Heraldry for the Easter Triduum

Ideas for incorporating heraldry during the Easter Triduum
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Entering the great Easter Triduum, or three days, leading to the Feast of the Resurrection, I wanted to create arms to mark each day as a way to incorporate heraldry into these high holy days.  I use the major theme(s) from the liturgies of the day to abstractly identify those corresponding coats of arms.

I'll let the reader decide if these designs make the grade.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday coat of arms
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

As Palm Sunday has already passed, I'm adding my design for its coat of arms along with those for the Triduum.  While Palm Sunday is not included in the Triduum, Passion Sunday does kick off Holy Week as a major liturgy of the Church. 

Blazon for the attributed arms of Palm Sunday:  Gules, issuing from base three palms conjoined  Proper enfiled by a celestial crown Or.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday coat of arms
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Maudy Thursday kicks off the Triddum with the most unusual liturgy--foot washing, consecrating additional bread and wine for Good Friday, stripping the altar of all finery, and exiting in silence.  Typically, the reserved sacrament is moved to the altar of repose, and watched all night by the faithful gathered in prayer. 

For these arms, I wanted to illustrate both water and the Eucharist to commemorate what I believe to be the two major themes for the day.  

Blazon for the attributed arms of Maundy Thursday: Bendy sinister barry wavy Argent and Azure on a pale Gules a chalice Or ensigned with a plate charged with the monogram of the Holy Name Sable.

Good Friday

Good Friday coat of arms
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Good Friday will always rekindle precious memories from seminary--watching and praying as Maundy Thursday moves into Good Friday.  I learned in those days the correct way of creeping to the cross.

Dividing the field "per pale" using white and black helped create the visual contrast I was seeking for arms marking Good Friday.  In some respects, the field division serves as that great veil between life and death, light and darkness, and so on.  Counterchanging the crosses and trimount in base help reinforce this theme too.  

Blazon for the attributed arms of Good Friday:  Per pale Argent and Sable, on a trimount in base a Latin cross palewise between two Tau crosses counterchanged.  

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday coat of arms
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Green can represent life and on Holy Saturday the faithful wait in certain hope for the coming resurrection.  The door of the tomb will be opened!  The white canton and red cross help indicate the coming joy of Easter--the cross can found in the agnus dei image as the Lamb of God holds a banner or pennon of the same design.

Blazon for the attributed arms of Holy Saturday:  Vert, a mounded cave faced with stones Proper charged with an opening Sable on a canton Argent a cross throughout Gules.  

The Great Vigil of Easter

Easter Vigil coat of arms

Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The paschal candle plays a central role during the liturgy of the Easter Vigil.  The candle is lit from the new fire and its flame shared with the congregation to light their own candles.  The Exsultet is sung, proclaiming our salvation history as the candle light grows.  "The Light of Christ," is chanted and responded with, "Thanks be to God."  

The paschal candle plays yet another role during the liturgy, albeit not a rubric one will find in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  The bottom of the paschal candle is plunged three times into the water at the baptismal font prior baptism (or for simply blessing the water at the font) in a rather saucy but sacred act referencing the new creation made by God in baptism. 

A semme of stars against a dark shade of blue to represent the night sky helps showcase a representation of the paschal candle, and making the arms of the Easter Vigil simple and clear.  The four waxed nailheads surrounding the cross each contain a piece of incense. 

Blazon for the attributed arms of the Easter Vigil:  Azure, a semme of six-pointed stars Argent on a paschal candle issuing from base Argent enflamed Proper a Latin Cross points ending with four wax nailheads between in chief the Greek letters Alpha and in base Omega all Gules.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday coat of arms

Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The Day of Resurrection is the highest and holiest day of the liturgical calendar.  While this day can be represented by so many symbols, I wanted to design arms as simply as possible that could convey the importance of the day with as few charges as possible.

The blue pile appearing to issue forth from the empty tomb visually provides upward momentum made complete with a simple cross of gold.  Blue also helps reference the sky and the heavens too.  I thought these arms were rather striking and simple, which is exactly what I was seeking.

Blazon for the attributed arms of Easter Sunday:  Argent issuing from base a cave Proper charged with an opening palewise Sable debruised by a pile Azure charged with a Latin cross Or.

