In heraldic terms, a cattle brand is a badge. The Swanström brand, H Lazy S, was first registered in 1914 with the Wyoming State Livestock Commission by my grand uncle, Hugo Swanström, of Marbleton, Wyoming. He probably had registered the brand a decade earlier with officials in Sublette County. When he moved to California, he allowed the Wyoming registration to lapse. In 1942, the brand was re-registered with a slight variation by my grandparents, Harry and Vivian Swanström, of Farson, Wyoming. The brand now belongs jointly to my mother and me.
Symbolism
The Swanström brand originally probably represented the initials of my grand uncle, Hugo Swanström. When my grandparents re-registered the brand, they chose it because it could also stand for the initials of Harry Swanström, and, because the Lazy S looks like a V, for Harry and Vivian.
References
Wyoming State Livestock Commission, Wyoming Brand Book (1956, 2005).