i was wondering how are are the clans identified? Did they have sigils like in medieval Europe or are they identified by their chitin lines?
No problem! Here's what I've come up with:
Clans are identified a few different ways. Most Clans have unique chitin patterns - whorls and/or straight lines, ridged brows or smooth, heavier expressions of chitin or lighter, and so on, but they also have emblems which date back to the warring periods before the Unification.
The Hrisvalar Clan, for example, uses a stylized Hrisal blade as an emblem, which serves as a display of martial skill. They also have distinctive whorls at their temples and their facial chitin has a unique pattern. Clan Sannev are recognizable even from a distance for their bulkier, heavily muscled builds and heavy chitin expressions, and their emblem is a geometric design representing the Clan's widespread presence across Andoria. Clan Tha'an has both distinctive, scale-like chitin that more closely resembles fish scales than most other Clans' chitin does, and they have an emblem depicting a steel scale weight, representing their mercantile roots.
Nearly every major Clan has an emblem, and many of the minor ones as well, but all Clans have distinctive chitin patterns which are passed down genetically. Interestingly, children born to a Clan by a quad who do not possess the family chitin pattern (such as children from the quad's secondary couple rather than the primary) are not considered less or viewed as separate from the Clan, which might surprise outsiders. This is partly helped by the fact that chitin patterns are not identical from generation to generation, the same way that a family with of individuals with a shared eye colour may not all share the same exact shade but will instead have subtle differences in shade and iris pattern. The overarching traits are what is looked for, rather than exact matches.
Many Andorians will wear clothing - particularly leather pieces but also embroidered cloth - which has been tooled or embellished with patterns that mimic their own chitin patterns, or the patterns of the Clan they belong to. This is both a statement of affiliation and, shall we say, advertising on a more personal level.
Very few Andorians will hide their Clan affiliations, as they are taught from a young age that loyalty to one's Clan comes second only to loyalty to the Emperor and Andoria herself. There are times where a degree of anonymity is desired, certainly, and steps are usually taken to obfuscate the visibility of one's chitin pattern in those cases, but it's very unusual.