Recent Finds Special Edition: Arms of St. Anne's Parish

Coat of arms of St. Anne's Episcopal Parish, Annapolis, MD
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Founded in 1692, St. Anne's Episcopal Church located in Annapolis, Maryland proudly boasts more than 333 years of proclaiming the Gospel in North America and stands tall among the oldest houses of worship in the US.  There's loads of information online regarding St. Anne's history, so let's focus on its heraldry.  

One of the more interesting coats of arms that I've discovered online during my search for corporate heraldry shaping the American tradition, are those of St. Anne's Parish.  These arms stand out boldly, much like a peacock.  Certainly not in a bad way, but rather unusual when compared to arms from its brother and sister parishes.  Then again, most of those faith communities have not been around for more than 300 years.  

The designer, a well educated cleric with extensive research in American colonial Anglicanism, would abstractly combine parish history and its location forming a quartered coat of arms.

St. Anne's banner inside Washington National Cathedral during an Acolyte Festival
Image Source: Washington National Cathedral Facebook page

The Rev. Canon Arthur Pierce Middleton (1916-2020) sounds like the perfect guest for a dinner party, given his wide range of life experiences.  Take a minute to read Bay Journal's article celebrating Middleton's life.  I wonder if its fair to say Middleton was living history?  One of his ancestors, after all, signed the Declaration of Independence.

According to Hjortsberg (2011), Middleton designed the coat of arms which St. Anne's formally adopted in November 1989.  Middleton found inspiration from the church's historical foundation which may explain the quarterings used from the arms of Queen Anne of England in his rendering.  Furthermore, Hjortsberg (2011) notes that Middleton was well supplied with assistance and research by Dr. A. Weems McFadden (1925-2010), a decorated US Naval officer and noted dermatologist.  The design for the parish's arms, it seems, was highly researched and intentional with each element and charge.

Processional banner, St. Anne's Episcopal Parish, Annapolis, MD
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The quarterings for #1 and #2 are from the Royal arms used by Queen Anne, and quarterings #3 and #4 from Calvert and Crossland used for Maryland.  The four arms abstractly identify the owner as one who was founded during the reign of Queen Anne of England and located in the Baltimore-Maryland region.  The chevron, ermine, and crown likely serve to add sufficient marks of differencing to the arms lest anyone gets the idea that this colonial parish is a royal household.  Nonetheless, the visual references are rather immediate but not all together clear, at least to me. 

Shortened blazon for the arms of St. Anne's Parish in Annapolis, Maryland:  Quarterly; 1: France quartering Plantagenet (England); 2: Stuart (Scotland); 3: Calvert; 4: Crossland, overall on a chevron ermine an imperial crown proper.

When I view St. Anne's arms through Pierre de Chaignon la Rose's (1872-1941) framework for corporate heraldry, I sense a better solution likely exists that renders both historical and geographical identification more clearly.  Consider the examples from other Episcopal and Roman Catholic arms illustrating dedication and/or geographical location using the least amount of charges possible.  This design formula was la Rose's manna.   

Examples of Episcopal Church arms incorporating elements from Calvert and Crossland
Click to enlarge
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The illustration above shows all the arms in my data from the Episcopal Church using various elements from Calvert and/or Crossland in their arms.

Top Row:  Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Middle Row (L-R):  Trinity Cathedral, Easton and St. Augustine Parish, Chesapeake City

Bottom Row (L-R):  Emmanuel Church, Baltimore, MD; St. Anne's Parish, Annapolis; Cathedral of the Incarnation, Baltimore

La Rose designed the arms for the diocese and its cathedral, and Col. Harry D. Temple (1911-2004) produced arms for Trinity Cathedral and St. Augustine Parish.

Examples of Roman Catholic arms incorporating elements from Crossland
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

The Archdiocese of Baltimore and Notre Dame University of Maryland are two Roman Catholic arms using elements of Crossland in their arms--both were designed by la Rose.

Abstractly illustrating historical foundation, saintly dedication, and geographical location are critical elements when constructing sound corporate heraldry.  Practice and research, I am discovering, are two ways to strengthen one's capacity to combine multiple references using the least amount of charges or design elements.      

Works Cited

Hjortsberg, Carol (ed.) (2011).  St. Anne's Annapolis: History and times, Vol. II.  St. Anne's Parish.

Spokane's Evolving Arms

Arms of the Episcopal Missionary District of Spokane (Washington)
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Earlier this winter, I was fortunate to spend a few brief moments in one of my favorite libraries, DuPont Library, at my alma mater Sewanee: The University of the South.  During my days there as a seminarian, I would bounce from stack to stack pulling books whose titles caught my eye.  With my little pile of gems I would sit on the floor and take them all in.  I probably should have spent that time on homework, but looking back now I'm glad for those moments getting, "lost in wonder, love, and praise." 

