Heritage Patterns Explained
What the diagonal, vertical, and horizontal heritage fills mean — and how to use them.
In the Cultural view, each person's heritage is shown as a fill pattern inside their symbol — horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines.
Do the directions mean anything?
No — the direction itself has no fixed meaning. The patterns exist so that different heritages are visually distinguishable at a glance. Assign one pattern per heritage (for example, diagonal = Irish, vertical = Mexican) and keep it consistent; the key explains which pattern is which.
Dual and multi-heritage
A person can carry more than one heritage — their symbol shows both patterns. This is how mixed-heritage families are represented: give each heritage in the family its own pattern, and each person's symbol combines the patterns they carry.
Heritage vs. immigration
Heritage patterns describe cultural background; immigration is marked separately with squiggle notation — a single squiggle for a person who has lived in two or more cultures, a double squiggle for immigration. You can record immigration dates and countries of origin in the person's details, where they appear in their profile.