Clan MacNeil - Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

In Scotland, all coats of arms belong to a single person. The coat of arms typically attributed to clan MacNeil belongs solely to the current chief of the clan. A depiction of the coat of arms is painted in the Great Hall of Kisimul Castle in Castlebay, Barra, Scotland.

This coat of arms is divided into quarters:

  • Upper Left: Lion Rampant (mimicking the Royal Standard of the King of Scotland)
  • Upper Right: Castle in the water (symbolizing Kisimul Castle in Castlebay)
  • Lower Left: 3-masted ship (Representing either the seafaring nature of the clan or the migration of the clan from the Ulster, Ireland to Barra, Scotland
  • Lower Right: Red Hand of Ulster surrounded by nine shackles representing Niall of the Nine Hostages

Surrounding the Coat of Arms :

  • Crest: a Rock (same as on the clan badge)
  • Chapeau: Red velvet cap lined with ermine, symbolic of a Baron
  • Helm: Height of the Helmet is determined by rank
  • Mantle: Fabric surrounding the Arms
  • Supporters: Two lions rampant
  • Compartment: The base of the Arms, made of Dryas flowers (the clan badge)

Read more about this topic:  Clan MacNeil

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