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Among the many coats designed by Pierre de Chaignon La Rose (1872-1941), there stands out one unique device, or ordinary, that he used in multiple ways for both American Episcopal and Roman Catholic institutions. The cross in "national colors" was among his most used ordinaries in devising coats of arms for these institutions. For some background on La Rose, please see my previous post here. In this post, I will explore in chronological order this theme of the cross in "national colors" as the main ordinary in several of his designs. I've cited my sources at the end of the article as several of these coats will be new to many enthusiasts of heraldry. I also wish to thank Joe McMillan of the American Heraldry Society and NEHGS Committee on Heraldry for his editorial review of this article.
Berkeley Divinity School (1906)
The earliest such example of the cross in national colors comes from the arms of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale which la Rose designed in 1906. Berkeley is an seminary of the Episcopal Church attached to Yale Divinity School. For La Rose's commission, Berkeley was not yet affiliated with Yale. Berkeley would officially join the Yale Divinity School in 1971.
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| The arms of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale devised by la Rose in 1906. Image source: Berkeley Divinity School website. |
According the The Living Church (1906), la Rose reworked an existing coat that had been in use by the school but needed to conform the design to heraldic norms.
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| Arms of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
The arms of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale are blazoned: "azure, a cross gules fimbriated argent, in dexter chief a star of eight points of the last. Crest: that of the Berkeleys which is a mitre gules bordered and stringed or, bearing a chevron between ten crosses pattees, six in chief and four in base, all argent."
Furthermore, the article notes that the motto adopted by the school is, "the Vulgate version of II Corinthians 10:16, In illa quae ultra sunt (to the regions beyond)." A fitting motto for a seminary.
Archdiocese of Baltimore (1910)
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| Coat of arms, the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
By 1910, la Rose landed perhaps one of the most important heraldic commissions of his young career when James Cardinal Gibbons was elevated to America's premier see of Baltimore (see image above).
According to La Rose (1911), the blazon for the Archdiocese of Baltimore is, "quarterly azure and argent, a cross bottonnée throughout quarterly of the second and gules, in dexter chief a star also of the second" (pg. 4). This coat is the first known Roman Catholic coat that La Rose devised. It's highly likely that Gibbons knew of la Rose as a leader in the field due to his portfolio of Episcopal diocesan heraldry. Additionally, La Rose (1911) illustrates the new arms for then Archbishop of Boston and future Cardinal, William Henry O'Connell (1859-1944).
.png "Archdiocese of Baltimore flag coat of arms crest shield") |
| Banner of arms for Archdiocese of Baltimore. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
There seems little doubt that the commissions from Gibbons and O'Connell effectively launched la Rose's career within the growing Roman Catholic Church in America, for a virtual explosion of requests for Roman Catholic diocesan coats would ensue.
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland (1916)
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| The arms of the Diocese of Maryland as painted by la Rose. Image Source: Diocesan Convention of Maryland (1916). |
Not long after la Rose's commission for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, he devised arms for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, headquartered in Baltimore, and it's new cathedral. Again, la Rose used the cross as the main ordinary of the field. While not distinctly a "cross in the national colors," I thought it important to show the evolution of his thought process.
The Cathedral League of Women consulted the architect of the new Cathedral of the Incarnation, Bertram Goodhue, who referred the group to la Rose (Diocesan Convention of Maryland, 1916, pg. 24). Note that Goodhue was a partner with Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) of Boston, la Rose's main partner in crime for receiving heraldic referrals from many Episcopalian organizations.
During the diocesan convention held in November of 1916, the convention officially adopted la Rose's design, which DeKay (1993) gives as, "quartered argent and gules, a cross counterchanged, bearing a pheon in the chief; quarter 1, paly of six, or and sable, counterchanged bendwise for Maryland" (pg.42). La Rose completed another important commission in Baltimore for the Episcopal Diocese that same year with the arms of it's new cathedral.
Cathedral of the Incarnation (1916)
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| The seal of the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore, MD. Designed by la Rose in 1916. Image Source: DeKay (1993). |
Earlier in May of 1916, the Cathedral League of Women presented their first gift of heraldry to the Diocese of Maryland, a seal for the new Cathedral of the Incarnation (The Living Church, 1916, pg. 150). DeKay (1993) gives the blazon as, "quarterly argent and gules, a cross counterchanged with a pheon of the second in the first quarter" (pg. 106).
