Dining room at the Gibson House. |
The tradition of coats of arms (of which the crest is the top part) dates to the medieval period
in Europe, where knights would carry shields with specific designs. The design
elements were intended to convey the achievements of the person who carried the coat of arms. Later, families would take a coat of arms as the family logo. Typically, only noble families were permitted to do this and so the coat of arms came to be associated with the aristocracy.