It has occurred to me that "Eichberger" means "oak-mountain one" or "dweller on the Mount of Oaks" or something like that (the family took its name originally from
a town in Switzerland, but everyone will have forgotten that). The symbol of that town is a sprig of oak with three leaves and two acorns. It has occurred to me further that oak trees and leaves have a well-known association with Zeus and Jupiter, classical gods of kingship and the state, and that wreaths of oak, or imitations made in god, were long an attribute of rulers in the way that wreaths of laurel were attributes of victors. It has occurred to me still further that oaks have a less well-known association with Thunor/Donar/Thorr, the god of (among other things) lightning and the protection of Man from giants and monsters. So I think that a uniting theme of oak motifs might work well, especially as the original Senate (not speaking much German) would not have appreciated how much the Eichbergers felt it belonged to them. I can put an oak wreath around anything to make it Imperial.
• A
star with an oak wreath around it might be good for the Imperial Navy.
• A
pair of crossed swords on an oak wreath or of crossed rifles on an oak wreath (like
this, but with less laurel, more oak, fewer crowns, and less writing) might suit the Imperial marines.
• I could put globe of Earth in a wreath for the Imperial Office, a garb of wheat in an oak wreath for the Colonial Office. Put the eagle with olive and arrows (or perhaps lightning bolts) in a wreath for the Imperial Council.
• And then things that aren't part of the Imperial government, such as Spaceways, the Eichberger Foundation, Universal Imports, the Universal Bank, Eichberger Realty etc. could use other oak leaf, acorn, sprig-of-oak, and oak tree motifs.
• I'm warming to the use of a
portcullis with gold chains as the symbol of the Senate.
I'm still not absolutely convinced that an imaginary crown is impossible as a symbol of sovereignty. Crowns are nice to work with in constructing badges, and I really think that people searching for a symbol of a new superordinate sovereignty might revive the crown as a symbol of it. Charlemagne and Napoleon revived the eagle as a symbol of empire.