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| Arms of the Cathedral of the Incarnation. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
Episcopal Missionary District
of the Philippine Islands (1913-1916)
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| The seal of the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands. Image is from DeKay (1993). |
Addition as of 8-15-23: As my research on la Rose progresses, I have found another coat of arms within the theme of the "cross in national colors," used by the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands of the Episcopal Church. The district was formed in 1901 and its status changed in 1937--dates that fit within la Rose's lifetime. With limited access to the district's complete series of journals online, I have pieced together some information to inform my attribution to la Rose.
According to the missionary district's annual reports that are accessible, the years being 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913, there is no use of the seal or mention of its adoption. However, a very interesting fact surfaced in my review of these documents.
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| Arms of the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
In Missionary District of the Philippine Islands (1913), noted Boston architect Richard Clipston Sturgis (1860-1951) is mentioned twice for preparing architectural designs for St. Luke's in Manila (page 11 and 36). La Rose and Sturgis worked together in 1910 when la Rose designed the arms for the Brookline Public Library in Brookline, MA. Please click here to read my analysis of the arms of Brookline Public Library. It is likely that if Sturgis needed a coat of arms for his architectural rendering for St. Luke's, la Rose would have been enlisted.
Datewise, we can presume these arms were likely designed after 1913 and very probably around 1916 given la Rose's unique design for the Diocese of Maryland and it's cathedral as noted above. Other than The Rev. John A. Nainfa, S.S. (1878-1938), no one else in the US was designing arms using the quarterly-counterchanged cross.
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| A colored rendering of the seal of the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands, image is from Wikipedia. |
Finally, the mitre used within the vesica piscis is unique to la Rose. In a letter from September 3, 1912 to The Rt. Rev. David Hummell Greer (1844-1919), Episcopal Bishop of New York, la Rose provides sketches for possible arms for the Diocese of New York to consider. As he closes the letter to the bishop, la Rose addresses the mitre he prefers to use as the external ornament placed above the shield:
"The mitre on my drawing [proposed coat of arms for the Episcopal Diocese of New York] is copied with very slight modification from those on the roll of peers dated 1515 in the Herald's College [College of Arms, London], a type which has crystallised and become now practically their official heraldic form for a mitre, and here we are concerned only with the mitre from the point of view of heraldry, not of archeology or liturgies" (Letter from Pierre de Chaignon la Rose to the Right Reverend David H. Greer).
Having seen la Rose's painting for New York, it is the exact same mitre used for the Diocese as Maryland as can be seen above. La Rose would adorn countless diocesan coats with this exact mitre. Data does not lie! Thus, I proudly give la Rose credit for the arms of Missionary District of the Philippine Islands. DeKay (1993) gives the blazon as, "quarterly gules and argent, a cross counterchanged, in dexter chief a mullet of the second" (pg. 87).
Catholic Church Extension Society (1918)
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| Arms of the Catholic Church Extension Society. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
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| The arms of the Catholic Church Extension Society devised by La Rose in 1918, and appearing in La Rose (1918). |
La Rose further notes that, "the Right Reverend President of the Society, Monsignor Kelley, desired the arms to express, in the abstract conventions of heraldry, simply the Catholic Faith, the United States, and Our Lady's patronage. That this is done by means of the Cross in the national colors and the star of Our Lady should be clear to readers" (pg. 192-193).
According to Turner (2010), the National Student Council was formally organized in May 1918 by the Conference of Episcopal College Workers to function as an advisory council of students to the Presiding Bishop (32). In 1935, the Church Society for College Work, also an Episcopal-affiliate, would be established separately from the student council and organized to assist college ministry in a variety of ways including fundraising (Turner, 2010, 34). Both groups, it would appear, used the same coat of arms.
While the CSMC used a rather unattractive coat of arms by 1923, the banner designed by la Rose would play a role in the right of initiation (Endres, 2007). As such, la Rose was contacted to devise a banner of arms for the CSMC. At some point, likely in the 1930's, the older version of the arms were dropped in favor of la Rose's design, albeit with the inscription cognoscetis veritatem, or "know the truth," from John 8:32 added to the open book. These new arms would be used for the neck jewels of the order.
Additionally, La Rose (1918) illustrates the newly devised arms of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, a.k.a. the Maryknolls, and notes that these arms were designed by his Sulpician friend, The Rev. John A. Nainfa, S.S.
