Quote Originally Posted by yoippari
I know that there is a gibson crest somewhere. It has something like geese or some other large bird on it. My mom thinks that it is ugly, but oh well.

It isn't so much as a conversation starter, just that if I get a sporran with a clan badge on it I would want my family's crest on it. It doesn't have to be a mass production one even, if I could find a picture of the crest I know someone who might want to cast it. He is retired and casts rings and other things as a hobbie.
Yoippari,

Coats-of-arms belong to individuals, not families (the crest is the very top part of the arms) -- there are many shops and places on-line that sell "family crests" to unsuspecting individuals who do not realize this fact. Chances are they've found an old picture somewhere of arms attributed to someone with that surname, and then sell it as the such-and-such "family crest". Since the United States has no government agency regulating heraldry, these "bucket shops" (as heraldry folks are want to call them) can sell whatever they want. I dealt with this question on a weekly basis when I worked as a genealogical librarian. I was always very mindful to tell the truth, yet not hurt their feelings, as obviously their "family crest" was a source of pride to them.

Bottom line: there's nothing that says you cannot display one of these arms in your home or other places, and even though the US does not have the legal aspects like Scotland, etc., it is still in bad form to claim them as your "family crest". You can certainly display them as the arms of an individual named Gibson, etc., but you wouldn't want to claim them as your own -- think of arms as like a trademark or copyright (not the best comparison, mind you) -- something distinctive of an individual person, etc.

As Cawdorian mentioned, there are "generic" badges with St. Andrew, the Thistle and I have even seen an Irish one with the Harp of Tara on it -- and there is always the aforementioned clans that Gibson is an affiliated name of.

I hope you do not take my message in the wrong way. Let me know if I can be of help in anyway.

Cheers,

Todd