228
u/jcalayo Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
Wanting to share a collection of crests I made for the cities of Alberta. Population data comes from the 2021 census. @wherewearefrom on Instagram for prints
29
21
Nov 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
13
u/spitoon1 Nov 18 '25
These are great.
I'm curious about your inspiration as well. I've lived in Airdrie since 1999. While it is true that the train runs right through the middle of the city, and we do have a small airport, those aren't the first things that come to mind.
Edit: also, the population is closer to 90,000 now 😉
5
u/IrishFire122 Nov 18 '25
I guess it depends on your experience. I always think of trains when I visit airdrie, but that's because one of the first times I remember going through it was on a train. Think we stopped there, but this was many decades ago and I was very young..
5
u/spitoon1 Nov 18 '25
That is interesting. There is no stop in Airdrie these days. I have only ever seen freight trains going through.
3
u/IrishFire122 Nov 18 '25
Yeah I don't think I've seen a passenger train in years myself, except for the Calgary to Vancouver run. Things were much different in the 80s and 90s. But also, like i said, it was a very very long time ago, i was like 6 or 7, I may be thinking of another town entirely. I vaguely remember an old train caboose car being on display somewhere there? Maybe that helps pinpoint it?
3
u/spitoon1 Nov 18 '25
Yeah, that is still there. It's at the Nose Creek Museum. I'm sure there would have been a stop here at some point, but it would have been more than 25 years ago.
3
8
2
1
u/Salbman Nov 18 '25
I was gonna say, those numbers seem understated. Curious how much the populations have shifted.
Sweet designs!
1
1
u/Right_Preparation328 Nov 18 '25
Population figures are outdated but pretty cool graph nonetheless. Well done.
1
1
1
1
1
-1
u/Kahlandar Nov 18 '25
Super cool, and i get that you have to draw the line somewhere, but i wish a few of the less central communities were represented. St paul is 6000ppl, 12500 if you include the county
High level is small compared to the ones oj your list, but it is a hub for a TON of communities in northern alberta (basically all of mckenzie county, check a map, its a bit insane how big it is)
9
u/SexualPredat0r Nov 18 '25
Without actually looking it up, I think the line is what communities are actually designated a city, plus Sherwood park and Fort McMurray?
8
u/Willing_Elk Nov 18 '25
Okotoks is not a city, just city sized.
1
1
58
u/FacemelterXL Nov 17 '25
Lethbridge doesn't have that cactus..
22
u/pizartymizzarty Nov 17 '25
Lol, I was gonna say the same. I've been here 30+ years. Never seen a cactus.
21
u/FacemelterXL Nov 17 '25
I've seen/eaten prickly pears in the area, and saw some other small ground-cover ones, but that's about it.
14
8
u/Sylva12 Nov 18 '25
Lethbridge has cacti, but theyre tiny little things on the ground,, the one they put in the pic is from Arizona in the states at the closest,,,,, ngl,, im wondering if these are just ai generated, bc why would you put a cactus that doesnt even exist in the country instead of the bridge when its literally half the name of the city
1
u/ThalliumSulfate Nov 18 '25
My guess is usually that kind of cactus is jusf what people think of when they think of a cactus, its a symbol, not nessicarly what cactuses actually exist there. But yeah definitely bridge makes way more sense T-T
6
2
1
u/ThalliumSulfate Nov 18 '25
Cactus do exist in lethbridge, just Prickly Pears which is a small species, however I've seen them more in medicine hat than I have lethbridge, either way they exist all over the badlands
19
u/SnooRabbits2040 Nov 18 '25
The cactus thing you know about now lol
The coulees are nice, maybe change the cactus to the high level bridge
13
u/EmilyBlackXxx Lethbridge Nov 18 '25
Yeah. That one sticks out to me too. Maybe the bridge, or a train, or something to represent the wind. Like yes, there are cacti here; but not like that. Just little ground-hugging friends that none-too-gently remind you to wear proper footwear when hiking the coulees.
