Five Years On: Revisiting the Attributed Arms of Black Lives Matter

The revised attributed arms for Black Lives Matter
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

A few years ago I learned an important truth about the power of a 13th century abstract form of identification enjoys well into the modern age...but first let's revisit the year of 1963.

On what could only have been a horrendously humid and hot day on August 23, 1963, Washington, DC must have been a powder keg ready to explode as The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) took to the podium addressing a sea of sweaty hungry souls.

There on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivered what history has deemed one of the great masterpieces of rhetoric, his famous, "I have a dream," speech.  Dr. King's words echo across our great country today:

"So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

"...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

"...And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last" (Talk of the Nation, 16 January 2023).

His dream has become the dream of millions worldwide, as communities everywhere continue their own struggles for civil rights in the modern age. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself re-engaged with heraldry thanks to quarantine.  I took several years off in order to focus on my doctoral program, and felt a wee bit rusty on the subject. I decided to take the plunge and convert my Anglo-Catholic blog to a heraldic research one.  Now, that's a pivot!  

A graffitied rendering of the attributed arms of Black Lives Matter
posted on Reddit and sent in by a reader.

Simultaneously, America was once again electrified, on the brink of major social change.  The Black Lives Matter movement was working to wake our Nation from slumber, calling on citizens everywhere to live out Dr. King's hallowed words.  

I had an idea, a way to show not only my support for the movement and need for change, but to see if heraldry's power of abstract symbolism holds meaning in the 21st century.  I sketched a design for a coat of arms attributed to Black Lives Matter, and posted the arms on my blog in a show of solidarity.  Click here to read the original post.   In my mind, this was Kingdom Theology at work. 

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Sidebar.  What's that?  Kingdom Theology is an Anglo-Catholic framework or lens through which one sees virtually everything, the "already, but not yet."  The Kingdom of God has come, Jesus proclaimed in the Gospels, but the heavenly realm has not yet been fulfilled.  Thus, we have lots of work to do living in these between times.  Click here to read a reflection I delivered on the topic as a seminarian.

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Something good went viral.

  

Unknowingly, the online heraldry community took notice and I began receiving digital emblazonments of the arms.  Since those were the days of pencil and paper for me, I was amazed at the power of color in heraldry.  I was speechless!  I added a subsequent post to share the illustrations I received.  Click here to read the second post on the attributed arms of Black Lives Matter.

Attributed arms of Black Lives Matter designed by Chad Krouse
Rendered by Dimitri Prica, 2022

I felt the need to commission a digital version myself and turned to Dimitri Prica.  Click here to read my feature on Prica's heraldic artwork.  Yes, it is true, fame fizzles in seconds, and within a handful of days all went quiet regarding my post.

Flag and arms of Black Lives Matter
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Five years on, I've revisited my design and appreciate what I attempted to pack in those arms.  Since then, I feel as I though I've grown a bit in my understanding of heraldry and its design.  Today, I want to share my final version of the attributed arms in hopes to keep alive the cause of equal rights and the ongoing work of Black Lives Matter.

Graphic unpacking the design rationale
Click image to enlarge
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The graphic above readily explains my revision and I believe is more fitting, reflective of my progress in heraldic design.  The 2020 version is not bad, I simply see a better vision for these arms.

Blazon for the 2025 revision for attributed arms of Black Lives Matter:  Gules masonry Sable, on a dove displayed Argent haloed Or on an inescutcheon Sable issuing from a celestial crown in base the fist of Black Lives Matter all Or.

Arms of Black Lives Matter within a bordure of the arms of the United States of America
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

To honor that day in August 1963 and Dr. King's extraordinary ability to bring together all Americans, I put together the rending above, placing the arms of Black Lives Matter within the bordure of arms of the United States.  

So, what exactly was that truth I learned?  When designs for arms are simple and its identification clear, heraldry has the carrying power through abstraction to convey meaning, especially when words fail us.  This truth, known by many in heraldry, is my foundation and guide.  I won't forget those brief moments in 2020.

Dreams can come true. 

WORKS CITED

Talk of the Nation (16 January 2023). Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety.  National Public Radio, accessed May 19, 2025 https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety