Adair Coat of Arms and Crest

Authority Woulfe gives the Irish O’Daire as the descendants of Daire (same as the Latin “Darius,” meaning King), while Black’s Surnames of Scotland states that Adair and Edzear were the same, both forms being found on the same page as late as 1625. Mr. Black feels certain that these are a form of Edzear. He also does not believe the tradition that Fitzgerald of Adare, fugitive son of Fitzgerald, Earl of Desmond, Adare of Ireland, founded the family in Kinhilt, Scotland, around 1388. There is earlier evidence of Adairs in Scotland.

The arms depicted above are the arms of Adair of Kinhilt, County Wigton, Scotland and Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, according to Authority Papworth. This Adair of Kinhilt uses the arms exactly as above, except that it does not include the lower motto “Moribus Victoria Dextris.” We can assume that this motto was added later, perhaps by the American branch of this family.

The red hand was found all over the world, even amongst Native Americans, and on the walls of the caves of the prehistoric Cro-Magnons. It symbolizes strength, force, and health. In these arms it probably does have an influence from Irish sources, perhaps more from the traditional story of the Irish chieftain who cut off his hand while racing through the surf, and threw it ashore to claim the first grasp and thus the first choice of the new land of Ireland that they were just approaching. The same source was the origin of the famous Red Hand of Ulster used by baronets who settled there in later times as homesteaders. Adair was there prior to the Red Hand of Ulster users.

The crest of a bearded and bloody head probably commemorates some ancient hand-to-hand encounter, or perhaps the capture and execution of an enemy chieftain. It may also symbolize some ancestral exploit in the Crusades (reference the explanation of colors). The Irish generally cut off the heads of chiefs they had slain in battle, as they considered no man actually fully dead until his head was removed.

Key to the Colors:
Argent with or (silver and gold) symbolizes the will to avenge Christ’s blood.
Argent with gules (silver and red) symbolizes honest boldness.
Or with gules (gold and red) symbolizes a disposition to shed one’s blood in order to acquire riches.

Family records report that these arms were quartered with Shafto – that is, the Adair arms and the Shafto family arms both be shown on one shield, the shield being divided into equal quarters. The records do not show in which two quarters the Shafto and Adair arms go, nor whether there may be one or two others also quartered – as we are left with two empty quarters with this description. Strictly speaking, a quartered shield tells who a man’s mother was, and is shown because she is an heiress, and the last of the family line.

A present-day Adair using the arms with the Shafto devices would be declaring that his mother was a Shafto, which does not apply, and is not authentic for future generations. Arms were sometimes shown quartered in this manner on a slate tombstone, but even this was unusual.

Author Ellis of “Who Are You?” gives us “Argent a lion rampant azure between three hands gules” as the arms of the Scotch-Irish Adairs of Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and South Carolina…with crest a bearded head on the point of a dagger dripping blood. Here we see a very similar coat-of-arms, with the exception of the shield being all silver, and in the center a blue lion between the familiar three red hands.

The blue lion is of great interest to Genealogist Joseph Ferrier, as it is almost always a Welsh symbol. There are many heraldic lions, but few blue ones. Historically, the Welsh heralds established these arms, already in use, in a systematic way sometime around 1200 AD, at the time of the early Tudors.

The Welsh-type coat-of-arms may have been the forerunner of the one described in present records of the Adair family. The Scotch-Irish Adairs may have dropped the blue lion because it was indeed so definitely a Welsh symbol.

Patsy Lowrey Domengeaux, Heraldic Artist, Houston, Texas, 16 October 1963

1. “Authority Woulfe gives the Irish O’Daire as the descendants of Daire”
In fact, O’Daire is an Irish name in its own right and while often Anglicized as Adair, is not related to the much more numerous Adair name of Scottish origin.

2. “The red hand was found all over the world…”
In heraldic terms, the severed red hand is almost exclusively Irish.

3. “The Blue Lion…is almost always a Welsh symbol”
That is simply not true, there are many, many examples of the “lion rampant azure” among Irish coats-of-arms.

Eddie Geoghegan

ADAIR
S.S. Count: 25,142
Origin: English: derived from the Old English first name Eadgar, which is derived from words meaning prosperity and spear.
Irish, Scottish: 1) Derived from the Gaelic words “ath” and “dare”, meaning a shallow place in a river and oaks. The name was given to those who lived near such places. 2) trans-formation of the Scottish first name Edzear, which is the equivalent to the English first name Edgar.

Source: The Encyclopedia of American Family Names by H. Amanda Robb & Andrew Chesler, 1995

Famous Adairs: JAMES ADAIR (1709?-1783), apparently born in Ireland but an emigrant to South Carolina, was a pioneer trader with American Indians and the author of The History of American Indians.

JOHN ADAIR (1757-1840) of South Carolina was a soldier during the American Revolution, after which he migrated to Kentucky. There, he was elected to the state legislature a number of times, served as governor, and then represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives.

WILLIAM P. ADAIR (1828?-1880) was assistant chief of the Cherokee nation. During the Civil War, he lead a band of Native Americans in the Confederate Army and fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge. He later represented his tribe in government relations in Washington, D.C.

Genealogies: The Descendants of James Adair was compiled by Miriam Dabbs Adair and published in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1976.

ADAIR, JAMES: Indian trader; author. b. County Antrim, Ireland, circa 1709. Came to America 1735; traded with the Catawba and Cherokee Indians 1735-44, with Choctaw Indians 1744-51; moved to District 96, Laurens County SC 1751; commanded band of Chickasaws as Captain during Indian War 1760-61. Author: The History of the American Indians (maintaining Indians are descendants of ancient Jews), 1775. Died NC circ 1783.

ADAIR, JOHN: senator, Gov. KY; b. Chester County, SC Jan 9, 1757; s. Baron William Adair. Settled in Mercer County, KY, 1786; commanded KY militia, 1792, later Brig.. general; member KY House of Representatives from Mercer County, 1793-95, 1798, 1800-03; speaker 1801-03; member US Senate from KY 1805-06, resigned 1806; aide to Governor Shelby during War of 1812; fought at battles of Thames and New Orleans; Gov. KY 1820-24; member US House of Representatives from KY 22d Congress, 1831-33; Adair County, KY named in his honor. Died Harrisburg, KY May 19, 1840, buried Frankfort, KY

Who’s Who in American History, The Historical Volume (1607-1896)