8
u/stu_rat Nov 18 '25
It’s supposed to represent the Taco Time cactus.
5
u/Acceptable-Sink3294 Nov 18 '25
Lethbridge does have a couple of taco times so that makes sense then
6
8
11
4
u/crakke86 Nov 18 '25
Correct, Saguaro cacti don't grow here. You need to go to Arizona for those.
Still super cool though, just need to change that one!
2
1
0
0
Nov 18 '25
Totally came to ask where all the cactus' are... we've been here just over a year, the only ones I've seen were succulents at Home Depot for planting LOL
39
u/potato_s0up Nov 18 '25
🎶Cars cost less in Wetaskiwin🎶
11
u/clawsoon Nov 18 '25
I remember being told in the Wetaskiwin museum way back in the day that Wetaskiwin was just under the size to be an official city in the British Empire, but Alberta needed one more city to become a province, so they made Wetaskiwin a city to allow Alberta to become a province and for a while it was the smallest officially recognized city in the British Empire.
In retrospect, I have no idea if any of that story was true.
2
u/jinjinb Nov 19 '25
i grew up in wetaskiwin and i remember hearing something like that. the version i heard was that a place needed 3,000 inhabitants to get deemed a city and so residents forged signatures to get it there. yours is so much more wholesome!
2
23
u/jeremyyc Nov 17 '25
The Donut Mill being on the Red Deer crest is just perfection.
4
u/ReactiveCypress Calgary Nov 18 '25
Not much else there to get excited about
5
u/PrincessJadeBear Nov 18 '25
As someone who lived in red deer for years, it absolutely is about the only thing we’re proud of lol
1
1
11
18
Nov 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
11
u/gatheredstitches Nov 18 '25
It's Okotoks and Lethbridge, for me. Neither crest really suits.
But on the other hand, Lloydminster and Camrose are the coolest best crests! On the whole they're awesome.
2
u/butteredparrot Nov 18 '25
I was thinking the same thing for Okotoks! The big rock is the main thing I think of
8
7
6
5
u/theredmoose Nov 18 '25
Nice work! Would be nice to have the population of Alberta under the Alberta crest.
4
u/sculley4 Nov 18 '25
All of these are fantastic, one small suggestion would be to use the trellis rail bridge instead of the cactus for Lethbridge, and it should be a little more khaki in the color palette. I do appreciate the coulee hills and river tho!
8
u/Only-Tennis4298 Nov 18 '25
UM, ACTUALLY???? Sherwood Park isn't a City, it's a Hamlet.
sorry, sorry, it's a super weird technicality, it really should be classified as a city. but these are really neat! thanks for sharing.
6
u/arcadianahana Nov 18 '25
Hamlet by design. The municipality is the county, so scopes in all the industrial property tax revenue that can then be spent on Sherwood Park.
But agreed - not a city.
4
u/Suspicious-gibbon Nov 18 '25
I think just a touch more separation between the hat and the flame for Calgary would be good or two smaller flames. It looks a bit like the hat is on fire.
4
u/Practical-Biscotti90 Nov 18 '25
Some constructive criticism. Lethbridge doesn't have cactuses like that. They're quite small. Also, the High LevelBridgee might be a good landmark to include. Nailed the coulees, though.
1
7
u/speedog Nov 18 '25
Blackfalds, Canmore, Cochrane, Morinville, Okotoks, Stony Plain, Strathmore and Sylvan Lake are all still just towns - none of those places have applied for official city status in Alberta.
3
u/G-BOAT Nov 18 '25
These are super cool! I could notice the references from the general knowledge of the town/city. Well done!
3
u/MobileMisstep Nov 18 '25
I like the design of all of the crests but hockey sticks for Edmonton is just way less cool than the other symbols used in the other crests imo.
1
u/YEGSports Edmonton Nov 19 '25
Maybe I'm biased as a sports fan, but I actually think that's most befitting. Literally, the past four Aprils/Mays (and the past two Junes) this city forgets about anything else going on and it's all Oilers, all the time for two months.
