Tracing your family heritage can be both an exciting and daunting task. It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed when trying to discover and document your roots. If you’re looking for a fun and educational way to learn more about your ancestor’s legacy, why not create your own family crest? This project is a great way to keep the stories, history, and culture of your ancestors alive. With a simple design, you can hold onto your past and commemorate the heritage of your family and relatives. Read on to learn more about creating your own family crest!
1. Tracing Your Family’s History
Researching Your Roots
Family tree research is one of the most rewarding heritage projects anyone can undertake. Take the time to delve into your family history and you’ll uncover stories of the past that you can cherish for a lifetime. Our ancestors left a wealth of genealogical information behind, and there are many ways to trace them. The internet has shaped the genealogy experience in a very positive and comprehensive way. Access historical records and create extensive family trees using online genealogy platforms such as Ancestry.com.
Design Your Own Family Crest
Now that you’ve done the research, turn your family history into an artistic project you can share with loved ones. Making your own family crest is one of the best ways to showcase your ancestral heritage. A crest can be a fun reflection of the unique stories behind your family’s past. Here’s how to make your own:
- Brainstorm symbols or images that represent your family’s ancestral home, names, and history.
- Design your crest with a circular shape in the center, tapered into a shield at the bottom.
- Include the family name as well as any special symbols that you discovered through your extensive family tree research.
- Enlist the help of a graphic designer who could make your family crest come to life.
Sharing Your Family Crest
Once your family crest is finished, share with your entire family. It can be symbol of unity and pride for everyone. Design t-shirts, coffee mugs, and keychains with your family crest and pass them out at the next gathering. You may even be inspired to write a song about your family or design a play about the characters in your ancestral tree. There are endless possibilities to commemorate your ancestry and all its complexities and diversities.
2. Design Your Own Crest – Step-by-Step
Step 1: Brainstorm – Start your creative process by coming up with ideas for your crest’s design. Consider your family lineage, interests, and any elements that you want to incorporate in your crest. Note these down on a sheet of paper or digitally.
Step 2: Sketch Out Your Design – Bring your initial ideas to life by sketching out your crest. Feel free to sketch multiple versions, and get your family involved too!
Step 3: Choose Your Crest Colors – Once you have a rough sketch of your family crest, the next step is to research the colors used in heraldry and decide which to use in your design. Choose up to three colors to use on flags or shields and include them in your design.
Step 4: Add Symbols and Shapes – To make your crest look authentic and unique, add symbols, shapes, and lines that represent the values and history of your family. Some popular elements include trees, animals, leaves, and crowns.
Step 5: Finalize Your Design - Once you have designed all elements of your family crest, it’s time to assemble them into a single design. Choose the font and colors for the words, if you choose to include them. Edit and refine your work until you are happy with the result.
3. Gathering Materials to Create a Family Crest
Once you’ve decided on a good family story to construct your family crest from, it’s time to gather the materials you need. Here are a few things to keep an eye out for:
- Stamps or Symbols: These can be of animals, plants or objects that are meaningful to your family, and should be incorporated in the crest.
- Colors: Choose hues that represent specific occasions or personal connections that your family members have with a specific color, such as a birthplace or an ancestor’s service.
- Words: A few relevant words or phrases can add a great deal of meaning to the crest. For instance, you might include a motto, a Latin phrase from your family’s home country or a meaningful nickname.
- Layout: Pay attention to the placement of the symbols, colors, and words for an aesthetically pleasing crest.
You don’t need a vast array of materials to create a great family crest. All you need is something that’s unique and special to your family.
The materials you’ve selected should more or less apply to the shape and form you plan to use for your crest, so keep this in mind when selecting them. Once you have the necessary materials, you’re ready to go to the next step and start constructing your family crest.
4. Find Inspiration to Inform Your Design
If you’ve decided to make your own family crest as a heritage project, one of the most important things is getting inspiration for the design. This can be done in several ways, and will help you choose symbols that represent your family and its values. Here are four ways to find inspiration:
- Research Your Family History: Take a look at your family tree and explore family stories from past generations. Note any meaningful symbols they used, such as animals, flowers, objects, or slogans.
- Examine Other Crests: Look at crests of other families and see how they chose to represent their lineage. This will show you some common motifs and symbols and also give you ideas for unique elements.
- Look Around Your Home: Are there any heirlooms or items around your home that could be used to represent your family? Even if you don’t have a ready-made symbol, consider anything from the era of your ancestors that could be adapted to be part of your crest.
- Consider the Message: As you design, think about the message you want to convey with your crest. This will be a reflection of the values of your family. Consider history, culture, and any special characteristics that have been passed down.
With a bit of research and creativity, you can come up with a family crest that is meaningful and symbolic. By exploring these sources of inspiration, you’ll be well on your way to creating a design that honors your heritage.
5. Bring Your Family Crest to Life
Family crests are a cherished part of our heritage, as they tell us who we are, where we come from and how we are connected. But how do you create your own? Here are some steps to get you started:
- Research: Start researching your family history to discover your family’s origins. Consider looking up public records, family records, historical societies, and genealogical sites.
- Gather: Gather information from your research to help you create the symbols and design elements of the crest. Consider color palettes that honor your family. Think about shapes that will represent your family values. Look for images, words or sayings that will encapsulate your family story.
- Design: Start sketching different designs, experimenting with colors, shapes and symbols until you have something that captures the essence of the crest. The crest should serve as a visual representation of your family’s past, so it should reflect the beliefs and stories of your ancestors.
- Display: After you are done, display it proudly! Print out an 8×10 to put on the wall or make it more permanent by having it engraved on a plaque. Or, create a decal for your laptop or car. You can also get creative and have it printed on a mug.
Creating your own family crest is a great way to celebrate and honor your heritage. Reflecting on your family’s past and designing your own crest can be a meaningful project that connects you to your ancestors and reveals something special about your family’s story.
6. Displaying Your Crest with Pride
Now that you have finished making your own family crest it’s time to display it with pride! There are a number of ways to get creative with this part of the heritage project:
- Digital: Make a poster size digital version of your crest and print it at home or sent it off to a local store for printing. Hang it up in your living room or bedroom.
- Crafts: Make craft versions of your crest from paper, wood, fabric, etc – it’s up to you! You could make a few small versions to stick on your laptop, phone and tablet cover, or go bigger and make a wall hanging!
- Clothing: Get creative and make your crest into clothing and accessories. Design t-shirts, hats and headbands that show off your hard work!
No matter what you choose to make with your crest, you will have a reminder of your family heritage with you wherever you go! Make sure to take lots of pictures and share your creative, unique family crest around.
The Way Forward
Now that you have the tools to get started on making your family crest, be proud of what you can create! Whether you’ve used a stencil or created a completely custom crest, you’re a part of a long tradition of celebrating and honoring your heritage. Embrace your family’s history and the stories that come along with it and get started on this fun and meaningful project!