitimate descendants. Families often used the same shield without changes to show their shared heritage. If a branch wanted to stand out, they could add a small mark to their shield to show their specific place in the family tree.
The family name Coucy originates from the northern regions of France, where it was historically tied to a powerful line of lords who held the fortress of Coucy in the Picardy region. While the name became famous through these medieval nobles, branches of the family eventually spread to different parts of the country. By 1663, records confirm that members of the family were established in the province of Bretagne. During this period, families often moved across French provinces to seek new land, administrative positions, or opportunities in the growing maritime trade of the western coast. The presence of the Coucy name in Bretagne suggests that the family had successfully integrated into the local society and regional economy by the mid-seventeenth century.
A Gallo-Roman estate belonging to a person named Cotius.
