Recent Finds Series: St. Paul's Church By-The-Lake

Arms of St. Paul's Church By-The-Lake (Episcopal) in Chicago
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

A recent discovery online and worthy of sharing, the coat of arms of St. Paul's Church By-The-Lake in Chicago, Illinois.  In my ongoing challenge to seek and find heraldry in the Episcopal Church to better understand how the American heraldic tradition has been shaped, as well as to prove this ancient art is alive and thriving in the US today, the arms of St. Paul's Church By-The-Lake came as a pleasant surprise.

To read other articles in the Recent Finds Series, click on the label at the end of the post.

One immediate observation was the parish arms completely avoid any use of the attributed arms to Saint Paul.  The seemingly use of the reverse pall cross to show unification with the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago is another feature rarely seen in parish arms.  In this article, I'll cover both the arms of the parish and those of the diocese as well.  

Side by Side Comparison:  Arms of the Diocese of Chicago and St. Paul's Church By-The-Lake
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The parish arms make effective use of geographical identification using barry wavy in base for what I could only see as a reference for Lake Michigan.  The sword provides the only reference to Saint Paul with stark simplicity.  The parish arms are simple and clear; heraldry at its best.  As of now, I do not know who designed the arms for the parish.  Hopefully, we can learn in time.  

Current logo in use by the parish
Image source: Parish Facebook page

Several renderings of the parish arms have 1) the sword with hilt to chief/point to base, and 2) the field behind the sword is a lighter blue than the barry wavy in base, likely for contrast.  The current logo seen above omits the barry wavy altogether.  

Without a blazon, I used artistic license for simple corrections to match carvings of the arms found in the sanctuary.  To me, the carvings appear correctly rendered.

Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (pre-1919)
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago were designed by Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) and adopted by the see in 1904 (Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, 1904, 29-31).  

La Rose's proposed revision
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Cram's heraldic partner, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) would later critique the design in Cram's own journal, Christian Art.  La Rose (1907) writes:

"Chicago. Gules, on a pairle reversed azure fimbriated argent, between three crosses-crosslet of the last, as many fleurs-de-lis, the two inferior ones chevronways, or; on an inescutcheon or a phoenix gules.

"This shield - a beautifully balanced design seems to me a trifle too elaborate. Furthermore, because of the position of the inescutcheon, it is under suspicion of being a compound coat. By raising the inescutcheon in chief one may, to be sure, destroy some of the beauty of the composition, but the shield will become unassailable on the score of heraldic logic and grammar, which is not quite the case at present. The seal of the diocese has three objectionable features among the external ornaments of the shield. It places a motto upon the fanons of the mitre, a procedure for which I can find no heraldic precedent (furthermore, no bishop ever went about with a motto hanging down his back, attached to his pontifical head- gear) . It shows a doubly warded key a corrupted form for two keys.  And it displays a sword, to which, as an external ornament, neither diocese nor bishop has the least right. 

"I know that as the cathedral is dedicated to SS . Peter and Paul, it was thought that in this way the seal might honour both of these saints.  But a sword used as an external ornament to episcopal arms has, heraldically, nothing whatever to do with St. Paul, but denotes solely that the bishop possesses the feudal jus gladii, a right which the bishops of Chicago do not possess. The sword should be removed from the seal as an impropriety. Taken in conjunction with the inescutcheon as at present placed, it would seem to indicate that the bishop, in addition to his episcopal state, sets up to be also mayor or high sheriff of Chicago" (66-67).

Note the blazon cited above is la Rose's interpretation and not official.   

Cram did not relent and his design remained.  I wonder just what kind of friendship these two had, after all they did a lot of work together over the years.  Perhaps Cram chalked it up as la Rose simply being himself.  A good friend, I gather, knows the difference.

The official arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The blazon for the arms of diocese, however, were never officially recorded when the see adopted arms in 1904.  Any heraldry enthusiast knows that the blazon is of paramount importance.  Some 15 years later, the question of the diocese's blazon would finally be settled.

"Unfortunately, the 'blazoning' of the seal was not recorded at the time [1904 convention], and in order that there may be no doubt as to its proper coloring, the remaining members of the committee ask to have the correct description, as given by Mr. Cram, entered in the Journal.

"Blazoning of the Seal:--Arms: On a shield, gules voided argent, between three crosses crosslet, argent, a pall reversed, azure, voided argent, bearing three fleurs-de-lis or.  On an inescutcheon, argent, a phoenix rising from the flames, gules" (Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, 1919, 61). 

As far as I can tell, the codified blazon contains two major changes:  1) the addition of a silver outline within the shield, and 2) changing the metal on the inescutcheon from gold to silver.  Frankly, silver works much better with the inescutcheon.  I cannot, however, explain the silver outline or its importance.

Chicago and the backstory of all her heraldry forever maintains a prominent place in the American heraldic tradition.

To learn about the saga surrounding the arms of the University of Chicago, click here.   Don't forget the Catholics!  The story of the Archdiocese of Chicago's arms and its foundations can be found here.

Works Cited

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (1904).  Journal of the proceedings of the sixty-seventh annual convention of the Church in Chicago.  Diocese of Chicago, 29-31.

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (1919).  Journal of the proceedings of the eighty-second annual convention of the Church in the Diocese Chicago.  Diocese of Chicago.

La Rose, Pierre de C. (1907).  Ecclesiastical heraldry in America, II. Diocesan arms.  Christian Art, 2(2).