A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Gralla family of Spain.
ravenConstancy and divine providenceJ. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'or à un corbeau de sa., volant vers sen.”
The Gralla arms were recorded in Catalonia, c. 1722.
Catalonia lived by sea trade, and its merchant houses were as powerful as its landowners. Both sorts of family took arms, and Barcelona kept records of the houses entitled to bear them.
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 Spain in this period.
Reigning in Spain when the Gralla arms are first recorded.
In Spain, a coat of arms was considered a form of property that belonged to the entire family line. These arms were passed down from a father to all his children equally. Younger branches of the family usually kept the original design without needing to add any special marks to distinguish their specific line.
The family name Gralla finds its historical roots in the northeastern region of Catalonia, where members of the lineage were firmly established by the early eighteenth century. The name itself is linked to the Catalan word for a traditional double-reed woodwind instrument, which suggests that the earliest ancestors may have been associated with music or local folk performances. During the 1700s, families bearing this name were often integrated into the social fabric of rural and urban Catalan communities, where they worked as landowners, artisans, or local officials. As the family grew, they became part of the regional history of Spain, reflecting the cultural shifts and economic developments that defined Catalonia during the Enlightenment. By maintaining a presence in this area for centuries, the Gralla family helped preserve the unique linguistic and social traditions of their homeland.
Latin term for a jackdaw or a type of crow.
