http://www.marywood.edu/archives/IMAGES/University Seal.jpg
Marywood University, 2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18509
At least as illustrated, very very nice!
I agree with Mike.
Can someone accurately describe the charge in centre chief?
It looks to my untrained eye like a heart, pierced by a sword, surrounded by a rosary and surmounted by an Ancient/Eastern crown. Is there something immediately below the crown?
I assume it has Marian symbolism of some sort and I’d be interested to know whether my description is right and the meaning of the symbolism.
James
http://www.marywood.edu/www2/policy/1LegalAuthGov/SealoftheUniversity.html
Quote:
The black diamond in the lower center of the circular seal represents the city of Scranton, which is located in the heart of the once-thriving anthracite coal district of Pennsylvania. Coal was king in Scranton at the time of Marywood’s founding, and the gold field surrounding the diamond symbolizes the wealth the coal industry produced. The diamond is charged with the open book of learning, and upon its pages the Greek letters, Alpha and Omega, are inscribed. These letters, taken from the coat of arms of Most Reverend Michael J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton when Marywood was founded, represent God as the beginning and end of all things and the foundation of a true education. An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, garlanded with roses, pierced by a sword, marked by her crown as Queen of Heaven and tinctured in the gold eternity, is displayed on a forest-green background to symbolize in canting form the name of the University. (Canting arms indicate the name of the bearer.) On either side of the heart are fleurs-de-lis, a symbol of the Blessed Virgin, taken from the seal of the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who founded Marywood College (now University) in 1915. The seal is bordered with the words "Marywood University" at the top and the University’s motto, "Sanctitas, Scientia, Sanitas" ("Holiness, Knowledge, Health") at the bottom.
The symbolism of the seal reads "Marywood College (University) was founded by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the City of Scranton, during the bishopric of the Most Reverend Michael J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton. The motto of the University is Sanctitas, Scientia, Sanitas."
Beat me to the punch. The blazon I have is:
Or on a lozenge Sable an open book proper bound and edged and inscribed with the Greek letters Α and Ω Or, on a chief Vert the Immaculate Heart of Mary between two fleurs-de-lis of the field.
Other sources I’ve seen indicate that the book and the charges in chief are not adumbrated as shown here, but fully Or.
Marywood College (as it then was) formerly bore arms designed by the distinguished heraldic designer Dom Wilfrid Bayne, OSB, from which the present arms apparently are derived:
Lozengy Or and Sable on a chief Azure an open book proper garnished and inscribed with the Greek letters Α and Ω between two fleurs-de-lys Or.
Another rendering from the University’s Website http://cwis.marywood.edu/www2/prweb/PRESS/pubdesign.html: