Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'arg. à la fasce de sa., acc. en chef d'un lion naiss. de gu., mouv. de la fasce.”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Ruwe family of Germany.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'arg. à la fasce de sa., acc. en chef d'un lion naiss. de gu., mouv. de la fasce.”

The Ruwe arms were recorded in Germany, c. 1765.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Bavaria.
Bavaria was a country of old landed families and walled market towns. Estates passed down the same line for centuries, and both the landowners and the leading townsmen kept arms, which is why so many Bavarian names sit in the registers.
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.
In the Holy Roman Empire, coats of arms were often granted to individuals by the Emperor or his representatives. These arms were then passed down through the generations to all legitimate descendants of the original holder. Younger branches of a family usually kept the same shield design without needing to change it, as the arms belonged to the entire lineage.
The surname Ruwe is deeply rooted in the historical landscape of southern Germany, specifically within the region of Bavaria. By the mid-eighteenth century, records confirm that families bearing this name were well-established members of the local community. The name likely originated as a descriptive term or a nickname used to identify individuals in small, tight-knit rural villages. During this period, life in Bavaria was defined by agricultural traditions and the influence of the local parish, which served as the primary center for recording births, marriages, and deaths. Families with the name Ruwe were typically part of the working class, contributing to the development of the Bavarian countryside through farming and skilled trades. As the population moved and evolved over the following decades, the name remained a steady marker of this specific ancestral heritage, linking modern descendants back to the hardworking people who lived in the Bavarian provinces during the 1760s.
Old High German term meaning fame or renown.
