coat of arms

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A tabard or surcoat blazoned with bearings.
• noun An arrangement of bearings, usually depicted on and around a shield, that indicates ancestry and distinctions.
• noun A representation of bearings.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun heraldry hereditary designs and symbols depicted on an escutcheon, sometimes accompanied by other elements of a heraldic achievement, such as a helm, crest, crest coronet, torse, mantling and supporters; described by a blazon

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the official symbols of a family, state, etc.