Chariots in Ecclesiastical Heraldry

Chariot on Fire!
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

As the Recent Finds series rolls on, I've referenced that I've learned a thing or two while undertaking this assignment.  Its time to share one bit, at least, for now.  

Cue theme music to Chariots of Fire.

One charge that I encountered for the first time in my quest to uncover sound ecclesiastical heraldry in the Episcopal Church was the chariot.  Even from my days as a seminarian I cannot recall bumping into this mode of transport as a Christian symbol.  

Two examples of arms with chariots
(Left) St. Philip's Church Harlem, NYC
(Right) Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Sierra Madre, CA
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Two coats of arms I discovered for parishes using the chariot as a charge were St. Philip's and Ascension.  As I soon learned, using the chariot as a charge to abstractly identify the parish dedication made complete sense.

St. Philip's Church Harlem (Episcopal)

Arms of St. Philip's Church Harlem, New York City
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The first coat of arms I came across were the arms of St. Philip's Church located in New York City's borough of Harlem.  The parish website credits The Rev. Canon Edward N. West (1909-1990) as the designer of the arms, which he completed sometime in the mid-1960s.

From St. Philip's Church website:

"St. Philip's arms was commissioned in the mid-1960s by Dr. M. Moran Weston to be its identifying symbol. It represents the account of Philip, deacon and evangelist as written in Acts 8:26-40.  The shield was created by Reverend Edward N. West, Canon Sacrsist [sic] of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

 "In the upper left-hand corner of the shield is the Cross of St. George, representing the Anglican Communion throughout the world.  Superimposed on the Cross of St. George is a six pointed star with a circle intertwined, symbolic of the Holy Trinity.  The descending dove and halo represent the Holy Spirit that came down to Philip and instructed him to go south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza and told him to speak to the Ethiopian sitting in the chariot. The paving stones under the chariot symbolize the road traveled together by Philip and the man, who was described as being in charge of all the treasures of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. The broad wavy lines at the bottom of the shield represent the body of water in which Philip baptized the Ethiopian" (St. Philip's Church Harlem, nd).

I suppose if West had simply used the chariot sans paving stones we might be left to really guess as to its purpose.  Thankfully, the good Canon did not.  

Thus, we now know that one heraldic symbol for St. Philip is the chariot owing to the account from the Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40.  The other use for a chariot in ecclesiastical heraldry is on fire, literally.

Episcopal Church of the Ascension

Arms of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Sierra Madre, CA
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension's processional banner prominently displays a chariot on fire against a white background.  Again, this image was new to me and I could not begin to think the reference was for St. Philip.  I needed to dig a little deeper.

Processional Banner, St. Philip's
Church Harlem
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Knowing that this symbol abstractly represents ascension per se, I immediately thought of the Gospel account of Christ's ascension.  How could a chariot abstractly represent this sacred moment?  Surely no. And then it donned on me.

Old Testament.  The Prophet Elijah.  Chariot ascending.  Bingo!

In the Old Testament account of 2 Kings:11, we read about Elijah being swept up into heaven by a whirlwind on a chariot of fire.  Now, this is beginning to make sense heraldically, anyways.  Likely due to the difficulty in creating an apt symbol for Christ's ascension, leaning on the Old Testament account works perfectly.  I should write how nice it is to see an Old Testament reference in Christian heraldry.

The use of the chariot in ecclesiastical heraldry has at least two separate references--St. Philip the Apostle and Elijah's ascension.  Learning new charges and references continue to be an unexpected (albeit fun) outcome from the Recent Finds series.  Heraldry has always told a story and these two coats of arms help teach the Faith in such a way as only heraldry can do.  

Surely, I'm bound to encounter more.

To read other articles in the Recent Finds series, click the corresponding label at the bottom of the post.

Works Cited

St. Philip's Church Harlem. (n.d.)  Our church symbols.  St. Philip's Church Harlem. https://www.stphilipsharlem.org/our-church-symbols