Thanks all for your help and thoughts! This is awesome.
I'm pretty shit-tastic at photoshop, so I apologize if this is really really bad quality, but I've been in discussion with sevrys, who is awesome, and gave me lots of ideas. He pointed me in good directions, and then i discovered a hundreds year old image. Behold, the original flag of Minerva (flags were different from crests back then, although the use of flags diminished over time). This flag is indeed centuries old. Once our library is restored, you will find evidence of this flag dating back a long time, as well as its symbolism revealed.
In this image, you can see some old themes.
1) The same purple and white design has been used for centuries.
2) The Kingdom of Minerva has always recognized that its status was more ceremonial that reality, which is why it embedded in its old flag the Regent crown (which is now/currently being used for our Majesty), as well as the King crown. Since the very beginning, both crowns were recognized. Similarly, the modern crest aims to incorporate these old traditions.
3) For those that are curious, the spiral and cross have antithetical but interdependent meaning for followers of Mystical Reflectionism. The spiral refers to the eternity of divinity, constantly growing out from its divine source. While the cross represents Man-kind (and elf-kind etc?), lets call it sentient-kind? Or Hermertian-kind? On the crossroads sits man, halfway between the heavens and earth, and half-way between the past and future. This is the symbolism of the cross.
As such, the following 'VERY SHITTTTTY' mock has been put together by me, which incorporates all of the above themes. Attached are the old Regent crown (now in the process of being rendered obsolete, which i find very fair), and the King crown, instead, embedded within the crest itself..
Whether we want to face it or not, the crown our great and noble majesty is using WAS the Regent crown, historically, and for around 500 years. I recognize the 'regent crown' is no longer recognized internationally, and humbly and fully accept, but that doesn't mean its historical significance is lost on Minervans. What do others think? Others, I'm sure, can put together a sexier version (as this is full of asymmetries and artifacts i'm sure). Sevrys, you were doing amazing renders for me in PMs. I wish I could do as good a job as you. My thanks also extends to Scrios for the offer! This is Minerva's first thoughts on its new crest, but i'd need to turn to more talented help for polishing it.
What does the community think?
