Genealogy

Having been told by my father of the existence of a family coat of arms, since I was young I've been working on trying to identify it. I have finally, after years of online research and after consulting some Portuguese publications on hieraldy, been able to identify what this coat of arms would look like.
The included image represents the Camara Manoel family as my research seems to indicate.
The Camara Coat of Arms seems to be very well known in all genealogy sites. The Manoel part, (on the right of the shield), has seen some variations. Finally, and fortunately, I was able to find an old painting that showed exactly what it would look like. So, here it is, for posterity to behold, the Camara-Manoel coat of arms....

And here is another variation of it... (A bit more elaborate).
It was somewhat customary to include all sorts of decorative elements to one's coat of arms. The helmet generally symbolized nobility. Its feathers were representative of the family's colors. Other elements could include, ribbons, (as an extension of the feathers), Paquifes, (decorative pillow supports and ribbons), Virols, (small cloth like rings to place over the helmets representing the family colors), Motto ribbons, Timbres, (above the crowns), Crowns, (to denote, royalty, and other degrees of nobility such as duke, count, etc.)

There is a pretty good online publication that explains how these work for Portuguese Heiraldy, (please note that each country has adopted different sets of rules ).

http://www.armorial.net/