Gordon Emblem

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(From the 1996 Gordon Clansman) The GORDON EMBLEM first appeared on the cover of the 1949 Gordon Clansman. It appeared again in 1954 and was on the cover of the 1978 edition, which included the Andrew L. Gordon Family Tree. Each time it has appeared, it was altered, just a little.

From the 1949 Clansman: The general shape of the emblem is that of an INDIAN ARROWHEAD. The central illustration - an old-fashioned PIONEER WAGON- WHEEL- symbolic of the early pioneers. The HUB represents the FIRST GENERATION - HANS AND KJERSTIE GORDON. The SECOND GENERATION consisted of 11 members - represented, or radiating from the central HUB. The TIRE of the wheel represents the succeeding generations. The tire is also symbolic of our UNITY.

The SATELLITE and the JET AIRLINER stand for progress - not only along the lines of communication and transportation, but also along other lines of achievement. These icons of modern times stand for progress, just as the radio tower and the airplane did in 1949. Below is the traditional SHIELD, surmounted by the American Eagle, with it's outstretched, protecting wings. At the top of the shield is the birth year of HANS L. GORDON - 1821. In the center of the shield is the Christian Cross, signifying spiritual life. All this adds up to the cardinal virtues, FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, TOLERANCE and LOYALTY to GOD and COUNTRY.

Then at the top of the Emblem is the STAR - ever beaconing all of us onward and upward to greater heights of achievement.


Re-created for 2002 by Michael Gordon using Corel Draw 10 based on the 1996 version. I have created the satellite, stars, shield, arrowhead outline and wagon wheel from scratch. I used clipart for the aircraft, eagle, and Chrisian cross; the aircraft and cross match exactly the clipart used on the 1996 version. I could have used the same satellite (the Solar Max satellite) but I wanted something that I could use gradient colors with, and the Solar Max looked a bit too much like a weapon. I'm not quite delighted with the eagle and will probably make one of my own someday based on my eagle photography from Alaska.

The arrowhead starts with a regular octagon for the top and an isoceles triangle for the bottom. A circle circumscribed around the triangle produces the radius of the curved portion of the arrowhead, and this radius is about 2/3 the diameter of the large octagon. The five-pointed star and its 18 point sunburst I created from scratch. The 11 spoked wheel uses radial shading on the wheel and linear shading on the spokes to create a 3-d appearance. To ensure uniform spacing of the spokes, I used Corel Draw's automatic star maker to make an 11 point star, and used that as a guide to placement. Once the spokes were complete, I removed the star. Each spoke has a curved end to suggest a round rod drilled into a curved inside wheel, and shading is used to suggest roundness both on the spoke and on the inside of the wheel. The outside of the wagon wheel is black, suggesting the wrought iron in common use at the time. To help emphasise that this is a wagon wheel and not something else, I included a key notch on the hub.

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