A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the le Blond family of France.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'arg. à trois portails de”
The le Blond arms were recorded in Picardie, c. 1663.
Picardie lay on the northern road into France and saw armies pass through it repeatedly. Its landowners were soldiers as often as farmers, and a soldier needed a shield he could be recognised by.
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 France in this period.
Reigning in France when the le Blond arms are first recorded.
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 Le Blond originated in medieval France as a descriptive nickname, likely used to identify an individual by their physical appearance. In the French language, the term translates to "the fair" or "the blond," suggesting that the earliest bearers of the name were distinguished by their light-colored hair or pale complexion. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the family had established a notable presence in the Picardie region of northern France. During this period, families in Picardie were often deeply connected to the local agricultural landscape and the social structures of the rural provinces. The name became a fixed hereditary identifier as it was passed down through generations, marking the family as a recognized part of the regional population well before the year 1663.
A Latin term meaning yellow or fair-haired.
