A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Dufrane family of Belgium.
chiefAuthority, wisdom and dominionJ. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“De gu., au chef d'or.”
The Dufrane arms were recorded in Hainaut, c. 1737.
Hainaut sat on the border between France and the Low Countries and was fought over for centuries. Families there held their land under arms and expected to defend it, so a shield was a working thing.
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.
Reigning in Belgium when the Dufrane arms are first recorded.
In Belgium, a coat of arms is considered personal property that is passed down through the male line to legitimate descendants. Families often use the same shield design across generations to show their shared heritage. If a branch of the family wants to change the design, they must apply for an official update to their specific version of the arms.
The surname Dufrane is a classic example of a locative name, which means it was originally used to identify people based on the specific place where they lived. In French, the prefix "du" means "of the," while "frane" is a regional variation of the word "frêne," which translates to an ash tree. This suggests that the earliest ancestors of the family likely lived near a prominent or well-known ash tree in their community. By 1737, records confirm that the family was firmly established in the province of Hainaut, a region that spans parts of modern-day Belgium and France. During this era, families in Hainaut were often deeply connected to the local landscape, and their names served as a simple way to describe their home to neighbors and travelers. As the family grew and moved throughout the region, the name remained a permanent link to their ancestral roots in the wooded countryside.
Derived from the French word for the ash tree.
