My "mon"

Long time followers of my blogs may know I'm fascinated by the aesthetics of mon (Japanese family or individual emblems). I decided to design a mon-like emblem for me.

Unlike flags and "Western" coats of arms, mon don't have fixed colors. Here I'll present them black in transparent background.

I think the ideal starting point would be my coat of arms. But I'd like something that remarked it, not a direct translation.

Looking at some Medieval and Tudor-age armorials, I noticed how the negative area of cross moline (the kind of cross in my coat of arms) resembled four hearts. With that in mind, I designed my first kamon:


Heart-like shapes are present in Japanese mon: examples are the petals of sakura (cherry blossom, five petals each) and katabami (wood sorrel, three petals each).

I improved the previous putting it on an octagon:


Eight is a very meaningful number, specially for a computing geek like me.

I think this look much better than previous attempt. However, I made one final design: make it look like a flower (obviously, in Japanese style), with the hearts being petals.


I think it's a lovely design, and I would surely adopt it, for instance, if I lived in Japan. (As living near the biggest Japanese community outside Japan wasn't enough...)

Your comments and suggestions are mostly welcome.
Sorry for absence. I had some urgencies last weeks.