A Seal for Saint Joe

 Proposed Arms and Seal for the Alumni Association 
of Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School

Huntington, WV

While it seems like ages ago, I remember well my student days at St. Joe.  I was fortunate to be a student during my junior and senior years as a result of a large county-wide public school consolidation.  I went from being in a class of 200 or so to roughly 40.  Yes, my graduating class numbered 40 something.  It was at St. Joe that I was actually challenged by my teachers to think and to write--novel ideas I assure you for high school.  I was selected to read the prayers over the school's PA system every day--from The Book of Common Prayer no doubt!  I loved my time there.  

Through the connectivity of Facebook, I learned that St. Joe is forming an alumni association.  Immediately I thought of what I could contribute being so distant from the school and then an idea started to emerge.  The school employs a rather bad bucket logo for their arms.  It's clearly more of a 1950's notion of high school logos than heraldry per se.  However, in 2024, the school will officially celebrate 100 years of Roman Catholic Education on their existing site in Huntington, WV.  It's time to have a brand that represents the timeless qualities of the educational experience so many students enjoy within those hallowed halls.

Saint Joseph has attributed arms that include the lily and a carpenter's square.  The carpenter's square is rendered as a chevron in heraldry.  I wanted to keep that same imagery but difference it for the alumni association.  The school's current logo was of no use.  I also wanted to incorporate the use of an open book, something that is synonymous with academic arms.  Since the school's mascot is the "Fightin' Irish," I opted to drop the lilies and use trefoils which can mimic the shamrock depending on how their drawn.  In chief, I used the open book with three clasps bearing the inscription, "In Principio Erat Verbum," of "In the Beginning was the Word" (John 1:1).  I surrounded the arms with the classical seal used by many Roman Catholic institutions and added the school's name.  The font, Lombardic, is in my opinion the classic seal font and I'm getting better with writing in it.

Proposed arms rendered as a flag.

The school's colors are navy and gold.  Since navy is not a tincture in heraldry it cannot be used on the shield.  These colors are referred to as the livery colors. 

Should the school wish to adopt the seal and arms, my suggestion would be to drop "alumni" from the bottom and add the founding date of 1924.   

The shield's blazon is:  Or, a chevron azure between three trefoils of the second, on a chief azure an open book of three clasps or thereupon "In Principio Erat Verbum."