Bridges & Cantabrigians

The impaled arms of The Rt. Rev. Augustine F. Hickey
as a Domestic Prelate, designed and painted in 1937
by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.  Source:  The Pilot.

When designing corporate heraldry, providing clear geographical identification through abstraction transforms an otherwise acceptable coat of arms to an extraordinary one.  Heraldic designers who  understand and master this foundational principle, create arms with true carrying power.  In other words, these designs persist, standing the test of time and last.  One such designer, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), expertly illustrated these skills in nearly all of his corporate work. 

La Rose's original design of arms
for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Based at Harvard, la Rose created numerous arms for Boston area organizations using imagery to reflect the history and topography of one of the nation's oldest cities.  A trimount in base to reference Tremontinensis, an old Latin moniker for Boston, as one example of la Rose's skill used in his design of arms for the Archdiocese of Boston (La Rose, 1911, 5).  Crowns composed of crosses patte and fleurs-de-lis to reference St. Botolph's Town was yet another method la Rose employed for geographical identification in the arms of Boston College (he even used the trimount too).

By 1937, however, we see la Rose shifting gears and getting VERY local with his design of arms for St. Paul's Parish near Harvard Square--the heraldic designer's home parish.  While Brucker (1910) reveals that la Rose was an Episcopalian earlier in his life, at some point he "swam the Tiber" converting to Roman Catholicism.  

St. Paul's Harvard Square was la Rose's spiritual home and place of divine refuge, and whose sanctuary was the final "amen" and venue for the heraldic designer's requiem mass (The St. Louis Review, 7 March 1941).  

The person charged with la Rose's spiritual care was The Rev. Augustine F. Hickey (1883-1972), another Cantabrigian and a rather interesting cleric.  For a recent spotlight on Hickey's life, please read this article in The Pilot.  

Monsignor Augustine F. Hickey (1883-1972)
Source: The Pilot.

On January 18, 1937, Pope Pius XI named Father Hickey a Domestic Prelate, an honorific for Roman clergy and likely triggering an opportunity for la Rose to design a proper coat of arms for his pastor and parish (Wills, 1993, 16).  

La Rose's painting of Hickey's impaled arms above provides the following blazon:  Impaled arms.  Dexter, Gules, an embattled fess enarched Argent, in base barry wavy Argent and Azure and overall a sword in pale Or point to base (St. Paul's Parish).  Sinister, Gyronny of eight Sable and Or, on the first four acorns and on the last as many oak leaves counterchanged (Hickey).  Hickey's Latin motto, Primum Regnum Dei, translates to English as "first, the Kingdom of God."

Without any data, correspondence, or written blazon, la Rose's painting in full color is extremely helpful in piecing together the blazon.      

The arms of St. Paul's Parish (Cambridge, MA)
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Through his design for St. Paul's Parish, la Rose creatively explores a new method for geographical identification--no trimount or crowns here.  La Rose gets local, extraordinary so, with his design for the parish's arms.  The barry wavy lines in base is a clear reference to the Charles River which separates Boston and Cambridge.  Here's the plot twist.  By 1927, the Charles saw one newcomer bridging these two localities with the completed construction of the John W. Weeks FootBridge.  To render the overpass  abstractly, la Rose judiciously arched an embattled fess providing a heraldic reference for the footbridge.  The newly constructed walkway was not insignificant, for the Weeks Bridge effectively connected Boston directly onto Harvard's original campus.  

Perhaps there is another consideration for la Rose's rationale, as posited by my colleague Joseph McMillan of the American Heraldry Society.  There are examples of la Rose "Americanizing" arms by differencing through tincture or metal changes--the Diocese of Richmond (Virginia) is one such example.  The heraldic designer likely pull inspiration from the established arms of the city council of Cambridge in England.

Arms of the City Council of Cambridge in England.
Source: Wikipedia

The arms of Cambridge were granted from the College of Arms in 1575 and blazoned: "Gules, a bridge, in chief a flower de luce gold between two roses silver on a point wave three boats sable."

Banner of arms of St. Paul's Parish based on la Rose's design.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Dorling (1911) notes that traditionally heralds ascribed arms for St. Paul using Gules (red) for the field along with a sword Argent (silver/white).  La Rose differenced the parish's arms by flipping the sword's metal from silver to gold.  Given the volume of designs he created, la Rose would need multiple methods for showing unification, differencing, and geographical identification in order to render clear, perspicuous arms.

Now in 2024, the arms of St. Paul's have reached a respectable age of 87-years old, proving the foundational principle of corporate heraldic design--well designed arms are lasting cherished symbols beloved by those corporate bodies.  La Rose's work, as seen through the eyes of the 21st Century, continues to both challenge and inspire.

Works Cited

Brucker, A. (1910).  The essentials of ecclesiastical heraldry.  The American Ecclesiastical Review, 42, 190-198.

Dorling, E.E. (1911).  Heraldry of the Church.  Mowbray & Co.

La Rose, P. de C. (1911).  Arms of His Grace the Archbishop of Boston.  The American Ecclesiastical Review, 45(5), 2-11.  

O'Grady, R.M. (2024, June 7).  Msgr. Augustine F. Hickey:  First resident of Regina Cleri.  The Pilot. 

https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=197573

The St. Louis Review. (1941, March 7).  Noted exponent of art of heraldry succumbs.  The St. Louis Review, 1(10), 3.

Wills, J. (1993).  The Catholics of Harvard Square.  St. Bede's.