I am pleased to announce on behalf of the Board of Governors that the Pierre de Chaignon la Rose Award for American heraldic design for 2012 (last year) has been awarded to the St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2807/9450294413_615e874be0_o.gif
Argent on a chevron engrailed Azure between three moor-cocks Sable three crosses bottony Argent.
The design is not only classic and clean, but also does an excellent job of alluding to the chapel’s namesake, St. Thomas More, who bore Argent a chevron engrailed between three moor-cocks Sable, while also making the arms specific to Yale by altering the chevron to Azure, and adding the three crosses bottony for the chapel’s religious mission.
Hugh Brady has formally notified the chaplain of the decision and we will be looking for an opportunity to make a more public announcement in the near future.
a very nice design! Congratulations to the winner.
I quite agree, very nice design. I was curious as to what a moorcock looks like. .... a red grouse!
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/gallery/files/9/2/4/DSC_0014copy.jpg
—Guy
A very worthy winner! However, such an elegant coat deserves a better emblazonment, in my opinion. Any volunteers?
Further to Joseph’s blazoning of Thomas More’s own arms, here is an emblazonment from the web site of The Center for Thomas More Studies at The University of Dallas:
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/g-e1.html
http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/gallery_art/g-e1_l.jpg
Edit: I note, thanks to Guy’s post, that the birds in the above emblazonment are patently not moor cocks!
The emblazonment I used was colorized from that on the chapel’s Flickr photostream. I agree that the birds depicted are actually blackcocks rather than moorcocks.
Joseph McMillan;100113 wrote:
The emblazonment I used was colorized from that on the chapel’s Flickr photostream. I agree that the birds depicted are actually blackcocks rather than moorcocks.
I hope that my comment didn’t seem like a criticism of your work, Joseph (although, on rereading, I can see it might) - rather, it was directed at the depiction used by the Chapel.
I had visited the Chapel’s website and, seeing that the emblazonment they use was - in outline - the same as the one you had included in your original post, concluded that this was the ‘official’ version (which it seems to be). That being the case, you had nothing else to work with. All that having been said, I still think they (the Chapel) could do better, particularly in depicting the moor cock.
None of this, I hope, detracts from it being an elegant coat and a very good choice for the prize!
Here’s a version of the original, from which Joseph produced the improved emblazonment shown in the first post,
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=2036
It can be seen in use on this page (clicking on the thumbnail brings up a full sized version, which I have resized here to save space),
https://plus.google.com/111251888036187611703/posts
A rather more traditional rendition is to be found on the exterior of More House, Yale,
http://working.yale.edu/sites/default/files/imce/StThomasMore.jpg
Noting the foundation date of More House and their distinctive style, is it possible that de Chaignon la Rose himself designed these arms?
JamesD;100115 wrote:
Noting the foundation date of More House and their distinctive style, is it possible that de Chaignon la Rose himself designed these arms?
The same thought occurred to me; seems reasonable.
Full circle!—seems quite appropriate, if serendipitous, that the award should go to arms designed by "the man" himself!
Good choice for the award.