My maternal family and I are proud Frasers of Clan Fraser of Lovat. My great-grandfather James Fraser emigrated as young man from Dunfermline to the United States in 1928, and throughout the remainder of his life he continued to celebrate his heritage, reaching the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite and serving as President of his state chapter of the Scottish Highland Games. Our stateside Fraser clan has carried on cherishing our Scottish heritage, and at a certain point I set out to create a map of our historic clan territory and sites of significance.

I first went over all of the Fraser resources we had, including books, maps, and family tartans. Using historic maps and geographic features as references, I then began to map out the historic Fraser territory along with relevant cultural and natural landmarks.

After digitizing these and adding them to the map, I wanted to add symbols of significance to the document, and so I researched historic archives for Fraser prints to include. The final layout contains a vintage Fraser crest along with an illustration of a Fraser man clad in our tartan from a 19th century series of clan portraits.

One final Fraser touch can be seen with our blue hunting tartan blended into the form of the graticules.

In the process of researching Fraser elements for the map, I collected vintage prints of all our symbols. Our clan name is most likely derived from the French surname Fresel of Anjou, and the similarity to the French word for strawberry, (fraise) is undeniable, so it has become a popular symbol in Fraser heraldry. Yew trees are also of significance to Frasers, who traditionally wear a small branch in their caps. Stags also support the Fraser of Lovat heraldry. I used vintage prints of these flora and fauna along with the Fraser crest and tartan to create a poster print.