A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Gartman family of Belgium.
handFaith, sincerity and justiceJ. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à une main dextre appaumée d'or.”
The Gartman arms were recorded in Flandre, c. 1663.
Flandre grew rich on cloth, and its towns were among the busiest in Europe. Merchant families bought land with their profits and took arms to go with it, so trade put as many names in the registers here as land did.
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 Gartman 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 family name Gartman traces its roots to the historical region of Flanders, where records confirm members of the family were established by 1663. The name likely originated as a descriptive occupational or locational identifier common in the Low Countries during the seventeenth century. In the linguistic context of the region, the prefix suggests a connection to a garden or an enclosed piece of land, while the suffix often denoted a person who worked or lived in such a place. As families in this area moved through the shifting borders of the seventeenth century, they maintained their identity through this surname, which served as a link to their ancestral ties to the land. This period was a time of significant social change in Flanders, and the presence of the Gartman family reflects the broader patterns of settlement and community life that defined the era.
Old Germanic term referring to an enclosure, yard, or protected space.
