Imperial crest of Japan

The imperial crest of Japan, most commonly known in English and Japanese as the chrysanthemum crest (菊紋, kikumon) (also known by other names) is the mon, used by the emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family.

Imperial crest of Japan
Versions
16 Single-layered chrysanthemum
Armiger	Emperor, emperor emeritus, and inner-court member of the Imperial family [ja]
Adopted	1336[1] October 21 1926

It is one of the national emblems of Japan and is used in a manner similar to a national coat of arms, e.g., on Japanese passports. The Japanese government uses a different emblem, the 5–7 paulownia crest, which itself is historically also an imperial crest.^[1][2]

Names

The imperial crest is referred to by a number of different names in English. Japanese symbolism developed separately to Western heraldry, and as such mon (紋) can be translated in a number of different ways, however most commonly as crest,^[3] but also as badge, emblem, or coat of arms.^{[note 1]}

It is usually referred to as kikumon (菊紋) in Japanese, which is generally translated as chrysanthemum crest. The chrysanthemum is considered a noble flower,^[4] and the 16-petal chrysanthemum is the widely known symbol of the emperor, as such the expression imperial chrysanthemum crest is also popular. It is also simply referred to simply as the imperial crest, imperial emblem, or imperial coat of arms.^[a]

It is also known as chrysanthemum flower crest (菊花紋, 菊花紋章, kikukamon, kikukamonshō) and imperial chrysanthemum crest (菊の御紋, kikunogomon). In English it is sometimes called the imperial seal, however the kikumon is not a seal, and should not be confused with the actual imperial seals, the privy seal and state seal of Japan. To avoid translation difficulties, it is sometimes referred to just as the imperial mon or chrysanthemum mon.^[7]

History

During the Meiji period (1868–1912), no one was permitted to use the imperial crest except the Emperor of Japan, who used a 16-petalled chrysanthemum with sixteen tips of another row of petals showing behind the first row. Therefore, each member of the Imperial family used a slightly modified version of the crest. Shinto shrines either displayed the imperial crest or incorporated elements of the crest into their own tag.

Earlier in Japanese history, when Emperor Go-Daigo, who tried to break the power of the shogunate in 1333, was exiled, he adopted the seventeen-petalled chrysanthemum in order to differentiate himself from the Northern Court's Emperor Kōgon, who kept the imperial 16-petalled mon.^{[citation needed]}

Description

The 5–7 paulownia can also be referred to as an imperial crest, but is now most commonly used as the emblem of the prime minister and Cabinet of Japan

The symbol is a yellow or orange chrysanthemum with black or red outlines and background. A central disc is surrounded by a front set of 16 petals. A rear set of 16 petals are half staggered in relation to the front set and are visible at the edges of the flower. An example of the chrysanthemum being used is in the badge for the Order of the Chrysanthemum.

Other members of the Imperial Family use a version with 14 single petals, while a form with 16 single petals is used for orders, passports, Diet members' pins, and other items that carry or represent the authority of the Emperor. The Imperial crest is also used on the standards of the Imperial Family.^[8]

Gallery

• 
  Imperial crest emblazoned on the cover of a Japanese passport
• 
  Imperial Throne of the Emperor of Japan
• 
  Emblazoned on the doors of a tomb in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto
• 
  Bow of the battleship Mikasa
• 
  Imperial crest on an Order of the Garter banner when the Emperor is a member of the Order
• 
  Imperial crest in Heraldischer Atlas (1899)
• 
  Miyajima postage stamp (1939)
• 
  Imperial crest seen on a Toyota Century Royal, the state car of Japan
• 
  The imperial crest seen on the Imperial Household Register

See also

• Japan portal

• National emblems of Japan
• Chrysanthemum Throne
• Imperial Seal of Korea
• Imperial emblem of Manchukuo
• Order of the Chrysanthemum
• Mon (emblem)

Notes

1. Mon are most similar in function to Western badges or coats of arms, but do also have similarities with crests.

1. Prominently called a coat of arms in Hugo Gerard Ströhl's Heraldischer Atlas,^[5] which was later translated by Arthur Fox-Davies in The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory.^[6]