The theological section contains virtually every diocesan journal and I had a list of arms that I wanted to get confirmation on while there.  Time was not on my side; however, I did manage to nail down a few.

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane's coat of arms was one item on my list to research.  While I was aware of two designs that existed--the earlier version and a later revision--I could not track down their dates.   

(L-R): Arms of the Episcopal Missionary District of Spokane
Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The illustration above shows the two designs that I referenced.  Both coats of arms were designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941).  I was able to date the coat of arms on the left as being adopted in 1921 by then Missionary District of Spokane (Missionary District of Spokane, 1921).

In la Rose's initial design, we see the national colors of red, white, and blue used--albeit Argent contains ermine in a rather unusual way.  Likely, the ermine referenced the City of Spokane's role in the fur trade.  The dancetty lines referenced mountainous terrain in the area while the stars in chief are a differenced version of those found in the historic arms of Washington (Dekay, 1993).

Blazon for the 1921 coat of arms for Missionary District of Spokane:  Ermine, a cross throughout Gules on a chief dancetty Azure three mullets Argent.  

Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Merely 8 years later, the Missionary District of Spokane adopted a revised version of its coat of arms (Missionary District of Spokane, 1929).  Why?  Dekay (1993) cites that the design of arms from 1921 simply did not garner widespread acceptance causing a new design to become necessary.

In 1929, we see la Rose's revision containing a color combination he rarely used in his designs.  In this design, forests, farming, and the timber industry would dominate as references in the new coat of arms.

Blazon for the 1929 coat of arms for Missionary District of Spokane:  "Vert, three crosses-crosslet Or on a pale Purpure fimbriated Argent between two garbs of the second" (Dekay, 1993, 71).  

Today, the Diocese of Spokane continues to use la Rose's revision of 1929 as its coat of arms.  Let's quickly compare Spokane with its neighbor Olympia.

Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

During its third convention in 1913, the new Diocese of Olympia adopted a coat of arms designed by la Rose.  Along with his draft, la Rose offered the following rationale.

"It is based upon the voyage of Captain Gray which conserved the Territory of Washington to the United States, just as now the Church will conserve it to the Kingdom of Christ. The sail of the heraldic ship is charged with the arms of George Washington, in honor of whom, of course, the state is named. And to indicate the state rather than the city of Washington, D. C., I have charged the pennant at the masthead with the single star of an American State.  Had it been the city I should have used a 'mural crown' instead of a star.  So much for the sail and pennant. 

"The flag itself is charged with the St. George Cross, which in Ecclesiastical arms is constantly used to symbolize the Anglican Communion. The colors of the whole should naturally fall into a patriotic combination of the American colors. And I think that even without a knowledge of Gray’s voyage and the analogy involved, the whole symbolism of the Diocesan coat will be clear to the least instructed" (Diocese of Olympia, 1913, 20).

La Rose's blazon for the arms of Episcopal Diocese of Olympia:  "Azure, an ancient galley under sail with pennon and flag all Argent; the sail charged with the arms of Washington—two bars and in chief three stars Gules; the Pennon charged with a hurt and thereon a star of the second; the flag charged with a Saint George cross Gules" (Diocese of Olympia, 1913, 21).

The diocese's arms are completely different from Spokane's design.  You'd never guess they were neighbors.

Works Cited

De Kay, E.J. (1993).  Heraldry of the Episcopal Church.  Acorn Press. 

Diocese of Olympia. (1913). Journal of the 3rd annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Olympia.  Diocese of Olympia, 19-22.

Missionary District of Spokane. (1921).  Journal of the 29th annual convocation of the Church in the Missionary District of Spokane.  Missionary District of Spokane.

Missionary District of Spokane. (1929).  Journal of the 37th annual convocation of the Church in the Missionary District of Spokane.  Missionary District of Spokane.

Another Cookbook: The Arms of St. Peter's Parish

Kitchen Keys
Published in 1988 by the Episcopal Church Women
of St. Peter's Parish Church, New Kent, Virginia

Mind the cookbooks.  Never underestimate the power of those plastic spiral bindings or Episcopal Church Women (ECW).  

