Look to the Seal: An Analysis of Select Works by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose

 

The arms of Notre Dame of Maryland University as depicted in stained glass from the university's chapel.  Image source:  Notre Dame of Maryland University website.

In my ongoing research on Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), I have learned a great deal about the art and science of heraldry.  Now going on nearly 10 years, I have trained my eyes to look for certain elements in an organizational coat to determine whether or not la Rose designed the arms in question.  Through this method, I discovered one corporate coat of arms that took me down a winding trail, only to discover that the arms were designed not long after la Rose's death by a former student.  

One "dead ringer" is finding a coat of arms within a seal matrix surrounded by the institutional name rendered in Latin, especially if the school was founded in the early part of the 20th Century.  Since many schools that la Rose rendered designs for arms have since closed and their archives scattered or lost, I am incredibly grateful that many of these seals are illustrated with hatch-work for the purpose of blazoning these arms.

Recently, I came across the seal and arms for Notre Dame of Maryland University located in Baltimore, Maryland--immediately alarm bells went off suggesting la Rose may have designed these arms.  Following an email exchange with the university's archives, I had an answer affirming my suspicion. 

Founded in 1873, Notre Dame of Maryland was a college at the time of la Rose's involvement in designing their seal and arms, and represents la Rose's first Roman Catholic academic commission.  La rose designed the arms first in 1914 and then created the seal by 1920 (J. Kinniff, personal communication, August 8, 2023).

Based on my data regarding la Rose's heraldic work for colleges and universities, la Rose's first commission was to provide three draft sketches of arms for the University of Chicago in 1910, followed by his second commission for a seal and arms for Rice University in 1912.  Please click here to read about mistaken identity in the arms for the University of Chicago.

Rice University was, however, la Rose's first academic seal.  His original work for the seal and arms of Rice University can be seen below, and note his signature which "authenticates" it.  If the reader is counting, Notre Dame of Maryland's arms represents la Rose's first Roman Catholic scholastic coat of arms and his third overall for colleges and universities.

In 1910, la Rose received his landmark Roman Catholic commission to design arms for the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Boston, and it most likely that this commission led to la Rose's involvement with Notre Dame of Maryland (La Rose, 1911).  Please click here to read about la Rose's commission in 1910 for the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Boston. 

The arms la Rose designed for Notre Dame of Maryland is blazoned: 

A modern rendering of
the seal and arms
of Notre Dame of Maryland.
Image source: 
Notre Dame of Maryland University
 website.

Quarterly azure and argent, a cross bottony throughout quarterly of the first and second, in dexter canton a rose barbed and seeded of the second.  

Moreover, Notre Dame of Maryland's arms illustrates one of la Rose's methods for suitably differencing a corporate coat of arms.  Please click here to learn more about la Rose's first method for showing unification and differencing in corporate heraldry.  

For Notre Dame of Maryland, la Rose used the cross bottony (from the Lord Baltimore's arms) and the colors white and blue, all found in the archdiocese's coat.  He differenced the quartering on the cross bottony and added a white rose as the symbol for the Blessed Virgin Mary, whereas in the arms for the archdiocese, la Rose used the white star to represent both the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the state of Maryland.  

La Rose (1911) explains the star used in the arms of the Archdiocese of Baltimore:

"in addition to the cross of Faith, in this its peculiarly Baltimorean form [cross bottony], there remained Our Lady to be more definitely symbolized.  At once the star suggested itself to me, as being not only one of the titles and attributes of Our Lady, but also the accepted symbol of an American state" (5).

The colors white and blue, the cross bottony, the quartering, and the dexter canton charge ties Notre Dame of Maryland to the Archdiocese of Baltimore in a uniquely "la Rosian" style.  In my data, I have numerous examples of how la Rose would continue this method for suitably differencing institutions under the authority of another.

By definition, an organization's corporate seal serves as the signature for authenticating documents.  Within the academy, most encounter the seal on a diploma, attesting the graduate's completion of requirements for the degree earned.  Moreover, seals do not have to be heraldic either, consider the vast sea of seals of the US states.  La Rose sympathizes with the pervasive confusion that exists in most American minds believing a "seal" and a "coat of arms" to be synonymous (La Rose, 1917, 190).  

La Rose (1917) gives an example of why an organization would want to bear arms while demurring the current state of corporate heraldry at that time:

"A seminary is to be built, let us say, in traditional 'collegiate gothic.'  Above the portal the architect wishes to place several well cut shields...finally the architect clamors for the heraldry of the seminary itself.  

