The full achievement of arms of Hampden-Sydney College,
The Record, December 1976, Vol. 53, No. 4, pg 4.
I remember my days at Hampden-Sydney well. I recall my freshman year being enamored by the College's coat of arms, a young symbol for an old place. They adorn the front gates to campus along with a promise etched in Latin, Huc venite iuvenes ut exeatis viri. “Come here as youths so that you may leave as men,” it warns. Travel down College Road further and you will see a giant bronze relief of the coat of arms surrounded by a banner. I remember spending most, if not all, of my high school graduation money in the Bookstore on cufflinks, ties, and the like all sporting the College's most ubiquitous symbol.

With a generous grant from the F.M. Kirby Foundation, the College was able to obtain an honorary devisal of arms from the College of Arms. It would serve as a proud moment during the College's bi-centennial celebrations in 1976. The grant, done completely in Latin, was dated with a touch of irony, July 4, 1975. Then Richmond Herald, John P. Brook-Little, came to campus--dressed in the herald's tabard--and presented the letters patent on October 19, 1976. Another touch of irony, as Professor John L. Brinkley '59, pointed out in his remarks that day, that the 19th of October was in fact the 195th anniversary of the Lord Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown (Ibid., page 7). The letters patent were granted to the President and Trustees of Hampden-Sydney College, the official name of the corporation.
A Blazon for Hampden-Sydney's Arms: Per saltire argent and or, a saltire gules between two eagles displayed and as many pheons azure; overall an open book proper edged of the second and inscribed “καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἀλήθειαν" (Ye shall know the truth). Since the blazon on the letters patent is in Latin, this is an educated guess from a colleague at the American Heraldry Society.
A Blazon for Hampden-Sydney's Arms: Per saltire argent and or, a saltire gules between two eagles displayed and as many pheons azure; overall an open book proper edged of the second and inscribed “καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἀλήθειαν" (Ye shall know the truth). Since the blazon on the letters patent is in Latin, this is an educated guess from a colleague at the American Heraldry Society.
What is more interesting, at least to me, is how the coat of arms changed once in the hands of the College. My friend and former colleague, Dr. Richard McClintock, who spent his career at the College and held immense influence over the design of everything published there, recently shared with me what happened. The pheons from the Sidney Family (spelled with an "i") are somewhat small in the cantoned field between the cross saltire. He redrew the charges to better fit the field, and I believe he did the arms a favor.
The unique device on these arms is the open book containing in Greek a verse from the Gospel according to John 8:32, "Ye shall know the truth." Greek was selected, rather than Latin, to emphasis the importance placed on the Classics at Hampden-Sydney. It didn't hurt that Professor Brinkley, of the Classics Department, was the man deputized to work with the College in London. Brinkley was the College's first Rhodes Scholar and earned a bachelors and masters degrees from Trinity, Oxford. He used a classmate from Trinity to translate the letters patent into Latin. Below is a photograph of a plaque I obtained from a London-based firm showing the shield as intended by the College of Arms.
The unique device on these arms is the open book containing in Greek a verse from the Gospel according to John 8:32, "Ye shall know the truth." Greek was selected, rather than Latin, to emphasis the importance placed on the Classics at Hampden-Sydney. It didn't hurt that Professor Brinkley, of the Classics Department, was the man deputized to work with the College in London. Brinkley was the College's first Rhodes Scholar and earned a bachelors and masters degrees from Trinity, Oxford. He used a classmate from Trinity to translate the letters patent into Latin. Below is a photograph of a plaque I obtained from a London-based firm showing the shield as intended by the College of Arms.
And now see the change!
A rustic image of the shield used in social media.
The College also received a badge, which places two batons in saltire, topped with red liberty caps. "The batons and Liberty Caps are Roman symbols of manumission and are only incidentally reminiscent of the French Revolution" (Ibid., page 6). Sadly, the badge is not used at all.
Moreover, McClintock designed a ribbon to surround the shield in order to identify the shield's owner, Hampden-Sydney College. I had originally thought that McClintock's inspiration for the banner or ribbon (as he called it) came from the arms of Rice University designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose. It was a good guess, but McClintock drew the banner without inspiration.
It is the shield and banner which is most often used by the College, but note that the College's official seal is still in use on diplomas to certify the corporation's approval.
The letters patent are currently on display at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC as part of their exhibit, "Symbols of Honor: Heraldry and Family History." The exhibit runs from July 1-October 26, 2014. This photo is from the online exhibit catalog.
Below is an interesting article appearing in the The Record of Hampden Sydney, Summer 1991, Vol 67, No 2, pages 11-12. Click to enlarge.