I happened upon this heraldic cookbook online as part of my quest to discover, render, and share sound corporate heraldry in the US.  Why?  To illustrate the existence of an American heraldic tradition that is alive and continues well into the 21st century.  My focus is on ecclesiastical heraldry in the Episcopal Church and scholastic coats of arms--think schools, academies, colleges, seminaries, universities, and any US-based academic organization.  I have no desire to attempt to collect and catalogue the entirety of designs within these categories, as I'm more interested in those designs that honor the tradition and rules of heraldry.    

Not long ago, I wrote a small bit about the Episcopal Church cookbook phenomenon when I discovered an impaled coat of arms of a parish gracing one such cover.  Click here to read more about my first heraldic cookbook discovery. To read other articles in the Recent Finds series, click the corresponding label at the end of this post.  

Banners of arms for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia & St. Peter's Parish Church
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Kitchen Keys plays nicely on the parish dedication of St. Peter's Parish Church in New Kent, Virginia.  The title is brilliant!  Less than an hour from where I write, this historic parish is located in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and boasts a well differenced coat of arms.  

Far too often I see parishes adopting the undifferenced-attributed arms of their dedication and using for their own corporate identity.  I blame good intentions and a widespread lack of education within the Episcopal Church on heraldry and parish identity.  To wit, the last publication on church heraldry was Dekay (1993) which is fine but contains errors, gaps without data, and lacks source material.  While Dekay's work is an important contribution towards advancing our knowledge on the subject, it must be treated as a point of departure rather than gospel truth.

Meanwhile, 32 years have passed and little has been added to the literature on heraldry in the Episcopal Church, leaving the faithful bereft and uneducated.

Arms of St. Peter's Parish Church New Kent, Virginia
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

To confirm tinctures for these arms as seen on the cover, I searched the parish's website and Facebook page for any additional evidence.  

There is a banner hanging towards the back of the sanctuary containing the coat of arms--a white field can be confirmed.  Sadly, it does appear that both keys and stars are gold.  Since the photo on the website was taken at a distance, I'm following the recipe from Kitchen Keys and going with red.

Arms and flag of St. Peter's Parish Church, New Kent, Virginia
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The crossed keys of Saint Peter readily identify themself and the parish dedication.  Established in 1679, St. Peter's Parish experienced the horrors of two wars while surviving to share God's story of love and faithfulness.  The two stars likely commemorate the Revolutionary War and Civil War, the latter causing the most destruction to parish property (Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, n.d.).

By changing tinctures, omitting an upside-down cross, and adding two stars sufficiently differences the parish's arms from those attributed to Saint Peter.  If the two stars commemorate the parish's history through two armed conflicts on American soil, then these arms truly provide bespoke identification for the parish church.  I say to whomever designed the parish arms, job well done.   

Processional banner of arms of St. Peter's Parish Church, New Kent, Virginia
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

I think the arms look rather lovely, and perfectly suited as an armorial flag and processional banner.  I should think all eyes would be on St. Peter's processional banner at the next diocesan convention.

The blazon for the arms of St. Peter's Parish Church, New Kent, Virginia:  Argent, two keys in saltire wards to chief between in chief and in base two stars of five points Gules.

Works Cited

De Kay, E.J. (1993).  Heraldry of the Episcopal Church.  Acorn Press. 

Episcopal Church Women of St. Peter's Parish Church. (1988).  Kitchen keys.  William Byrd Press.

Saint Peter's Episcopal Church. (n.d.).  Our history.  accessed on April 10, 2025.  https://www.stpetersnewkent.org/About_Us_Mission_and_Ministries/History/

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  

Anglican Knights: The Order of Sir Galahad

The seal with coat of arms of the Order of Sir Galahad
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The other day I found the most extraordinary thing while casually searching a historical periodical:  I stumbled upon the arms of the Order of Sir Galahad.  The order of what?  This was an Episcopal-affiliated periodical and I was stunned to see that the Episcopal Church had a chivalric youth organization in the early 20th century.  Yet, what really caught my eyes were the Order's coat of arms, instantly recognizing these as the work of Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941).  

My data-informed attribution to la Rose will become clear, I believe, by the end of the article.  If nothing else, la Rose was responsible for the artwork.

Background

Here are a few facts to bear in mind concerning la Rose's commissions in the early 1900s:

• In 1919, la Rose supplied renderings of coats of arms for Charles Connick's (1875-1945) stained glass masterpiece, the "Holy Grail" window inside Procter Hall at Princeton.  The building project was led by Cram & Ferguson.  Sir Galahad's coat of arms were among those la Rose researched and rendered for the project.

