RELIGIOUS -
GEOMETRIC -
LETTERS AND MONOGRAMS -
FRATERNAL AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
ANIMAL -
PLANT AND FLORAL -
BODY -
ART AND ICONS
Art and Icons
Anchor - hope
Angel - the agent of God, often pointing towards heaven; guardians of the dead
Baby's chair - small, empty furniture symbolized unfulfilled lives of
children; represented the child now gone; with small shoes on chair - connection
to childhood, symbolized inability to achieve adulthood
Book - Book: faith, learning to read and write
Cabin and pine - A modern British Columbia image
Harp - Associated with David in the Old Testament; symbol of St. Cecilia,
patron saint of musicians. Symbolic of worship in heaven.
Maple Leaf - Canada's National symbol
Sleeping children - sleep is the tie between life and death; children are
purity, artlessness, innocence
Draped urn - sorrow
Woman with or without Bible pointing upward - faith
Woman hanging onto Cross - faith. Original drawing accompanied Rev.
Toplady's hymn "Rock of Ages." Also seen as woman clinging to pillar or anchor.
Common motif on white bronze monuments and Masonic grave memorials.
Family or Heraldry Crests - One last symbolic motif that you may see on graves
is the family crest. There are literally thousands of family crests detailing the
main family names of European descent. Most of these crests are well documented in
heraldry books. Back to Symbolism Jump to: Top of Page | 