"'Oh yes,' muses the Rector, 'we have a seal,' and produces a stamp...[read a non-heraldic seal]" (191). 

La Rose continues in the article to describe the plight of the poor architect who now has to devise arms for the fictional seminary in order to complete the interior decoration of the building.  Through this example, we in fact learn how la Rose likely got his start as a herald.  The majority of la Rose's earlier commissions came by way of his friend Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942), the noted American architect and father of "collegiate gothic."  One limitation in my data is that I cannot explain why la Rose used gothic tracery in his seal for Notre Dame of Maryland, as no gothic buildings exist on campus. 

With an increasing interest from institutions to adopt coats of arms, La Rose (1917) adds:  

"In short, it is often useful, as well as very pleasant, to have a corporate coat-of-arms for a religious institution irrespective of whether or not it is to be used on the institution's seal.  In the first place, it is a valuable architectural decoration...where a seal would be wholly out of place.  

"And it is largely for this reason that many corporate bodies are reverting to the ancient use of corporate heraldry, not from any snobbish, 'aristocratic' impulse--for corporate heraldry as such never had any 'aristocratic' implications whatever, but from a natural desire to avail themselves of a traditional decorative means of adding to the beauty, dignity, and significance of their environment" (192).

Beauty, dignity, and significance are three extremely great reasons for a corporate body to possess arms.  Many schools and universities employ their seals on souvenirs as a decoration, even when seemingly inappropriate.  

An example of a non-heraldic corporate
seal set within a vesica piscis, that of
Sewanee: The University of the South.
Note the descending dove.
Image source:
The University of the South website.

In 1956, Richard Bland Mitchell (1887-1961), the Episcopal Bishop of Arkansas, pressured Sewanee: The University of the South to stop using the legal corporate seal to, "validate souvenir china" (McCrady, 1982, page 29).  The bishop was successful in rallying the university's governing board to his cause and stated that the board, "objected to the Holy Ghost descending into beer mugs" (McCrady, 1982, page 29).  

Sewanee's corporate and non-heraldic seal contains a descending dove representing the Holy Ghost.  Undoubtedly, Dr. James Warring McCrady (b.1938) used the bishop's argument to devise arms for the university in 1981.  Please click here to learn about Dr. McCrady's designs for the heraldry of The University of the South.  It's funny to read the bishop's objection now in 2023, but a great reason for institutions to use heraldry as a decoration rather than the legal corporate seal.

Below is a snippet of seals designed by la Rose in chronological order.  I have endeavored to find as close as possible la Rose's submitted design work, as opposed to any modern digital creations.  Again, notice the heraldic hatching which helps guide the blazoning of arms.  

Based on my experience so far, a lot of these institutions have either lost, modernized their arms for marketing purposes, or simply do not have a blazon in their archives.  Alas, heraldic hatching saves students of heraldry the headache of attempting to interpret the coat as the designer intended.  

The seal of Rice University in Houston, TX designed in 1912.  After his sketches for the University of Chicago in 1910, Rice was la Rose's second academic coat, but his first academic seal.

Azure, two chevronels argent between as many Athenian Owls of the second

The seal of St. Mary's Seminary and University (Roman Catholic) in Baltimore, MD designed in 1917 (La Rose, 1918). Note how la Rose went with a new scheme for displaying the cross bottony.

Per bend or and sable, on a bend argent three crosses bottonny of the second; on a chief azure, between two stars of six points argent, the Badge of the Society of Saint Sulpice in the United States

The seal of St. John's Seminary (Roman Catholic) in Boston, MA designed in 1917 (La Rose, 1918).  The "aureoled" eagle is a symbol for St. John.  The trimount in base is la Rose's way of canting Boston.  La Rose (1911) offers this: "Boston at one time having been called, in early Chancery documents, Tremontinensis" (5).  The trimount can found in countless Boston-area arms devised by la Rose.

Gules, an eagle displayed argent, aureoled or, above a trimount of the last

The seal of Boston College in Boston, MA designed in 1917 (La Rose, 1918).  Boston College's arms are the only coat la Rose employed Greek for the text on the open book.  There are a few examples of Greek letters, such as "alpha" and "omega" that he used for other coats.

Gules, above a trimount in base or, an open book argent edged of the second, thereon an inscription (in Greek, "ever to excel"); on a chief sable between two crowns composed of alternate crosses patty and fleurs-de-lis or, the badge of the Society of Jesus

The seal of Notre Dame of Maryland University designed in 1920.  According to Dougherty (1949), the seal of the college, "was adapted in 1920" (page 18) and this date has been confirmed by the university (J. Kinniff, personal communication, August 8, 2023). La Rose's first Roman Catholic academic institutional coat and his third scholastic coat designed.  This image of the seal is from Dougherty's (1949) master's thesis.

