Duncan Crest Badges

Illustrated below are the Duncan Crests as recorded in the Register of all Armorial Bearings in Scotland (the Lyon Register). The crests have been illustrated within the Scottish traditional 'Belt and Buckle' also known as the 'Crest Badge' or 'Clansmans Badge'. The list of armigers has been kept the same as that of the  Duncan Armorial Roll the full achievement (including the arms & crest etc.) will eventually be shown along with perhaps a short biography on individual pages dedicated to each armiger. For some considerable time it has been a misconception, fuelled by commercial concerns and 'Bucket Shops' that the crest; A ship under sail. Motto;  Disce Pati, is the Clan Duncan Clansmans Crest Badge and Motto, it is not. Nor is it the crest of the Chief of a Clan Duncan because at the moment there is no known Chief. The only crests similar but not exactly the same are that of Capt. Andrew Charles Duncan registered in the Public Register of all Arms Scotland, Court of the Lord Lyon 1963. The same crest 'a ship under sail' is also said to be that of Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Camperdown but again it is not. Admiral Duncan's crest is 'on waves of the Sea a Dismasted Ship proper'. Likewise the crest does not seem to be registered in the public register of all arms in Scotland (the Lyon Register) until 1882, when the arms and crest were then registered by his grandson Robert Dandas Haldane-Duncan, Baron Lundie, Earl of Camperdown. It is known however that the crest 'a dismasted ship' was in use over 200 years earlier by William Duncan of Seaside a direct ancestor. Admiral Duncan was indeed elevated to the peerage as Baron Duncan of Lundie. Lundie as part of his reward for the victory at Camperdown. He took the name of his title from the long held family lands of Lundie on the Perthshire & Angus border; he was the great grandson of Alexander Duncan of Seaside and the second son of Provost Alexander Duncan of Lundie. The eldest son and heir to the armorial bearings of Duncan of Seaside was Lt. Colonel Alexander Duncan who died without issue.

Note: The Lord Lyon of Scotland is a Minister of State and member of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Royal Household. He is Head of the Heraldic Executive and the Judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, which has jurisdiction over all heraldic business in Scotland and maintains the Scottish Public Registers of Arms and Genealogies. The position of lord Lyon in Scotland dates from around 1437 with the present 'Register of Arms' at Lyon Court dating from 1672. A Scottish Armiger is a person who has a coat of arms granted & recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland in the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. The Crest is a part of the Coat of Arms (above the helm) that has also been granted to the individual. In Scottish Tradition anyone wearing a crest within a 'Belt & Buckle' as depicted here, displays he or she's allegiance to that particular Duncan.