Bucket shop (heraldry)

In heraldry, a bucket shop is a company that will sell a coat of arms associated with the customer's surname, regardless of whether the customer can actually claim a relation to the original armiger.

According to the Law of Arms in most heraldic jurisdictions, usage of a pre-existing coat of arms must be predicated on some form of relation. Typically, inheritance of arms flows through the male line though in many traditions, it may flow through the female line as well.

Bucket shops work from a database of surnames and shields sourced from manuscripts, armorials and various journals.