The title Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in the British Isles, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398.

The title has a very complex history. The title descended to the first Earl's descendants without much incident, until the death of David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford in 1542. The eighth Earl had a son, Alexander, commonly called the Wicked Master, who frequently quarreled with his father and even tried to murder him. The Wicked Master was sentenced to death for his crime, and the eighth Earl conveyed his title to a cousin, also called David Lindsay, a descendant of the third Earl of Crawford, and excluded from the succession all of the Wicked Master's descendants. However, the ninth earl, although he had his own sons, named the Wicked Master's son David as his heir; thus, in 1558, at the ninth Earl's death, the earldom returned to the main branch of the family. The ninth Earl is frequently referred to as an interpolated Earl, as are the 17th-22nd Earls.

At the death of Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford, the title was passed, despite senior heirs, to a cousin, John, who had already been created Earl of Lindsay. The earldoms of Crawford and Lindsay continued to be united until the twenty-second earl died unmarried in January 1808. The two earldoms then became dormant until the respective heirs could prove their claims to the titles. In 1843, James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres put forward his claim to the Earldom of Crawford; in 1848, the House of Lords allowed it. It was held that the seventh Earl's father, the sixth Earl, was the lawful successor to the earldom of Crawford (though he did not claim it); therefore, the sixth Earl of Balcarres was posthumously declared the twenty-third Earl of Crawford, and his son, the seventh Earl of Balcarres, became the twenty-fourth Earl of Crawford. Thereafter, these two earldoms have remained united.

The subsidiary titles associated with the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres are: Lord Lindsay of Crawford (created 1398), Lord Lindsay and Balniel (1651) and Baron Wigan of Haig Hall (1826). The former two subsidiary titles, as well as the two Earldoms, are in the Peerage of Scotland. The Barony is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. By virtue of the title of Baron Wigan of Haig Hall, the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres sat in the House of Lords until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963.The present Earl sits in the House of Lords as Baron Balniel, a life peerage conferred on him in 1974 after he left the House of Commons and before the death of his father.

Earls of Crawford (1398)

• David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford (c. 1360_1407)
• Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford (c. 1387_1438)
• David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford (d. 1445)
• Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford (d. 1453)
• David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose (1440_1495)
• John Lindsay, 6th Earl of Crawford (d. c. 1513)
• Alexander Lindsay, 7th Earl of Crawford (d. 1517)
• David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford (d. 1542)
• David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford (d. 1558)
• David Lindsay, 10th Earl of Crawford (d. 1574)
• David Lindsay, 11th Earl of Crawford (c. 1547_1607)
• David Lindsay, 12th Earl of Crawford (d. 1621)
• Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford (d. 1622)
• George Lindsay, 14th Earl of Crawford (d. 1633)
• Alexander Lindsay, 15th Earl of Crawford (d. 1639)
• Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford (d. 1652)
• John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, 1st Earl of Lindsay (c. 1598-1678) (descended from 1st Earl's uncle, received Earldom of Crawford under regrant of 1642)
• William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford, 2nd Earl of Lindsay (1644-1698)
• John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford, 3rd Earl of Lindsay (d. 1713)
• John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford, 4th Earl of Lindsay (1702_1749)
• George Lindsay, 21st Earl of Crawford, 5th Earl of Lindsay (1723-1781)
• George Lindsay, 22nd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Lindsay (1758-1808) (dormant 1808; last male line descendant of 1st Earl of Lindsay, Earldom of Lindsay passed(according to Lords decision in 1878) to a kinsman of 1st Earl of Lindsay and that of Crawford reverted to senior surviving line, as determined 1848)
• Alexander Lindsay, 23rd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Balcarres (1752-1825) (de jure; descended from second son of 3rd Earl of Crawford)
• James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford, 7th Earl of Balcarres (1783-1869) (revived 1848)
• Alexander William Crawford Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres (1812-1880)
• James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847-1913)
• David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, 10th Earl of Balcarres (1871-1940)
• David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford, 11th Earl of Balcarres (1900-1975)
• Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres (b. 1927)