The Coat of Arms of Rutgers

 
Michael Swanson
 
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Michael Swanson
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27 August 2006 23:00
 

http://ruweb.rutgers.edu/inauguration/images/arms.gif

My goodness….


Quote:

The shield of the Rutgers coat of arms appears on the university gonfalon, which is borne at the head of all university processions by a faculty member.

The shield is quartered to represent in armorial bearings the founding and the growth of the more than 230-year-old university. The first quarter (dexter, or right upper quarter of the shield as one would carry it) bears the arms of Nassau, the House of Orange, and recognizes the Dutch settlers who founded the college under the aegis of the Dutch Reformed Church.

 

The armorial devices in the upper sinister quarter are those of George III combined with Queen Charlotte’s. George’s arms represent his dominions of England, Scotland, and Ireland; the two small escutcheons, centered, his ancestral right to bear the arms of Brunswick and Saxony. The crest on the dexter small escutcheon is the Crown of Charlemagne, which George III as Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire was entitled to show. It was George III who granted the Charter of 1766 to Queen’s College, named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg, King George’s consort.

 

The arms shown on the sinister half of this quarter are Queen Charlotte’s and represent the German states ruled by the House of Mecklenburg.

 

The third quarter, dexter, is the emblem from the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey, which Rutgers as the state university is entitled to show. Fittingly, the plows depicted also symbolize Rutgers’ designation as one of the original land-grant colleges.

 

The fourth quarter, sinister, is the coat of arms of Colonel Henry Rutgers, an early benefactor of what was then known as Queen’s College. Colonel Rutgers was a descendant of Rutger Van Schoenderwoerdt, who settled in New York in the 17th century. The family name was changed to Rutgers in 1636. The name of the college was changed in 1825 to honor Colonel Rutgers, trustee and benefactor.

 

 
gselvester
 
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gselvester
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27 August 2006 23:22
 

Go scarlet knights!

 
Stuart
 
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Stuart
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28 August 2006 09:21
 

Most interesting and informative. If only all of our institutes of higher education would follow suit…

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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28 August 2006 09:27
 

Stuart wrote:

Most interesting and informative. If only all of our institutes of higher education would follow suit…


Well, possibly if by following suit you mean having a coat of arms in traditional heraldic style.  If, however, you mean quartering (1) the arms of a principality whose principal connection with the university is that its most famous building carries the principality’s name; (2) the impaled arms of the British king and queen at the time of the founding, both so complicated by subquarterings as to be indecipherable; (3) the arms of the state; and (4) the undifferenced arms of the person for whom the university is named…

 

then I would hope more institutes of higher education will not follow suit.

 
Patrick Williams
 
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Patrick Williams
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28 August 2006 10:29
 

Just came back from the Rutgers website. Let’s also add to hoping other schools don’t follow the example: they do not display the arms anywhere on the website. What’s the good of having them if you don’t use them?

 
arriano
 
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arriano
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28 August 2006 11:23
 

I’ll bet when it was approved they had a big blown up version that looked great, and no one ever considered how it would look as a tiny shield on letterhead.

 
Stuart
 
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Stuart
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30 August 2006 11:10
 

"Traditional heraldic style" is indeed what I meant. I gathered from the explanations that the queen’s arms were included because it had previously been "queen’s college," and so it (may have) rightly showed her arms which consisted of her husband’s and father’s impaled… but I could be wrong, and I’m sure that if I am I will be promptly corrected.smile

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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30 August 2006 12:03
 

No, I think you’re right that the Queen’s arms were included because it was Queen’s College—but it was Queen’s College because she happened to be the queen consort at the time and King’s College was already taken (by what is now Columbia).  To me, it makes no more sense to quarter the Queen’s arms in the arms of Rutgers than it would to quarter King George II’s arms in those of Columbia.

Columbia’s are very nice, by the way:  Azure a chevron Argent between three royal crowns proper.  At least, I think the crowns are supposed to be proper; I’ve also seen them Argent.

 
gselvester
 
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gselvester
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30 August 2006 14:00
 

Patrick Williams wrote:

Just came back from the Rutgers website. Let’s also add to hoping other schools don’t follow the example: they do not display the arms anywhere on the website. What’s the good of having them if you don’t use them?


Correction. If you used the search tool on the website you’d see that in a section about the innauguration of the University president they do talk about, and illustrate, the school’s coat of arms.

 

Click on the link below to see it.

