Art, Family, History, Kids, Uncategorized

Modern Heraldry

34 Comments

The family crest in the header photo is that of my Great Grandmother Cluver.  The Cluvers were a very old family of knights and landowners  from northern  Germany near Bremen.  The crest shows a black claw of a bear on a golden field. The open helmet has a ball with a wreath and a column of peacock feathers.  I’m not sure what the seven flags represent. The family was in its  heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries.  You can see the crest on Cluver family memorial plaques from that time period in the Bremen Dom, or cathedral. They chose to remain Roman Catholic during the Reformation and lost most of their property and land when the region  was occupied by the Lutheran Swedes during the Thirty Years War.  By the time my great grandmother was born in the late 1800’s, they were small farmers and shop keepers. My great grandmother was a domestic servant before her marriage. That crest hasn’t reflected the status of the family for several hundred years.

Daughter rescued a hapless Yellow Lab from a busy intersection in Tacoma last week, and managed to track down the owners since the pup was  microchipped. When she told me about it I thought “well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”,  since she saw us rescue many a dog and cat and get them to safety. That is when I thought about our family crest and what an updated one would look like.  I think it would have the profile of a Welsh Terrier in the center encircled by cats. Husband said a rolling pin and a garden fork would be appropriate symbols, too, as well as the Greek letter Psi, a symbol for psychology.  We should have a violin or cello worked into the design. Of course, there would be a baboon, too.

What would be on your modern family crest?

34 thoughts on “Modern Heraldry”

  2. Or on a fess azure three clews of yarn or between three open books azure.
    (On a gold shield, a blue central horizontal bar containing three gold balls of yarn surrounded, top and bottom, by three blue open books)

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  3. Saltire of Purpure and Or, dragon and bear affrontant, emblazoned with a book, a whisk, a pile of gold coins and a dog.

    Phew..nothing like a little light research first thing in the morning.

    Liked by 4 people

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  4. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    THe previous responses are so intimidating that I will decline to respond out of cowardice.

    The heraldry for that would be a cowardly yellow background, a sandy desert floor with an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.

    Phew.

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. I’m with Jacque! Way too early in the morning for me to think straight. But my modern crest would probably be two crossed canoe paddles framed by four golf clubs, all on a leather book cover.

      Chris in Owatonna

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  7. A field of white on top. The top of the handle of a snow shovel sticking out of that. The bottom is a field of green with a pitch fork handle sticking out of that. All framed in beams of light. And centered in those beams are a tractor, a lighting console, dogs and chickens, and family.

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  8. We actually have a crest from my maternal grandfather’s family – Sterling, or Stirling, depending on where you look. Welsh-Scottish. I just checked and can’t find the framed needlework we have somewhere… It is silver, deep purple, and blue or turquoise, with a shield of course, and the words Gang Forward. (!) Will look in a while when I visit Mom.

    An up-to-date crest for either my mom or me would have to have a treble clef sign at its center. Will think of what else, but must run… it’s just that kind of day.

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        4. I took a screen shot from your Facebook page and uploaded it to Flickr. I rotated it on Flickr and made it public, then copied the link and pasted it here.

          Like

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