Club Crest Maker for Book Clubs, Societies and Alumni Groups

Why clubs and societies use crests

Learned societies, colleges and guilds have used arms for centuries, because a shared emblem tells members they belong to something with a story. The Royal Society in London, founded in 1660, still carries the motto Nullius in verba, which it translates as "take nobody's word for it". That one line sums up what the society is for, and that is the job a motto does for any club.

A crest does the same for a book club that has met every month since the kids were small, a walking group, a debating society or a circle of friends from the same class. It is a little formal and a little playful, which is exactly the tone most clubs like.

Designing a crest your members will like

Pick an emblem with a reason behind it

• Book: the obvious choice for a book club or reading group, and it reads clearly even when small.
• Owl: wisdom and late nights, good for literary societies, quiz teams and study groups. See the owl coat of arms guide.
• Key: a society that opens doors, or an alumni group that holds the keys to old memories.
• Flame or sun: ideas and debate, for a society that likes to argue well.
• Rose, tree or acorn: garden clubs, allotment societies and groups that have grown from a small start.
• Mountain or compass: walking, hiking and travel clubs.
• Your initial: simple and hard to confuse with anyone else's. The symbols and meanings guide covers every emblem and color in the studio.

Colors that print well

Pair a color (red, blue, green, purple or black) with gold or silver for the emblem. That is heraldry's rule of tincture, a metal on a color, and it also keeps the crest readable on a tote bag or a dark mug. Purple and gold suit a book club well; green and silver suit a garden or walking society.

A motto with an in-joke or a classic

Latin mottos give a club an old-world feel. Tolle lege ("take up and read") comes from the scene in Augustine's Confessions where he hears a child's voice repeating those words and opens a book; it is a favorite of reading groups. Sapere aude ("dare to be wise") is from the Roman poet Horace. The Latin motto generator has more, each with its translation. An English motto works just as well, and a gentle in-joke ("One More Chapter", "Wine Was Also Discussed") is often the one members remember.

Make your own, do not borrow

University, college and fraternity or sorority crests usually belong to those institutions and many are registered trademarks, so an alumni group should not copy one. Design an original crest with your own name, colors and emblem instead, and if your group is officially part of a school, check its brand rules before you print anything.

Where clubs use their crest

• Bookplates: printed labels pasted inside a book's cover to show who owns it have carried coats of arms for centuries. The $19 Heirloom set includes six ready-made bookplates of your crest, plus line art and two-tone files for a rubber stamp. With the $9 set, the 1200 by 1500 px PNG prints about 4 by 5 inches at full photo quality (300 pixels per inch), a good size for a bookplate sticker or a lending-library label.
• Tote bags, mugs and shirts: the SVG in the $9 set is the vector file print-on-demand shops and local printers ask for.
• Invitations and reading lists: drop the crest at the top of the year's schedule or the newsletter.
• Anniversary certificates: the certificate of arms prints the crest with its heraldic description and meaning, and you can add a "presented to" line, which suits a founding member or a club's tenth year.
• A club website or group chat: the square 1080 px profile picture fits most group apps, and the $29 Crest Logo Kit adds favicons, a shield-only mark and social banners.

Running something with several groups inside it, like a school or a summer camp? See school house crests for designing a matching set.

Design your club crest

More free heraldry tools