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| The coat of arms of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society, designed by The Rev. John A. Nainfa, S.S. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
The blazon la Rose offers is, "argent, a cross quarterly azure and gules" (pg. 193). La Rose goes on to state, "here the same idea--the Cross in the national colors--is carried out with admirable directness and decorative simplicity" (pg. 193). Ever the humble designer, la Rose continues, "another version [of the cross in national colors] still may be seen on the arms of the See of Baltimore as impaled on the coat of His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons" (pg. 193). A clear reference that la Rose was the first to express this design heraldically.
National Student Council
of the Episcopal Church (1919)
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| Arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
Addition as of 10-3-23: In 1919, la Rose cleverly devised arms for the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church using a cross in national colors--his first such design for a national Episcopal-affiliated organization. (National Student Council of the Episcopal Church, 1920 March, 12).
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| The arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church appearing in Morehouse (1941), page 27. |
While the above image is hard to image in full color, I believe la Rose pulled together several elements into this design to clearly identify the owner as a quasi-academic institution within the Episcopal Church. At this point, remember, the Episcopal Church did not have any national symbols and thus the bordure with the bishop's mitres was the best option. The inscribed and open book identifies the academy and employs a fitting motto, "for Christ and the Church."
The blazon for the arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church/Church Society for College Work is: argent a cross gules cotised azure, over all an open book with two clasps or thereon inscribed PRO CHRISTO PER ECCLESIAM and on a bordure azure eight bishop's mitres argent.
Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic (1923)
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| A beautiful full color emblazonment of the arms of the Foreign Mission Sisters of Saint Dominic from Conning (2023 September 13). Image courtesy of the Maryknoll Mission Archives, September 2023. |
By 1923, we see more examples from the Maryknolls, devised by both Nainfa and la Rose. The Field Afar, the official organ of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, published two coats of arms in their September edition--the previously shown arms of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (which la Rose credits Nainfa for the design in the Ecclesiastical Review) and the new arms of the Foreign Mission Sisters of Saint Dominic (now simply, the Maryknoll Sisters of Saint Dominic).
The Maryknoll Mission Archives posted an article on September 13, 2023 regarding these arms and included full colored emblazonments. Please click here to read the Maryknoll Mission Archives article.
As a result of their post, I wanted to dig a little deeper in the story surrounding these two distinctive arms.
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| The coat of arms of the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
The arms of the Foreign Mission Sisters of Saint Dominic carry the gyronny of eight representing the order's ties to Saint Dominic as well as the new Maryknoll cross of national colors. The blazon is: gyronny of eight argent and sable, a cross quarterly azure and gules.
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| Article from The Field Afar, September 1923, page 254. Click image to enlarge. |
Catholic Students' Mission Crusade (1924)
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| Arms of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
The Catholic Students' Mission Crusade (CSMC), founded in 1918, would grow to become one of the most successful youth movements of the 20th Century for evangelism. The CSMC became a dynamic force within the church and modeled itself on the imagery of the crusades in order to help inspire young women and men to help conquer the world for Christ (Endres, 2007). And what respectable crusader would go without bearing arms? Enter Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
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| The banner of arms of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade designed by la Rose in 1923. Source: United States Patent Office (1924). |
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| The Catholic Students' Mission Crusade Paladin Leader Award. Source: Author's private collection. |
The arms of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade are blazoned: quarterly argent and azure, a cross quarterly gules and the first, thereupon an open book or inscribed Cognoscetis Veritatem (Know the truth, John 8:32). The patent for the banner of arms was filed on December 31, 1923.
Catholic University of America (1933)
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| The arms of The Catholic University of America. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
Perhaps one of la Rose's most well-known arms appeared in 1933, a truly national design for the Catholic University of America located in Washington, DC. La Rose literally reversed his design scheme of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, added a crescent in the first quarter, and a different inscription upon the open book. And voila! The arms of Catholic University.
The arms of the Catholic University of America are blazoned: quarterly azure and argent, a cross quarterly of the second and gules charged with an open book or thereupon inscribed Deus Lux Mea Est (God is my light), in the first quarter a crescent of the second. It's a lovely design.
