Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à une tour donjonnée à dextre, d'arg., maçonnée de sa. [Comp. Martin de Belassise.]”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Demartin family of France.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à une tour donjonnée à dextre, d'arg., maçonnée de sa. [Comp. Martin de Belassise.]”

The Demartin arms were recorded in Perigord, c. 1663.
Perigord was wooded upland country in south-western France, thick with small castles. Its gentry were numerous and mostly poor, and even a modest holding justified a shield of one's own.
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.
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 surname Demartin traces its roots to the historic region of Périgord in southwestern France, where records confirm the family was well-established by the year 1663. The name itself is a patronymic, meaning it was originally derived from the given name Martin, which was highly popular throughout Europe due to the influence of Saint Martin of Tours. In the rural landscapes of Périgord, families often adopted the prefix "de" to signify their connection to a specific village or a particular ancestral homestead. During the seventeenth century, the Demartin family likely lived as part of the local agrarian society, working the fertile lands and limestone plateaus characteristic of the Dordogne valley. As the family grew, they became deeply woven into the social and economic fabric of the region, maintaining their presence in the local parish registers that documented the births, marriages, and daily lives of the residents of Périgord.
Derived from Mars, the Roman god of war.
