Tsutaemaru pacifier playing cards

During the mid-Edo period, people other than samurai, including entertainers and townspeople, used crest designs that they found appealing, with the exception of the crest featuring hollyhock leaves, which was prohibited. Crests that were considered elegant or stylish were preferred over the more austere samurai crests. The ivy and hana-bishi crests were among the most popular designs. According to "Monsho" by Kosaku Ito, and "Onna Mon" by Masaki Kondo, when female crests were categorized by motif, the most common designs were paulownia, ivy, and butterfly, with paulownia and ivy making up nearly half of the total.