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| Banner of arms for the Catholic University of America. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
Gallery of Living Catholic Authors (1937)
Another example of the cross in national colors comes by way of the arms of Gallery of Living Catholic Authors. Founded in 1933 and led by Sister Mary Joseph, S.L., Ph.D., the purpose of the gallery was threefold: providing a Catholic literary hall of fame, creating awareness of contemporary Catholic literature, and to be a repository of letters, photographs, manuscripts, and books all for future research and scholarship (Joseph, 1945, pg.75). The Gallery used Cram for its building design and that's likely how la Rose got involved with designing their coat.
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| The arms of the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors designed by la Rose in 1937. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
La Rose designed these arms in 1937, and this coat is hands down my all-time favorite design of his (La Rose, 1937). The blazon for the arms of the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors is: quarterly gules and argent, a cross throughout quarterly argent and gules, in saltire two feather quills counterchanged over all an open book edged with three clasps or thereon inscribed In Principio Erat Verbum (In the beginning was the word, John 1:1).
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (1938)
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Towards the end of la Rose's life, he used the cross in national colors for another national Catholic organization, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine which adopted the following arms in 1938: argent, a cross quarterly quartered gules and azure void of the field thereupon an open book with three clasps or inscribed Deus Est (God is).
These arms fascinate me. Just when you thought la Rose may have exhausted a cross of national colors, we get these arms.
The Episcopal Church (1938-1939)
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| Arms of the Episcopal Church. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
Like a dramatic film, la Rose saves the best example of the cross in national colors as one of his final acts as a herald. To read the complete and untold story of the evolution of the Episcopal Church's arms, please click here.
History has incorrectly attributed the design of these arms to William M. Baldwin (d.1942), a layman from the Diocese of Long Island. It is my view that the confusion stems from creator of the flag versus the actual coat of arms the flag was based upon. There is no doubt that Baldwin physically made the flag that would be adopted for the Episcopal Church, but he did not design the church's arms. Baldwin, however, deserves much credit for his perseverance in keeping the issue of the need to adopt arms front and center in the mind of the church. For this dedication alone, the Episcopal Church owes much thanks to Baldwin.
Even my own church history professor and co-editor of An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church (2000), The Rev. Dr. Donald S. Armentrout (1939-2013) got it wrong too (174). To be fair, many of the works cited here are old and long out of print--digitization and the internet were not so well established at the time of Slocum and Armentrout's book. Thankfully, we now have those digitized resources to accurately attribute la Rose as the herald responsible for the arms of the Episcopal Church.
Since these arms were adopted during the 1940 General Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri, it is very likely that la Rose created his design around 1938-1939 in order to give time for the vetting process.
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| Baldwin's hand-sewed flag presented at the 1940 General Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Image is from Diocese of Long Island website. Note how the cross gules is not centered. |
General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1940) provides a description offered by the chair of the Joint Commission on Flag and Seal:
"On accepting the chairmanship, I felt the wisest course of procedure would be to secure expert advice in this highly technical field so as to avoid the glaring heraldic errors appearing on some of our diocesan shields.
"Accordingly, I consulted Mr. Pierre deC. laRose, of Harvard University, a member of its Standing Committee on Arms, and recognized as probably the leading authority on ecclesiastical heraldry in this country. He has graciously and generously given of his time and thought and his opinions have received the hearty approval of your Commission.
"Of the design we are submitting, Mr. Ralph Adams Cram writes: "I am very pleased with this. I can give it my full approval." Another of our most expert members in this field, Major Chandler, writes: "I am sure any delineation-shield, seal or flag-which Mr. laRose may make will be unassailable heraldically and any composition of which Mr. Cram approves will be beyond question artistically" (287).
While the reader will certainly recognize Cram, Chandler is a new name in the world of heraldry. Major George M. Chandler (US Army, Retired), was a lay member of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC's 51st annual convention in 1946, where he ushered through the adoption of la Rose's 1908 design for the diocese's arms. It also appears, based on my searching online, that Major Chandler may have also designed the arms for the Beta Theta Pi national fraternity--if this is indeed the same individual. Nonetheless, Egleston & Sherman (2019 May 19), Hertell (1941), and Luce (1958) all concur citing la Rose as the herald behind the Episcopal Church's arms.
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| Banner of arms for The Episcopal Church. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. |
The arms of the Episcopal Church, in so many ways, is the perfect final act for this thematic analysis, for in this one coat of arms we see la Rose at the height of his heraldic powers. Perhaps no ecclesiastical corporate coat in the US today could be more recognizable than the arms of the Episcopal Church--providing clear identification of its owner while giving the church a widely beloved symbol. Well done.
