Du Plessis Crest

The du Plessis Coat of Arms, due to this family line during the hugenote immigration to the Cape Colony, Dutch law was paramount, not only did the french families adopt the dutch church, and learn dutch, but they were also under the law of the dutch. By dutch heraldry practice any individual may carry the coat of arms as long as it doesn't conflict with any other claim, thus the "family Coat of Arm" was implemented in the cape colony, this practice continued even when the English took over, most dutch/french descendants, continued to use these coat of arms, regardless of the English practice. Even today South African Heraldry laws are nonrestrictive and so the "Family Coat of Arms" does actually exist in a real traditional here. Also as with the Dutch motherland, here Coat's of arms were not restricted to nobility and did not need to be awarded to an individual. Secondly as a side note, Crest's refer to the symbol at the top of the helm, and this was even in English tradition associated with clans and families, Thus the family Crest is actually a real phenomenon.