LE NOBEL

Coat of Arms

It is sometimes thought that wearing a family coat of arms was a privilege and / or is of the nobility. Weapons used to be fed only by knights. Yet there are also examples of citizens and merchants who used weapons in the 13th century. They had adopted these weapons themselves and nothing has changed to this day. In the Netherlands everyone can accept and carry a weapon. It is estimated that there are approximately 80,000 different family names in the Netherlands, about 0.5% of which are nobility and that there are around 40,000 family arms.

Origin unclear

1. Brought from France ca. 1700.
2. Designed by the bearer and introduced in Middelburg (Zeeland) ca. 1700.

Noteworthy

The coat of arms was not found (yet) earlier than in the fourth generation (1783). The coat of arms was frequently used by the merchant Jacobus Adriaan le Nobel (IV) 1784–1832. Noteworthy is the strong resemblance to the coat of arms of his mother, Catharina Philipse (III). It is possible that the coat of arms is derived from hers.
Following a general heraldic study by Jacobus Willem le Nobel (VIII) in 1935, it was believed within the family that the heraldic roses were pink in color. They were referred to as “roze nobles,” possibly a corruption from the French: roze noble = heraldic rose.

Oldest Source

Recorded as a heraldic black-and-white drawing in Middelburg church registers ca. 1775–1780.
The family coat of arms is also described in Normandy in the 16th and 17th centuries. The coat of arms, genealogy, and details are described in: “Les Conseillers du parlement de Normandie sous Henri-IV et sous Louis-XIII” (Genealogical Compendium based on the Bigot Manuscript, from the Rouen Library, Volume III), published in Rouen by the Librarian of the Society of the History of Normandy, 1964; author: Henri de Frondeville.