The blazon adopted during the 1940 General Convention is: "argent a cross throughout gules, on a canton azure nine cross crosslets in saltire of the field" (General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1940, 288).
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Summary
If the reader has maintained a count of arms designed by la Rose within this theme of a cross in national colors, there are 13 (if you count Nainfa's design for the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, you would have 14). To summarize, the armorial bearings designed by la Rose falling within this theme are as follows:
- Berkeley Divinity School (1906)
- Archdiocese of Baltimore (1910)
- Episcopal Diocese of Maryland (1916)
- Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation (1916)
- Episcopal Missionary District of the Philippine Islands (1913-1916)
- Catholic Church Extension Society (1918)
- National Student Council of the Episcopal Church (1919)
- Foreign Mission Sisters of Saint Dominic (1923)
- Catholic Students' Mission Crusade (1924)
- The Catholic University of America (1933)
- Gallery of Living Catholic Authors (1937)
- Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (1938)
- The Episcopal Church (1938-1939)
All told, this theme is an important one within my data of now 250 coats of arms designed by the herald. Moreover, this theme illustrates the myriad of ways in which la Rose could use the colors of red, white, and blue to render dignified corporate arms in a purely American style. I find this fact both impressive and suggestive of the herald's deep capacity to create perspicuous heraldry.
For now, that's all I've been able to identify within this theme of arms bearing a cross in national colors. I suspect more are out there, buried deep within archives and libraries.
Works Cited
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (1961). Manual of the Parish Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, (10th ed.). Confraternity Publications.
Conning, S. (2023 September 13). Coats of arms. Maryknoll Mission Archives website. https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/coats-of-arms/
DeKay, Eckford. (1993). Heraldry in the Episcopal Church. Acorn Press.
Diocesan Convention of Maryland (1916). Journal of the one hundred and thirty-third annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland. Diocese of Maryland.
Egleston, C.L. & Sherman, T. (2019 May 19). A flag and a seal: Two histories. In C. Wells (Ed.), The Living Church, 258(9), pp. 16-17.
Endres, David. (2007). Under the cross and the flag: The Catholic Students' Mission Crusade and the American quest to Christianize the world, 1918–1971. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. The Catholic University of America.
General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1940). Journal of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. W.B. Conkey Company, pp. 286-288.
Hertell, E.S. (1941). Our church's flag. In C.P. Morehouse (Ed.), The Layman's Magazine of the Episcopal Church, no.15, 14-15.
Joseph, Mary (1945). Gallery of Living Catholic Authors. Gallery of Living Catholic Authors, 2.
La Rose, Pierre de C. (1937 July 18). Letter from Pierre de Chaignon la Rose to the Reverend Sister Mary Joseph. Unpublished letter. Booth Family Center for Special Collections, Georgetown Library.
La Rose, Pierre de C. (1918). Some examples of Catholic corporate heraldry. In H.J. Heuser (Ed.), The Ecclesiastical Review, 58(February), pp. 189-198.
La Rose, Pierre de C. (1912 September 3). Letter from Pierre de Chaignon la Rose to The Right Reverend David H. Greer. Unpublished letter.
La Rose, Pierre de C. (1911). The arms of his Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. In H.J. Heuser (Ed.), The Ecclesiastical Review, 5(45), 2-11.
Luce, J.H. (1958). The history and symbolism of the flag of the Episcopal Church. Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 27(4), 324-331.
Missionary District of the Philippine Islands (1913). Journal of the tenth annual convocation of the Missionary District of the Philippine Islands. Missionary District of the Philippine Islands.
Morehouse, C.P. (Ed.) (1941 September). The Layman's Magazine of the Living Church, 20, 27.
National Student Council of the Episcopal Church (1920 March). 1919 annual report of the National Student Council, bulletin 6. National Student Council of the Episcopal Church.
Slocum, R.B. & Armentrout, D.S. (Eds.) (2000). An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: A user-friendly reference for Episcopalians. Church Publishing, Inc., 174.
The Living Church (1906, July 14). Berkeley Divinity School. The Living Church, 35(11), 389.
The Living Church (1916, May 27). Maryland. The Living Church, 55(4), 150.
Turner, B.W. (2010). Pro Christo Per Ecclesiam: A history of college ministry in the Episcopal Church [Unpublished master's thesis]. Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia.
United States Patent Office (1924). Official gazette of the United States Patent Office, 325, 280.
