Temple's Ecclesiastical Heraldry

Anchored by the arms of the Episcopal Church, select ecclesiastical arms
designed by Col. Harry D. Temple.  Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

After emblazoning several designs created by Col. Harry D. Temple (1911-2004), I've admittedly become smitten with his work in scholastic, civic, and ecclesiastical heraldry.  As head of the US Army's Institute of Heraldry, Temple naturally devised a lot of military heraldry but I have little interest there. 

The researcher in me has already started a "Temple Roll of Arms" to begin collecting data on Temple's non-military designs, and I easily gathered 20 so far.  I know more exist.  Challenge accepted!

From what I gather based on my data so far, Temple's ecclesiastical work was mainly within the Episcopal Church and primarily designing arms for cathedrals and parishes.  However, there are at least two designs for Episcopal dioceses--Dioceses of Virginia and Georgia.  

The arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Dekay (1993) cites Temple desiging the arms for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in 1971, blazoned:  Sable, three lymphads Or, on a chief Argent a cross Gules.  His simple design for the diocese ties together Virginia's settlement of Jamestown through the ships as well as its Anglican heritage with the chief of St. George.  Again, lovely and simple.  

The arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Temple's design for the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia was adopted by the see in 1971 and blazoned: Azure, on a bend engrailed Or cottised Argent, a boar's head couped Gules armed Argent and langued Azure between two roses Argent seeded and barbed Or.

The following design rationale comes from the Diocese of Georgia's Archives:

"The symbolism and description in modern language is this: The wide wavy-edged diagonal band is gold and is taken from the Elliott coat of arms in honor of the Right Reverend Stephen Elliott, the first bishop of Georgia. The two thin parallel stripes are of silver and are memorials to Dr. Thomas Bray, to whom the Episcopal Church in Georgia traces its beginning, and Dr. Henry Herbert, the first English priest in Georgia.

The boar’s head is from the arms of General James Oglethorpe, who brought the Church of England to Georgia in 1733. It is colored red.

The two roses, whose petals are silver with sepals and pistils of gold, symbolize the Church’s service to Georgia – the Cherokee rose is the State flower.

The rose at the upper right represents the Diocese of Georgia of the Episcopal Church in the United States, while the one at the lower left memorializes the Diocese of Georgia of the Episcopal Church of the Confederate States of America."

The arms of Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Temple virtually cornered the market devising arms for cathedrals in the Episcopal Church and set the standard for placing a mace and crozier in saltire behind his armorial designs for cathedrals.   One source I saw recently attributes Temple for designing 32 coats of arms for Episcopal cathedrals.  I've recently emblazoned a few and included below, selected purely based on my biased opinions.

Temple cleverly employed gyronny in the base of arms for Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona to mimic the state's flag--both in design and colors yielding geographic identification.  Employing three cross-crosslet fitchy provides a fitting number for the Holy Trinity.  Dekay (1993) notes that Trinity became the cathedral for the Diocese of Arizona in 1988 and thus these arms were likely created around that time with the following blazon:  Gyronny of twelve Or and Gules, on a chief Azure three crosses-crosslet fitchy Argent.

The arms of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville, Kentucky.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

In Temple's design for the arms of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville, Kentucky we see a similar scheme used as in the arms for the Diocese of Virginia--still simple and clear however.  The chief readily identifies the Anglican nature of the institution while three golden fleurs-de-lis honor the city's namesake with charges from the French royal arms.  The ineschuteon at the honor point narrows the identification by abstractly illustrating the monogram for Jesus Christ with a red coronet for Christ's kingship and crucifixion, according to Dekay (1993).

Blazon for the arms of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville, Kentucky:  Azure, three fleurs-de-lis Or, on a chief Argent a cross Gules in honor point an ineschuteon Or charged with a Chi-Rho Sable enfiling a coronet Gules. 