Quarterly azure and argent, a cross bottonnee throughout quarterly of the first and second, in dexter canton a rose barbed and seeded of the second

The seal of St. Benedict's College in Atchinson, KS designed in the 1920s.  I am waiting on confirmation from the institution.  The cross moline is a heraldic symbol for St. Benedict.  

Argent, a cross moline sable, on a chief embattled azure an open book with two clasps or thereupon inscribed VIA VERITAS VITA ("the way, truth, and life")

An example of how la Rose differenced the arms of St. Benedict's College from those of St. Benedict's Abbey, both in Atchinson, KS.  For the abbey, la Rose used a white crescent, and for the college an inscribed open book.  The abbey founded both the college and St. Scholastica.  I am waiting on confirmation from the institution.  Dom Wilfried Bayne, OSB (1893-1974), a student of la Rose and respected herald in his own right, offered this blazon: 

Argent, a cross moline sable, on a chief embattled azure a crescent argent

The seal of the College of St. Scholastica (now St. Benedict's College) in Atchinson, KS designed in the 1920s.  This was the sister school to St. Benedict's.  I am waiting on confirmation from the institution.  

In Kerr (1956), we find a transcription from one of la Rose's letters to the school detailing the design rationale for the arms:

"So I propose: A red shield, thereon a gold lion holding a book in profile (for the college) with a silver dove resting for a moment on the top edge of the book. The dove, of course, represents the spirit of Saint Scholastics, as Saint Benedict saw it ascending, at her death. This, I think, will make as choice a bit of heraldic symbolism as that very restricted art permits, and I think I can make a handsome shield of it" (29).

Gules a lion rampant supporting a closed book with three clasps all or perched thereon a dove argent 

The seal of The Lenox School in Lenox, MA (now closed) designed between 1925-1930.

Sable, on a cross saltire or an open book edged of the second and inscribed NON MINISTRARI SED MINISTRARE ("not to be ministered unto but to minister"), between as many roses barbed and seeded with a martin in chief all or  

The seal of the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY designed in the 1920s.  Albany was la Rose's hometown.  La Rose varied the shield's shape, and he placed the roses in semme, a design technique he rarely used with corporate coats.  This image of the seal is from Dougherty's (1949) master's thesis.

Argent, a semme of roses barbed and seeded gules, on a chief azure three lilies of the first

The seal of St. Thomas Seminary (Roman Catholic) in Hartford, CT designed between 1930-1934.  The colors gold and red represent St. Thomas Aquinas.  Is the lion argent or proper?  I say argent, based on similar techniques la Rose used.     

 Bendy or and gules a lion rampant argent  

 

The seal of St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, IN designed in 1934.  La Rose rarely used bordures in his heraldry, and note the use of "gutty de sanguine" to honor the Fathers of the Precious Blood which opened the school.  Very little information on these arms.  This is my educated guess at this point.

Azure within a bordure argent eight gutty de sanguine a chevron between as many lillies seeded of the second

The seal of Trinity Washington College, now Trinity Washington University in Washington, DC designed in 1935.  According to Doughtery (1949),"upon the triangle is placed an open book, gold-edged and bound in gold, bearing the motto of the College" (15).  For a further analysis on the arms of Trinity Washington College, please click here.

Gules, on a triangle inverted and void of the field an open book with three clasps all or inscribed SCIENTA ANCILLA FIDEI ("knowledge the handmaid of faith"), on a chief azure three stars argent

Works Cited

Dougherty, Margaret (1949).  A Study of the significance of the Symbols and other items comprising the coat of arms and seals of girls Catholic colleges in the north and middle Atlantic states [Master's thesis, Canisius College].  ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

La Rose, Pierre de C. (1911).  The arms of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. In H.J. Heuser (Ed.), The Ecclesiastical Review, 45(July), pp. 2-5.

La Rose, Pierre de C. (1918).  Some examples of corporate Catholic heraldry.  In H.J. Heuser (Ed.),  The Ecclesiastical Review, 55(Feburary), pp. 189-198.

Kerr, Mare E. (1956).  A study of the significance of the symbols and other items comprising the coat of arms and seals of girls Catholic colleges in the north central states of the United States [Master's thesis, Canisius College].  ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. 

McCrady, J. (1983).  After 125 years completing the university's heraldry. The Sewanee News, vol 49(1), 30.