Imperial crest of Japan
Crest of the Emperor 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.
It is one of the national emblems of Japan and is used in a manner similar to a national coat of arms, such as on Japanese passports.
The 5-7 paulownia was historically the personal crest of the emperor, and as such has also been called an imperial crest. It was later adopted by the Japanese government, and it is largely used to represent the prime minister and Cabinet.
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, but also as badge, emblem, or coat of arms. To avoid translation difficulties, mon is sometimes used as a loanword.
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, and the 16-petal chrysanthemum is the widely known symbol of the emperor, as such the name of the flower alone can be used to refer to the emperor or imperial family. The name imperial (chrysanthemum) crest can also be used, as well as imperial emblem, imperial coat of arms, imperial (chrysanthemum) mon, or state mon.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Imperial crest of Japan” is crest of the Emperor of Japan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Imperial, crest and Japan, not as a finished interpretation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q170556. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Imperial crest of Japan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.