The arms of Trinity Cathedral in Trenton, New Jersey.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

For Trinity Cathedral's coat of arms, Temple leaned into local history by incorporating barry wavy lines to reference George Washington crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.  Dekay (1993) adds that the three celestial crowns refer to the cathedral's merger of All Saints' Parish and Trinity Parish in order to form the present cathedral community.  The star is a reference to the state of New Jersey.

The blazon for the arms of Trinity Cathedral in Trenton, New Jersey:  Sable, on a chevron barry wavy Argent and Azure fimbriated Or a mullet Or between three celestial crowns Or.

The arms of Trinity Cathedral (Episcopal) in Easton, Maryland.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Here is another of Temple's cathedral designs, the arms of Trinity Cathedral seat of the Bishop of the Diocese of Easton in Maryland.  It is important to note that the diocese itself does not bear arms but rather uses a simple seal, thus providing some challenges for any heraldic designer.  The canton--and ducal coronet--makes a clear reference to the Lord Baltimore's arms thus placing the owner in Maryland. 

Dekay (1993) gives the blazon for the arms of Trinity Cathedral in Easton, Maryland as:  Argent, on a chevron Gules three ducal coronets Or in base a cross patonce Sable, a canton paly Or and Sable with a bend counterchanged.

The arms of St. Augustine's Parish in Chesapeake City, Maryland.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

In Temple's design for an Episcopal parish located in the Diocese of Easton, we find the same canton illustrating unification of parish to the ordinary's cathedra.  At the moment I do not have definitive evidence of Temple's hand in designing St. Augustine's arms, but I'm willing to bet given the use of the canton in both arms, which in the parish's case also references the gift of land by Lord Baltimore.  As always, I'll be in contact with the parish to see what evidence is available and update this post as necessary.

From Augustine Parish website:

"St. Augustine Church, originally called the Manor Chapel, was one of the 30 churches paying tithes to the Bishop of London in 1690. It was the place of worship for the early settlers of Bohemia Manor, an estate of several thousand acres granted to Augustine Herman by Lord Baltimore in 1660 for surveying and mapping Maryland environs.  Herman, who was born in Prague in the early part of the seventeenth century, came to America to seek is fortune. He subsequently became the first naturalized citizen of the colony and a prominent historical figure in Maryland." 

Blazon of the arms of St. Augustine's Parish in Chesapeake City, Maryland: Per fess Argent and Vert in base two arrows in saltire points up Argent surmounted by a winged spur Or a canton paly Or and Sable with a bend counterchanged.

The retired arms of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Lastly, I want to highlight one of Temple's most controversial designs for arms which became newsworthy in 2015.  St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond, Virginia was known as "the cathedral of the Confederacy."  According to Graham (2023), St. Paul's accepted Temple's design in 1967, the arms blazoned:  Azure, cursily Or a sword palewise Argent hilted and pommelled Or, on a canton Gules fimbriated Argent a saltire Azure fimbriated Argent charged with a mullet Or.

The rationale is fairly clear:  the blue field and gold cross-crosslets reference the arms of the Episcopal Church while the sword in pale is associated with St. Paul.  The canton, however, is where things get messy and abstractly mimics the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.  The canton likely is a tribute to the parish's role as a house of prayer during the Civil War.  

By 2015, our society began an awakening through Black Lives Matter and many organizations began taking stock of names and symbols that exclude others.  St. Paul's began cleaning house and Temple's design of arms for the parish were quickly retired.  I will say that I do find the design simple and beautiful.  I chose to render the arms for sake of preservation in future studies of American heraldry.  Otherwise, I'm afraid, this design would be effectively erased.  

Having gone back through this post while adding several more of Temple's designs than originally planned, I must admit my visual delight in seeing his work rendered digitally in full color.  It does appear that cantons, ineschuteons, and chiefs are Temple's "go-to" in many of his heraldic designs.  Regardless, I am completely a Temple fan now and can't wait to explore and find more of his work.

Works Cited

Dekay, E. (1993).  Heraldry in the Episcopal Church.  Acorn Press.

Graham, C.A. (2023). Faith, race, and the Lost Cause: Confessions of a southern church.  University of Virginia Press.