DJensen;48775 wrote:
emphasis mine
I’m not sure that it’s the reasonable people we should worry about.
good point
Trent wrote:
Does he want to invite the associations that a flame on a cross (burning cross) could bring up?
LOL! I guess that leaves out Argent upon a cross rayonny Sanguine a cross Or and upon a quarter Azure three stars Argent?
On second thought, lets be reasonable. :D
Take care,
Thanks for the ideas so far, and I do apologize for my recent absence. Technical difficulties and lots of overtime have kept me busy.
As for an agenda…I just might have such an agenda, but I won’t tell. I’m kidding, of course. My hope is that this might spark some interest, so it would be cool if there could be some sort of schema developed whereby a charge or two could be replaced to represent different departments across the campus.
Here are some of the ideas that I have come up with. The crowned cross is representative of Christ, as one of the school’s slogans is "The campus where Christ is King." The Escutcheons, Orle, and Cotisses are intended to represent the umbrella of protection that the department provides for the university. Please look beyond the poor clipart to the design themselves. I understand that they’re not the greatest, but that’s why I’m posting them. We can tweak them, or perhaps they will stimulate ideas from some of you guys.
David Pritchard has suggested the use of a square beacon, such as would be placed atop a building, but I haven’t been able to locate a picture of one just yet.
I had also thought about placing the crowned cross on a canton, and then designing the rest of the shield to more closely represent the department.
I had also considered using a tower Argent (an ivory tower, that is). Ha!
First off, I really like cross and crown idea since it so perfectly fits your schools motto. With this you can completely avoid referencing their seal in order to allude to the school, since by alluding to the motto so well you’re also alluding to the school. And given it’s Christian leanings, I think it’s a good symbol for the shield. Of those presented, I think I’m partial to the second one from the left. The cross and crown allude to the school and avoid the triteness of the tourch, and the four little shields, I think, are a good way to reference the security aspect of this department’s role on the campus. The four shields surrounding the cross and crown in a symoblic way sort of a ring of protection around the campus. I also like the blue, which is the color I think of when I think of police and or security uniforms. Is there any reason why you preferred the cross flory as opposed to another? Was it just a matter of available clip art?
OK two things:
1) Here’s a beacon
http://www.heraldicclipart.com/catalog/beacon.bmp
2) I would re-think the cross and crown combination. This is not because combining the cross and crown is a bad symbol of Christ the King. However, combining a crown with a cross fleury is already an accepted heraldic symbol not of Christ the King but of St. Louis (also a king). Perhaps you could use some other form of cross. That would solve the problem.
I had suggested the square beacon rather than the raised beacon. Since the symbol of the university has been the torch, I thought that it would be a way of connecting to an old school symbol in a more heraldic manner. There is one old and notable English family, whose name now escapes my mind, that uses a square beacon as a crest.
Father Guy is correct that the crown and cross flory is often associated with Saint Louis (Louis IX of France). However, it is not the specific sign of Saint Louis. The traditional church symbol of Saint Louis is a Manus Dei (Hand of God) reaching down to a open crown enfiling a sceptre or an open crown enfiling a sceptre tipped with a Manus Dei.
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http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6747/louisixlq1.jpg
King Louis IX holding the sceptre tipped with a Manus Dei, painted by El Greco
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/6040/stlouismm4.jpg
A stained glass window of the symbols of Saint Louis from the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Cincinnati, Ohio.
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I have found an illustration of a square beacon on page number 178 of the book Basic Heraldry by Stephen Friar and John Ferguson. In the book Heraldry for the Local Historian and Genealogist by Stephen Friar, there is a photograph on page number 76 of a cut stone square beacon resting on a cut stone torse, which is the Phelips crest. Friar refers to this square beacon as a firebasket.
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http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/19/61/196126_a3e893c4.jpg
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The gate at Odcombe Lodge Gatehouse of Montacute House, Somerset, the family seat of the Phelips Family. Note their carved stone crests on top of the pillars of the gate.
Nevermind.
Interesting designs, Jonathan. It’s probably only my squeaky little mind, but when I see a number of blank escutcheons on a shield, particularly Argent ones, I somehow think of an heraldic organization, or a herald’s office (or Portugal). I, however, have no better suggestion.