Presbyterian Heraldry

 
Stuart
 
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Stuart
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26 June 2006 18:08
 

Is anyone aware of any American Presbyterian heraldry? I seem to remember that the PC(USA)‘s contains a burning bush with the motto "Lux Ex Tenebris" if that spelling is correct. We’ve talked of Catholic & Anglican- what about Prebyterian?

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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26 June 2006 19:58
 

When it was formed by merger of the old United Presbyterian Church in the USA and the Presbyterian Church in the United States, the PCUSA adopted a logo with elements that could have been portrayed heraldically but weren’t.

http://www.pcusa.org/images/pcusa_sig.gif

 

The Presbyterian Church (US) had an almost-heraldic coat of arms, a blue shield with a white fillet down the center, a

 

http://www.pcusa.org/pw/images/upcusa.gif, a burning bush to dexter, an antique lamp to sinister, a star superimposed on the center of the upper edge of the shield, and a dove descending as a crest.  The motto was Lux lucet in tenebris, "The light shines in the darkness."

 

The old UPCUSA had a non-heraldic logo that, again, could have easily been made heraldic, with a Celtic cross between a burning bush, a dove descending, an orb whose cross cantoned the letters IC XC NIKA, and an open book surmounted by an arrow palewise and inscribed with the letters lambda and theta.

 

I think at least one of the predecessors of the UPCUSA also had a more traditional coat of arms, but I don’t recall what it was.

 

Presbyterian bodies outside the United States do use heraldry to a greater extent, especially, of course, the Church of Scotland.

 

http://www.scotskirkgibraltar.com/images/burningbush.jpg

 
Stuart
 
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Stuart
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26 June 2006 20:36
 

Thank you, Joseph. And thanks for correcting the motto I came up with, whose shield obviously came from the Southern Church.

Have their been any moderators with arms, like in Scotland?

 

I wonder whether any Synods or Presbyteries posess arms?

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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26 June 2006 21:03
 

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, which I think is one of the heirs of the Scottish covenanters of the 17th century, uses this coat of arms.  Not great, but at least it’s heraldry.

http://www.trinityarp.org/images/seal.gif