• La Rose designed the coat of arms for the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church in 1919 which likely represented his first national commission within the Church.  Without any national symbols for the Episcopal Church at that time, la Rose worked with what he had in order to show the student council's national scope--maintaining the national colors of red, white, and blue.  

• Established in 1918, the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade (CSMC) might be seen as the Roman version to the Anglican Galahad, albeit with a more focused mission of evangelism.  La Rose designed the arms for CSMC in 1924.

• Click here to learn more about the arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church and the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade.

• La Rose submitted his first draft of a coat of arms for the Episcopal Church in 1921. An evidence informed blazon of la Rose's 1921 proposal for arms of the Episcopal Church:  Argent, a cross throughout Gules, on a bordure Azure eight bishop's mitres Argent.  La Rose's draft was later amended and presented for debate before the National Council in 1922.  The eight mitres were replaced with thirteen stars (five points).  An evidence informed blazon for the 1922 proposal of arms for the Episcopal Church:  Argent, a cross throughout Gules on a bordure Azure thirteen mullets of the field. 

• Click here to learn more about la Rose and the struggle within the Episcopal Church to adopt a national symbol.

Ultimately, we begin to see a real need for national symbols both in the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Churches during the early 20th century. That several of these arms were overly designed to illustrate their national enterprise underscores this identity problem.  Busy, colorful, and eye-crossing corporate coats of arms can be found in this state of liminality. 

The Order of Sir Galahad

The arms of the Order of Sir Galahad
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

According to Wanewetch (1932), the Order of Sir Galahad (now the "Order") was established in 1896 as a parish club for boys in Boston, and later incorporated as a national organization affiliated with the Episcopal Church.  If the reader is interested in more details, there are a few artifacts on the Philadelphia Studies from the Order and linked here.   

The Rev. Ernest Joseph Dennen (1866-1937) founded the Order at his Boston parish, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in 1896.  The Order would later be incorporated in Massachusetts on January 14, 1921:

"For the purpose of promoting units of The Order of Sir Galahad in churches as a means of building up the religious life and character of boys and men, and bringing them into closer relations with the Church, through a progressive program based upon their interests and the traditions of chivalry" (Order of Sir Galahad, 1921, XIII).

Arms of Sir Galahad
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

A rather dense manual for leaders in the Order was published in 1921 with a lot of detailed minutiae.  We Episcopalians do love our rubrics.  

The attributed arms for Sir Galahad are simply, Argent, a cross throughout Gules.  These simple arms provide ample space for creating a unique design for the Order.

Order of Sir Galahad (1921) provides some clarity as to the design rationale for the Order's coat of arms.

"The shield is our official Coat of Arms. The colors, red and white, are our official colors. Blue is added to make up the national tricolor of our flag and that of England, whence we get the story of Sir Galahad. The common bond of brotherhood between the nations is thus symbolized as an ideal. Blue symbolizes truth.  White symbolizes purity of life. Red symbolizes courage. The five stars stand for our five degrees with their respective vows. The cross stands for the Church. The lion stands for strength. The cross of red, the field of white, the rampant lion and the stars are emblems anciently attributed to Sir Galahad" (pg. XV).

Blazon for the arms of the Order of Sir Galahad:  Argent, on a cross throughout Gules five mullets of the field in dexter canton a lion rampant Azure.

A likely timeframe for the design work, painting, engraving, etc. of the Order's arms would fall between 1920-1921 in order to be published in the 1921 manual.  Now, let's compare the artifacts recently discovered to those already verified in the data of la Rose's portfolio.

Comparing Artifacts  

La Rose's engraved seal version containing the
Order's coat of arms
Image source:  Lawrence (1922), 12

First, let's consider the shield's shape along with the quatrefoil wafer upon which the coat of arms rests.  The rendering from Lawrence (1922) is an exact match with the seal and arms of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll) which la Rose rendered and included in his 1918 article in The Ecclesiastical Review.  

La Rose's engraved image of the coat of arms of the 
Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America designed by The Rev. J.A. Nainfa, SS.
Image source: La Rose (1918), 193

It is important to note that the Maryknoll arms that la Rose illustrated were designed by his colleague at The Catholic University of America, The Rev. J.A. Nainfa, SS. (1878-1938).  Click here to read more about la Rose and Nainfa's collaboration regarding the Maryknoll arms and the cross in national colors.

La Rose preferred the quatrefoil wafer as the design upon which his seals would showcase their coats of arms.  The indentations and gothic tracery create the perfect enclosure spotlighting a coat of arms.  Certainly, I have examples in my data of la Rose choosing other options for the wafer design, but by and large the quatrefoil has the highest frequency in his work.  

The only imitation of la Rose's quatrefoil seal that I've uncovered so far can be seen in the seal design of the Church of the Advent in Boston.  Advent's seal features a trefoil in gothic tracery rather than than the quatrefoil.    

Now, let's consider the library painting of the Order's arms as illustrated in Order of Sir Galahad (1921).

Painting of the Order's coat of arms likely by la Rose
Image source: Order of Sir Galahad (1921), 12  

The above image of the Order's arms follows the exact scheme seen in at least one of la Rose's verified paintings of arms.  The College of St. Rose in Albany, New York (la Rose's hometown) bears arms designed by la Rose and his painting is below.

When I compare these two works, I see the Order's painting as rather rushed.  Perhaps la Rose was working under a very tight deadline to finish the commission and meet the Order's publication deadline for the leader's manual.  

Painting of the arms of the College of St. Rose,
Albany, NY by la Rose
Image Source: College website

Note the hand-painted lettering is an exact match--see capital letters A and S for example.  The shapes of the shields match as do the shading and 3-D technique lifting the arms off the paper.  Since I've starred at hundreds of various heraldic artifacts by la Rose, I feel entirely confident attributing him as the designer of the Order's arms.  Certainly, the reader might agree, la Rose completed the artwork for these arms.

Concluding Thoughts

Processional banner of the Order of Sir Galahad
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

I learned a few things by discovering the Order's coat of arms.  I had no idea that an organization such as the Order of Sir Galahad existed in the Episcopal Church.  I mean, I took Episcopal Church history in seminary!  Moreover, I could not begin to describe what Sir Galahad's attributed arms looked like (St. George for England!).

Regardless who designed the Order's arms, they fall into that awkward category of national corporate arms designed before any unifying national symbols were devised for the Episcopal Church.  My recent article on the fanciful arms of the American Church Union only underscores the need for national unity through symbols.    

Works Cited

La Rose, Pierre de C. (1918).  Some examples of Catholic corporate heraldry.  The Ecclesiastical Review, 58(February), 189-198.

Lawrence, W. Appleton. (1922 February 4).  A boy's club--plus.  The Churchman, 125(5), 12-13.  

Order of Sir Galahad. (1921).  The manual for leaders of the Order of Sir Galahad.  Boston: Order of Sir Galahad. Accessed on 6 April 2025 https://dn790004.ca.archive.org/0/items/manualforleaders00orde/manualforleaders00orde.pdf

Wanewetch, George. (1932 March 6). Letter from George Wanewetch to John Gossling.  Unpublished letter.  Accessed on 5 April 2025. https://philadelphiastudies.org/2015/03/10/short-history-of-the-order-of-sir-galahad-at-st-marks-church-frankford-1932/  

The Fanciful Arms of the American Church Union

Coat of Arms of the American Church Union
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

During the Covid-19 pandemic, I came across the most unusual coat of arms online and knew I needed to save the image for future analysis.  I had completely forgotten about the arms of the American Church Union--an organization within the Episcopal Church--until recently when I was reviewing old files.  Don't adjust your screen yet.  

Fanciful and decadent arms?  Yes.  Incorrect?  Well, no.  Just busy trying to convey multiple references by using too many charges.  

The American Church Union was established in 1936 as the outgrowth of previous versions, this one dedicated for the "maintenance and defense of the doctrine, disciple, and worship of the Church, as enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer." 

Image of the American Church Union coat of arms
Image source:  Woodruff (1936, November 11), page 621

Above is the original image published in the The Living Church article written by Clinton Rogers Woodruff (1868-1948) who served as President of the ACU and an attorney from Philadelphia.  Woodruff was actively involved in furthering the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Episcopal Church.  

Advertisement appearing as early as 1912
in Living Church Annual (1912), p.467

Woodruff (1936, November 11) notes this newly formed ACU was the outgrowth of two previous unions, one from the 1860s and the most recent version from 1908.  The article does not supply a blazon or design rationale for ACU's coat of arms, only noting the arms were previously borne by one of the earlier unions and seen in use as early as 1912.