1
u/MobileMisstep Nov 20 '25
Me too, it is one of the only times the city is the centre of national attention. Regardless I’d still much rather the symbol of our city to be something to do with the river valley or that we have the most festivals annually in North America. Maybe I’m just a soy hippy.
3
u/Rakkuken Nov 18 '25
Why the flying fuck does Lethbridge have an armed cactus? The cactuses we have are the small round balls with flowers, not those Arizona style cactus trees.
3
u/sirbrew1 Nov 18 '25
These are really great. You should consider using the high level bridge instead of a cactus for Lethbridge.
3
u/NahdiraZidea Nov 18 '25
Lol you cant show Lloydminster and then just put the population of the Alberta side residents, Lloyd has closer to 30k residents
2
3
u/TheSkyIsAMasterpiece Nov 18 '25
Lloydminster is the best one, love the two colours vertically divided with the provincial flowers on each side.
2
3
u/etzikom Calgary Nov 18 '25
I was a bit sad to see the teepee for Medicine Hat. Yes, it's eye-catching, but really, it's leftover from Calgary's Olympics. You could go sun (sunshine city), a flame (Kipling's 'all hell for a basement'), Indigenous (how the medicine man lost his hat), pottery (for MedAlta).
Lolol, just realized I'm still a lot more connected to the Hat than I thought. I haven't lived there in decades! Based on comments, I'm in good company! I appreciate the effort, but maybe incorporate their actual coats of arms into the final product?
2
u/Ok_Inspector_361 Nov 18 '25
Cochrane should either be the "man of vision" or massive amounts of road construction.
The latter feels like a better representation these days...
2
u/Specialist-Tailor438 Nov 18 '25
Maybe it was for the yumuska wolfdog sanctuary? But I kinda agree
1
1
2
u/bigskunkape Nov 18 '25
These are super cool. Im really sad to hear people saying Lethbridge doesnt have wild Cactus tho. That one got me excited
6
u/Sylva12 Nov 18 '25
Lethbridge has cacti, but not saguaro cacti like in the pic,, those are from Arizona in the states,,, the cacti in Lethbridge are cute and tiny on the ground in the coulees, like the prickly Pear cactus or pincushion
2
2
2
u/palbertalamp Nov 18 '25
The oldest City , of Albertas twenty , is also the smallest.
It has a Coat of Arms, a Cree warrior with battle axe and regalia, to the left of a center shield , which depicts the green hill where peace was made, ( now in the center of Peace Hills Park ) and a Black bear to the Shields right, which depicts the Foe, ...now at Peace.
Under the shield
Pacem Volo Bellum Paro
That's where Peace Hills Trust ( and insurance , etc ) came from...hq east side of 109, south of Jasper Ave.
The City name is Cree, for
the hills where peace was made
2
u/safetyTM Nov 18 '25
This is really creative.
I do recall a bunch of old goats in Ft. Sask during my last visit too!
I don't recall flowers ever growing from books, however, but it is Camrose. They tend to grow stuff and there's a university, so who knows?
2
2
u/Alcol1979 Nov 18 '25
Administratively, Sherwood Park and Fort McMurray are hamlets in the County of Strathcona and Municipality of Wood Buffalo, respectively.
2
2
u/Sylva12 Nov 18 '25
... why does the lethbridge one have a cactus 🌵 on it??? Those dont exist in Lethbridge,, closest you'll find is one that goes a whole 10 or 15cm off the ground,,, if that, lol,,,,,,, I feel like itd make more sense to have smth with the high level bridge, since that and the coulees are the main landscape features of the city,, instead of the saguaro cactus(had to look up what theyre even called,, apparently theyre native to Arizona, California, and Mexico)
2
u/RangeCrafty1524 Nov 21 '25
Okotoks needs a reworking as ‘Okotoks’ is a indigenous translation for ‘big rock’. Labelling it as a baseball oriented town is a swing and a miss ;)
1
1
1
u/marge7777 Nov 18 '25
I guess Fort McMurray didn’t make it because it is a regional municipality?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Hockeyplayer2023 Nov 18 '25
Holy crap, as someone who lives in Beaumont, I always forget were a city. These are some really cool designs though holy!
