COATS OF ARMS OF THE
DE LA WARR AND WEST FAMILIES

Arms, Quarterly: first and fourth, argent, - a fesse dancettee, sable, for West; second and third quarterly, gules, a lion rampant, argent, armed and langued azure between a semé of cross-crosslets (eight).

Crest, Out of a ducal coronet, or, a griffin's head, azure, beaked and eared, gold.

Supporters, Dexter, a wolf coward, argent, gorged with a plain collar, or; sinister, a cockatrice, or, shadowed and scaled, azure.

Motto, "Jour de ma vie."

The great houses from the west of England were the first to display arms upon their shields. These early armorial bearings were usually very simple, the colors in strong contrast so that they could be readily distinguished in the confusion of battle. Many reasons guided the choice of armorial bearings by their first owners. Quite often there was a play upon the name, as in the case of Barnard who had a ramping bear upon his shield; Piriton, who had a pear tree; Horsley, horses' heads, and Bower, who depicted bent bows on his escutcheon. Three capital T's were borne by Toft of Cheshire, and it is possible that the choice of a fesse dancettee by the Wests originally suggested a capital W. The earlier drawings of their shield show the points of the fesse much higher and deeper than the later designs, making, as it did, a bold dash across the center. This black jagged figure on the silver background would be unmistakable wherever the shield was displayed.

The original arms of the De La Warr family are quite like those of William de Mowbray, who was one of the twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the Magna Charta. The silver lion on the red shield is the same, the only difference is in the eight small crosses in the background (semé of cross-crosslets). Medieval wisdom gave every noble quality to the lion; therefore this animal was chosen by many knights as well as by the royalty of England and Scotland. When Lord West married the heiress of Lord De La Warr, the West arms were quartered with those of the De La Warr family.

The West crest, the head of a griffin, was retained. Nearly all records of West arms in England show the "fesse dancettee" on the shield and the griffin's head as the crest, suggesting the relationship to the Wests from Devonshire. The fabled creature, the griffin, is an emblem of a valiant hero, unyielding to the enemy; in heraldry symbolizing strength and vigilance.

The right to supporters of a shield is limited to the sovereigns, peers of the realm (in England), Knights of the Garter, Knights of the Bath, etc. They descend through the male line. Therefore, the supporters on the coat of arms of Lord De La Warr are those of Lord West. The wolf "coward" on the dexter side suggests a wolf subdued to serve his master, the bearer of the shield. On the sinister side the ancient creature, the cockatrice; was supposed to strike terror to beholders and indicates that in warfare it would be difficult to be interfered with.

The motto on the West coat of arms is: "Jour de ma vie" (Day of my life). This was formerly the motto of the La Warrs. It was adopted to commemorate the capture of King John II of France in the battle of Poitiers by Roger La Warr.

The "manteling" in an armorial achievement is the ornamental design representing the drapery first worn about the helmet as a protection from the sun during the Crusades. With the ancient arms the colors are usually specified in the grant as "gules, lined with argent."

After the marriage of the Earl De La Warr to Elizabeth Sackville, heiress of the Duke of Dorset, he (West) and his sons in 1843 took the name of SackvilleWest. The present Earl De La Warr has his shield quartered with that of the house of Sackville, and has also included the Sackville crest in his armorial achievement. Thus two crests are shown, the griffin's head head of the Wests and the star (estoile, argent) of the Sackvilles. It is interesting to note that the older son of the Earl De La Warr, who was born 1921, is called Viscount Cantelupe. This holding was acquired by Sir Thomas West, early in the 14th Century, when he married Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Sir John de Cantelupe of Hempston, Devon.

References:
Burke's Peerage, 1927 Edition.
Burke's Landed Gentry, 1840.
Burke's Encyclopedia of Heraldry, published 1844.
Fairbairn's Book of Crests.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
Guide to Heraldry by Arthur C. Fox-Davies, 1925.

 Genus immortale manet, multosque per annos
Stat fortuna domus, et avi numerantur avorum.

 (The race remains immortal, and the fortune of the family endures through
many years, and grandsires of grandsires are recorded.)