 

http://ruweb.rutgers.edu/inauguration/traditions.html

 
Patrick Williams
 
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Patrick Williams
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30 August 2006 14:13
 

Thanks! I missed that one.

 
akbcusack
 
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akbcusack
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11 September 2006 22:10
 

Joseph McMillan wrote:

Well, possibly if by following suit you mean having a coat of arms in traditional heraldic style.  If, however, you mean quartering (1) the arms of a principality whose principal connection with the university is that its most famous building carries the principality’s name; (2) the impaled arms of the British king and queen at the time of the founding, both so complicated by subquarterings as to be indecipherable; (3) the arms of the state; and (4) the undifferenced arms of the person for whom the university is named…

then I would hope more institutes of higher education will not follow suit.


To be fair, the connection to Nassau is more than merely that of a building name. Queen’s College, as I understand it, was something of a Dutch Reformed retort to the Anglican King’s College, given the rivalries which existed between the English and Dutch in colonial New York and the neighboring parts of New Jersey. I agree that the arms as a whole are a bit cumbersome, and ought to have been designed differently. However, being something of a traditionalist, I don’t think they are cumbersome enough to warrant a change.

 

Columbia, on the other hand, does have admirably simple, not to mention beautiful, arms. Does anyone know if Columbia’s decision not too long ago to replace the crosses on the Crown (used as a logo) with lozenges will also be enforced in terms of its heraldry? They don’t seem to be universal in the changeover to lozenges, as the main website, http://www.columbia.edu still displays the crosses while others display the lozenges.

 

Lozenges:

http://columbia.edu/cu_logo.gif

 

Crosses:

http://www.columbia.edu/images/cu_logo.gif

 
Michael Swanson
 
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Michael Swanson
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07 December 2006 07:54
 

A color picture in this link:

http://www.queensguard-rutgers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=28


Quote:

The Coat of Arms of Rutgers University

 

The shield of the Rutgers Coat of Arms appears on the University gonfalon, and is quartered to represent, in armorial bearings, the founding and the growth of our more than 230-year-old university.

 

The first quarter (dexter, or left upper quarter of the shield) bears the arms of Nassau, the House of Orange, and recognizes the Dutch settlers, who founded the college under the aegis of the Dutch Reformed Church.

 

The second quarter (sinister, or right upper quarter) includes the armorial devices of King George III combined with Queen Charlotte’s. George III granted the Charter of 1766 to Queen’s College, named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg, his consort.  George III’s arms represent his dominions of England, Scotland, and Ireland; the two small escutcheons, centered, his ancestral right to bear the arms of Brunswick and Saxony. The crest, on the dexter small escutcheon, is the Crown of Charlemagne, which George III, as Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire, was entitled to show. The arms shown on the sinister half of this quarter are Queen Charlotte’s and represent the German states ruled by the House of Mecklenburg.

 

The third quarter, dexter, is the emblem from the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey, which Rutgers as the state university is entitled to show. Fittingly, the plows depicted also symbolize Rutgers’ designation as one of the original land-grant colleges.

 

The fourth quarter, sinister, is the Coat of Arms of Colonel Henry Rutgers, an early benefactor of Queen’s College, and descendant of Rutger Van Schoenderwoerdt, who settled in New York in the 17th century. The family name was changed to Rutgers in 1636, and the college was renamed in 1825 to honor Colonel Rutgers, as trustee and benefactor.

 

The shield includes Rutgers’ colors (scarlet-black) as one of the original nine colonial colleges.  The remaining colleges were likewise uniquely identified by their colors as follows: Brown (brown-white), Columbia (light blue-white), Dartmouth (green-white), Harvard (crimson-white), Pennsylvania (red-blue), Princeton (orange-black), William and Mary (green-gold-silver), and Yale (blue-white).

 

In honor of these symbols of the University’s heritage, The Queens Guard includes the crown of Queen Charlotte, the “1766” founding date and Rutgers colors in its identifying emblem.

 

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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23 February 2009 10:41
 
 
Michael Swanson
 
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Michael Swanson
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23 February 2009 14:30
 

I asked for their blazon back in 2006—and indicated that I wanted ONLY the written description, etc.  They responded that if I posted the blazon, their name, much less a picture, they would sue.  I said I wanted it for discussion on a forum.  Same response.    They even tipped off the Archive department about my request. I love those guys in the PR department at the University of the Flipping Name that Can’t be Uttered. :D

My last reply was that I thought their arms were ugly and I hoped they had permission to use all the arms in their arms.  (Joe, you need to give me some lessons in diplomacy.)

 

They are the only university from about 50 that gave that kind of reply.

 
David Pritchard
 
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David Pritchard
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24 February 2009 01:29
 

I can just imagine that it was your plain approach that soured your introduction to the Rutgers staff. As for the university, my eldest sister graduated from it and still speaks of the quality of her professors and their excellent instruction to this day.

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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24 February 2009 09:14
 

Well that was rather unfriendly and unproffesional approach from the Rutgers Staff to your request Michael.