Origin of the family crest
It is said to have originated in the Heian period when court nobles put Tomoe-mon on their ox-drawn carriages, because many of them came and went to the Imperial Court, and when they used the crest as a mark, it spread.
Later, it was introduced to samurai during the Kamakura period, and it is said that family crests were painted on hatasashi-mono, helmets and sleeves of armor for the judgment and self-assertion of friends and foes on the battlefield.
During the Edo period, family crests reached their zenith, and from around this time, common people began to have their own family crests.
However, at this time, they were still wearing the original family crests of kabuki and actors with a sense of fashion, but gradually they took over as family crests following the example of samurai.
After that, Yoshinobu Tokugawa handed over the reins of government to the Emperor, and with the Taisei Hokan (transfer of power back to the Emperor), all common people began to use their family names, and it is said that those who did not yet have family crests along with their family names around this time also decided on family crests. This is how most people came to have their own family crest.