Over 400 Samurai Kamon (Crests)

prusaprinters

<p>The term "Kamon" refers to a crest used in Japan to indicate one's origins; that is, one's family lineage, blood line, ancestry and status from ancient times. It is said that there are more than 20,000 distinct individual Kamon in Japan. Kamon are often referred to as Family Crests very similar to European heraldic devices, but is different in many ways.</p><p>The origin of Kamon goes far back to the latter part of Heian Period. Around the end of Heian Period, Kuge (the noblity) such as; Sanesue Saionji and Saneyoshi Tokudaiji, began placing them on their own on their oxcarts and walked around Streets showing off. Afterwards, Kamon became popular among Kuge and various Kamon were created. The Kamon of Buke (Samurai warriors) were created later than those of Kuge at the end of the Heian Period, when conflict between Heiji-clan and Genji-clan became more violent. It is considered to have originated from the fact that Samurai used their original designs on Hatamaku (samurai flag) or Manmaku (samurai curtains) to advertise their achievements or to show off. It seems that in the middle of Kamakura Period almost all samurai displayed Kamon and this became an established custom among samurai class.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is a list of over 400 Kamon, including ones that are used by the Royal Family and official organisations (Police, Fire and Governmental Departments). I have given examples of some of the use of them, but the .svg files are included to allow you to use and re-mix them as you need for your projects.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>