 Side by side comparison of the arms of the United States of America
and those of the American Church Union
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

In the absence of any additional known data concerning the arms of the American Church Union, we can render a few informed guesses as to the design rationale.

These arms represent the state of heraldry in the Episcopal Church at the turn of the 20th century--the very purpose Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) saw in his heraldic work to correct by creating simple, clear, and perspicuous heraldry.  

First, we know by the dates involved these arms predate the 1940 adoption of arms of the Episcopal Church.  The lack of any unifying national symbol for the Episcopal Church in the earlier 20th century likely caused the designer to use the arms of the United States of America as the basis to show the organization's national scope.  I believe that much is quite clear when comparing ACU's arms with those of the US as seen above. 

Arms of the American Church Union
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Secondly, as to the charges on the cross quadrant, we're left to speculation as to their purpose.  Here's my working theory.  Given ACU's mission to preserve the 1) doctrine, 2) discipline, and 3) worship of the Episcopal Church in the Book of Common Prayer,  I think we can see a rationale beginning to emerge.

Doctrine could be illustrated by the seven red roses likely representing the seven sacraments of the Church, along with those three roses inverted surrounding the inescutcheon for the Holy Trinity.  The two gold bishop's mitres also likely represent discipline and authority.  For worship, I think, we see the blue fleur-de-lis in base which could represent the Blessed Virgin Mary and would strengthen the arms with a catholic purpose.

The blue inescutcheon with the Lamb of God might also be representative of worship, the heavenly banquet and aim of the Christian life.

I wanted to see if it was possible to revise the arms of ACU thinking and using those early mid-20th century resources for corporate heraldry.  Two possible revisions came to mind.

Two possible revisions for the arms of the American Church Union
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The first idea of mine was to draw out the inescutcheon and work with the image of the Lamb of God while still incorporating the three ideas of doctrine, discipline, and worship.

Revision Example 1
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Doctrine could be seen by the lamb standing on the barry wavy lines representing one of the many miracles Jesus performed during his earthly ministry--walking on water.  Discipline was again represented with the gold mitre of a bishop.  I liked the idea of the lamb embracing the mitre, showing the Church's tenderness and care for the ministry of the historic episcopacy.  

Pennon or flag designed by Chad Krouse, 2025
Click to Enlarge

I wanted the pennon or flag to show two references at once: creating a national symbol by placing the red and white bars horizontally to represent the flag of the United States and adding the chalice and host for both catholicity as well as for worship.  I felt this design gave a national symbol more readily recognizable to many by playing on the national flag.  

The chalice and host design has been used historically by Anglo-Catholic organizations and congresses, likely for the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.  I believe this image would also provide clearer references to ACU's catholic aims.

Admittedly, this design is still busy while attempting to simplify all the references made within ACU's arms.

Revision Example 2
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The second idea emerged as my preference of the pair.  With this design, I wanted to strip away as much fussiness as possible with a clear and simple design.   

Side by side comparison of two design ideas
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Using the arms of the US as the basis to form the bordure would provide a reference to the national scope of the organization, while the chalice and host in pale provides clear catholic identification which would likely have been known to many at that time.  I think it could be argued that doctrine, discipline, and worship can all three be represented in a singular "catholic," emblem of sorts.  I believe all three are implied.  Regardless, the chalice and host create a simple and clear design.  

Had the Episcopal Church's coat of arms been designed then,
here's an example of using those as the bordure.
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

I had two versions in mind here:  one to place the fleur-de-lis on the chalice playing on the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the Incarnation (a very catholic position), or even more simply to have the monogram of the Holy Name placed on the host.

I think either would work, but the latter is becoming my favorite.

My favorite version of the revised arms of ACU
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

In summary, the arms of the American Church Union represent the state of heraldry in the Episcopal Church at the turn of the 20th century and underscore the need for a unifying national church emblem.

La Rose's emergence on the heraldic scene would help steer the fanciful impulses for heraldry towards a more simpler and dignified approach, employing a systematic framework for designing new corporate arms while establishing a standard for others to later follow.

Works Cited

Living Church Annual (1912).  The Living Church Annual and Whittaker's Churchman's Almanac.  Milwaukee: The Young Churchman Company. 

Woodruff, Clinton R. (1936, November 28).  An earlier Church Union.  The Living Church, 621-622.