Heraldic clan

A heraldic clan (ród herbowy), in Poland, comprised all the noble (szlachta) bearers of the same coat of arms.

The Polish word herb derives from the German Erbe, "inheritance" or "heritage",[1] and denotes a coat of arms.

Bearers of the same coat of arms were variously called herbowni, współherbowni (co-armorials), or klejnotni, from klejnot, "jewel".

Entire noble classes from other nations, for example from Lithuania, were incorporated by adoption—granted an indygenat—into the Polish nobility and its heraldic system.

[citation needed] From the 17th to the 20th centuries, belonging to a distinguished house and a shared armorial lineage mattered to members of the szlachta.

Gozdawa coat of arms , with heraldic clan of over 300 family surnames
Coat of arms of heraldic clan Ostoja , a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe