What does the engraving of hand with the sword designate?

[Elena Russ]

Hello.

Several times I saw the engraving of hand with the sword on the English articles. What does it designate? Thank you.

[nobilityhouse]

It is a crest to a coat of arms. The crest is the decoration on top of the arms. This one would be blazoned (described) as a arm in armour embowed holding a dagger. It is very popular charge and too hard to pinpoint who the owner was. Sometimes the arm has a sleeve and cuff, sometimes it is just plain skin. There are endless variations of bent and straight arms, sometimes called a cubit arm. There seem to be endless variations of weaponry (knives, pikes, swords, daggers, spears) being held and in various attitudes: up, down, sideways, etc. They also hold stars, moons, sprigs of plants, etc. I hope this was helpful. Cheers.