I’ve just finished putting Phil Blanton’s excellent piece on the Missouri state arms on the AHS website, http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=State.Missouri.
Many thanks to Phil for this contribution.
Thanks for posting the article, Joe!
As the graduation and commencement season is now upon us, I am reminded of one version of the Missouri arms that I had left out—those of the University of Missouri.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/University_of_Missouri_seal.png
"The official seal is used by administrative offices of the UM System and UM Board of Curators. The seal is also used by MU for some official recognitions as authorized by the chancellor." (http://identity.missouri.edu/logos-design/seal.php) The seal was designed by Dr. John S. Ankeney and adopted by the Board of Curators on March 31, 1903. It consists of the Missouri Arms with an added chief per bend gules and azure on an open book or the words "Salus Populi" ("the welfare of the people").
-Phil
When the blazon says "white or grizzly bear of Missouri", does that imply a white grizzly bear or a grizzly bear in natural colour?
And the "arms of the United States", is that to be the escutcheon alone? or was it originally meant to include the eagle supporter and crest in full? Are the original notes and sketches still existant?
I notice the bear is facing sinister in the University arms, though the irection of the crescent is wrong. Alo, the cresecent moon is grey when the rest of the arms use white. Then again, it is not the most elegant design.
Alexander Liptak;98980 wrote:
When the blazon says "white or grizzly bear of Missouri", does that imply a white grizzly bear or a grizzly bear in natural colour?
No, the grizzly bear was originally described as the "white bear" by William Clark in his journal documenting his famous expedition up the Missouri River with Meriwether Lewis in 1804. Also, the "white or grizzly bear of Missouri" is blazoned as "proper" and, therefore, should be depicted in its natural color. Of course, a grizzly bear passant guardant argent would be easier to see on the azure field.
Alexander Liptak;98980 wrote:
And the "arms of the United States", is that to be the escutcheon alone? or was it originally meant to include the eagle supporter and crest in full? Are the original notes and sketches still existant?
Good question. It doesn’t specify the "full achievement of the United States" and the escutcheon alone would be easier to emblazon and identify at any distance. I have not been able to find any original notes or sketches of the arms and cannot verify what was intended, but the earliest depictions of the arms have traditionally included the full achievement on the sinister half. It is interesting to note that the blazon defines the sinister field as argent instead of "on the sinister side the arms of the United States" or "paly of thirteen gules and argent, a chief azure" or some other similar blazoning.
Alexander Liptak;98980 wrote:
I notice the bear is facing sinister in the University arms, though the irection of the crescent is wrong. Alo, the cresecent moon is grey when the rest of the arms use white. Then again, it is not the most elegant design.
I see the bear as facing dexter in the MU seal above. Although the default position of a crescent is "horns up", is there an incorrect direction when it is just blazoned as "azure, a crescent argent"? At least they have the crescent in a chief engrailed as per the blazon. I wish they would have reversed the tinctures of the chief, though, so you don’t have the two blues competing against each other.
-Phil
PBlanton;99002 wrote:
I see the bear as facing dexter in the MU seal above. Although the default position of a crescent is "horns up", is there an incorrect direction when it is just blazoned as "azure, a crescent argent"? At least they have the crescent in a chief engrailed as per the blazon. I wish they would have reversed the tinctures of the chief, though, so you don’t have the two blues competing against each other.
Yes, facing dexter, I must have been mixed up going back from one image to the other to the blazon.
A crescent is always horns up. When the horns are facing to the dexter, it is an increscent as the moon is in her increment. To the sinister, it is a decresecent as the moon is in her decrement.
