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Saint Joseph’s University (PA)

http://www.sju.edu/ir/documents/UniversitySealupdated9-14withnewart.pdf

The official seal of the University was placed in a prominent location on the original building (now Barbelin) of the present campus. Two years after the opening of the new campus, the April 1928 issue of the literary magazine, the Crimson and Gray, describes the seal:

To the left and above the central entrance of the new Saint Joseph’s College is the institution’s seal. It is carved in one solid piece of stone and the escutcheon, a tapering shield, is raised above the stone about it. The charges, consisting of seven bars running slantwise from left to right in the upper left quarter, the rebus of the house of Loyola in the upper right, a lily of Saint Joseph in the lower left, and the monogram of the Society of Jesus in the lower right-hand corner are embossed upon this shield.

The bars represent the seven brothers of Saint Ignatius Loyola, who were killed defending their house against the Moors. The representation of the two wolves approaching a kitchen hearth signifies the hospitality of the house of Loyola toward the poor of the country. Saint Joseph’s lily needs no explanation. The Society’s monogram, however, will bear some little description. Within a crown of thorns are raised letters, I.H.S. (Iota Eta Sigma), at the base of which are three nails. A small cross surmounts the lettering.

The official seal, placed on diplomas and some other official documents, was originally circumscribed by a Latin inscription giving the official name of the then-college. The currently used seal bears an English inscription, which reflects the achieving of university status.