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)“Az. a war-wolf pass. and three stars in chief ar”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Dickison 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)“Az. a war-wolf pass. and three stars in chief ar”
The Dickison arms were recorded in Winklestoun, 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 surname Dickison is a variation of the name Dickinson, which originated as a patronymic meaning son of Dick. Because Dick was a common medieval nickname for Richard, the name became widespread across the British Isles as families sought to identify themselves by their father’s given name. By the mid-eighteenth century, branches of the family were well-established in the bustling city of Edinburgh. Records confirm that members of the Dickison family were active residents there by 1748, likely participating in the city’s growing trade and professional sectors during the Scottish Enlightenment. As Edinburgh expanded during this period, families like the Dickisons often moved from rural areas into the urban center to take advantage of new economic opportunities. This transition helped solidify the family name within the historical fabric of Scotland’s capital city.
A diminutive form of the Germanic name Richard meaning powerful ruler.
