The Coat of Arms & the Family Emblem

In 1911, the Association adopted a family emblem, designed by Samuel Glatfelter (1858–1927 and 5th generation direct descendant through Casper's son Casper). Revised in 1987, it remains the visual symbol of the Glattfelder family in America — and every element tells the family's story in miniature.

At the center sits a Pennsylvania Keystone, the unmistakable symbol of the commonwealth where Casper settled after emigrating from Switzerland in 1743. Within the keystone are six edelweiss flowers, one for each of Casper's sons. The edelweiss — the iconic alpine flower of Switzerland — placed inside the keystone forms a quiet metaphor: Swiss heritage carried forward within an American identity.

Above the keystone stands an American eagle with wings spread, clutching the staffs of two flags — the American flag and the Swiss flag — reflecting a family that has never seen its Swiss origins and its American life as being in tension. Two dates frame the composition: 1743, the year Casper arrived in Pennsylvania, and 1906, the year his descendants organized the Association. Stars encircle the border, echoing the original medieval coat of arms and symbolizing that the descendants of Casper Glattfelder have spread across the continent.

Where the medieval coat of arms told the story of a goldsmith's guild in Zürich, the Association emblem tells the next chapter: emigration, settlement, and the deliberate choice to remember where the family came from.