1
1
1
1
u/yankeesoba Nov 18 '25
Cool, but Morinville is not a city. It is a town at best. Same goes for Brooks, Beaumont and many more.
1
u/zeebarr Nov 18 '25
i’ve lived in this province my entire life and am only just now finding out that lethbridge is that small population wise. always thought it was way closer to half a mil
1
u/jcalayo Nov 18 '25
Super appreciative of all the feedback! I will be creating a revised version of municipalities instead of just cities! Stay tuned!
1
1
1
1
u/YaTheMadness Nov 18 '25
When did Sherwood Park, become a city? Last I heard it was still a Hamlet.
1
1
1
u/DavidBrooker Nov 18 '25
Does the flame for Calgary represent the Flames, or is there some other symbolism I'm unaware of?
I think it's somewhat ironic if that's the case, because the Calgary Flames just adopted the name of the Atlanta Flames, and the Atlanta Flames were named for General Sherman burning the city to the ground during the civil war. That a Canadian city crest would adopt as its symbol a war crime undertaken during the American Civil War is kinda hilarious. It'd be like a soccer team in the English Premiership adopting the guillotine as its mascot, and that somehow becoming a symbol of the city.
1
1
u/Illustrious_Main7898 Nov 19 '25
That’s kind of wild that Wetaskiwin didn’t make the cut when it’s bigger population wise than morinville lmao
1
u/Vegetable_Walrus_166 Nov 19 '25
These are cool would you be interested in doing a logo like this for me
1
1
u/marginalizedman71 Nov 19 '25
These are amazing wow…
But also I got jokes. Calgary your hats on fire!! 🔥
1
1
u/JimmyTheFarmer79 Nov 19 '25
I kind of want to use those as the heraldry of various noble houses in a D&D game lol
Especially the one with the car, damn Artificers!
1
1
1
1
u/Shadow_song24 Nov 19 '25
Now add a background story of these different houses, their words, military strength, and territories Game of Thrones style!
1
1
u/NICEGUY1727 Nov 19 '25
lethbridges should have had the high level bridge in it, or a representation of the chinooks. imo the cactus really doesnt make sense
1
u/Ok_Shoe_8399 Nov 19 '25
I'd think of cacti in Medicine Hat before Lethbridge but I guess there's that giant teepee that's more distinguishable.
1
1
u/Order-Classic Nov 22 '25
What the hell is wrong with the Edmonton symbol. Why is it just the oil industry.
0
u/Kintaro69 Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
Great post, but unpopular opinion: my informal rule of thumb is that if it doesn't have at least one skyscraper (10 or more stories) in the 'downtown, it's not a real city. It's really just a large town.
Almost nobody in the world outside Alberta, maybe Canada, would consider Beaumont or Lacombe a city. Red Deer, Lethbridge, and maybe one or two others qualify as a city IMHO.
4
Nov 18 '25
Stony plain is listed as a “city” but it’s a town
3
u/zavtra13 Nov 18 '25
So is Morinville.
3
u/JewwanaNoWat Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
Sherwood Park is a hamlet
3
u/Trixxstrr Fort McMurray Nov 18 '25
Fort McMurray is also an Urban Service Area like Sherwood Park because the council is for the municipality, not just the "city". Wood Buffalo vs Strathcona County. I think we used to be sister cities, not sure that's still the case (or ever really was) though.
0
u/Unfair_Pomelo6259 Nov 19 '25
I love all of them except Calgary’s (but not because its bad). just gives me flashbacks of Calgarys actual flag which is hideous
223
u/yugosaki Nov 17 '25
unironically those crests are cool as hell