Historical Dutch Coat Of Arms Of The Van Westervelt / Westervelt / Westerfield Family Colorized By Mark Edward Westerfield according to information below the black and white photo in the 1905 book Genealogy of the Westervelt Family by Walter Tallman Westervelt. Found upon the tomb on the floor of the nave of the Old Church of Harderwijk, Gelderland Province (formerly the Duchy of Gelre), Netherlands, where the family and their ancestors and ancestors' cousins (Van Haersolte en Westervelt, Van Wijnbergen, Van Spuelde, Van Hueckelum) ruled many generations at least through the 1400s 1500s 1600s as hereditary mayors called Burgomasters of Harderwijk the town created by Count Otto II of Gelre in 1231. When a count of Gelre married Princess Eleanor of England Gelre was raised to Duchy Gelre or Geldriae or Guelder by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1339. While the family name arose by the 1500s it may well be we descend from the earliest rulers of Harderwijk from 1231. The three gold fleur de lis upon an emerald green shield is the well known Van Westervelt coat of arms. The fleur de lis arose from the yellow iris flowers found along rivers of this region and was first used by Salian Frank Merovingian King Clovis I circa 496 - 508 whose Salian Frank ancestors originated in the region of Salaland around River Ijssel. Words Salaland, Ijssel, Salian, Zwolle all derive from a common root. Westerveld is by Zwolle in Over-Ijssel Province. The family also came from the adjacent area of Meppel in Drenthe Province. Basically the region of family origin lies in the former coastal area of the former Zuider Zee a sea since drained by windmills. This area included Harderwijk in Gelderland, Westerveld and Zwolle in Over-Ijssel and Meppel in Drenthe. This region broadly known as Salaland is the very same region from which arose the Salian Franks 1000 years earlier. While we do not yet know the connections between our family name and the dukes of Gelre nor with the Salian Franks the symbols of the gold fleur de lis and ducal coronet crown on our coat of arms imply some connection ... at any rate we do know such connection to the Merovingian Kings and Salian Franks through our Norwegian Talla ancestors! www.zazzle.com/markewesterfield