New Arms for the Episcopal Parish of Alton and its Rector

The newly adopted coat of arms of the Episcopal Parish of Alton
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

It is quite humbling when someone compliments your art work; even more so when it becomes the identity of an entire community.  I am thrilled to share the newly adopted coat of arms for the Episcopal Parish of Alton in Alton, IL.  The Rector is a dear friend and I wanted to help as he establishes his new ministry as Rector.  Somehow, I managed to convince him to adopt arms too.

Following the framework for corporate heraldry used by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), the design for these arms came readily to mind--my own mental "refrigerator test."  In other words, when I struggle to construct a coherent design, I know the time isn't right just yet.  On the other hand, there have been many instances when the design becomes immediately clear to me--those designs are the best.  The arms of the Episcopal Parish of Alton came to mind rather quickly, a positive indication for a prospective coat of arms.

Infographic from the proposal
Click image to enlarge

In a nutshell, la Rose's goal in creating corporate arms was to layer as many references identifying the owner while keeping the design simple and clear.  One charge--or in "la-Rosian" style, charge-on-charge--could combine multiple references to the corporate body without fuss.  

Since the Episcopal Parish of Alton combines two historically independent parishes, St. Paul's and Trinity, I knew there was a solution honoring the heritage of both while creating something new in the process.

The blazon I landed on seemed clear and reasonable to me.  It combined references to the dedication of both parishes with the sword in pale for St. Paul and three paddle wheels for the Holy Trinity.  Moreover, the chevron makes a nice image of two separate sides coming together at one point, and I felt satisfied in honoring the two communities.  The paddle wheels and barry wavy lines on the chevron reference the parish's location along the Mississippi River and honors local history.  

The blazon for the arms of the Episcopal Parish of Alton: Gules, a sword in pale Argent point to base hilt and pommel Or debruised by a chevron barry wavy Argent and Azure fimbriated Or with three paddle wheels of the field.

Applications for Identity 

Example of business card

Example of letterhead

I wanted to design a simple word mark incorporating the new arms to help reinforce its use within the daily life of the parish.  For example, the two images above show the coat of arms and word mark used to create official parish stationary, such as business cards and letterhead.  

Armorial flag, processional banner, and seal designed
for the Episcopal Parish of Alton
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Countless applications come to mind for the new arms:  coffee mugs, lapel pins, automobile stickers, tee shirts, and the list of merch goes on and on.  Because these files are rendered in vector, the sky is the limit for adding this new dignified decoration to almost anything.  

Cover page of the proposal
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

I believe it is critically important that all members of the corporate body have the ability to inhabit their organization's coat of arms--be that on a Christmas ornament or cufflinks, owning a piece of the corporate brand only serves to strengthen and sustain it. 

This was a fun project for me and I'm delighted that the parish will use these designs in one way or another.  I am thankful that I can begin to share my work freely for good use.  My goal is to help smaller parishes either adopt new coats of arms to be used as branding, or help update current digital assets with vector files for use in social media, web design, and so on.  The rationale is that these faith communities would likely not spend money on this sort of project--I've found my niche for ministry and a special way I can serve.  

New Coat of Arms for the Rector

The coat of arms of The Rev. Daniels,
Rector of the Episcopal Parish of Alton
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Not only was I able to have my first parish coat of arms adopted, I designed arms for the Rector too.  

Arms: Argent, on a fess Sable two Mayflowers (epigaea repens) Argent barbed Vert each charged with a fleur-de-lis Azure debruised by a pile Azure charged with a dove descending Argent haloed Or

Motto: Dum Spiro Spero, “While I breathe, I hope”

Design Rationale: The new armiger is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, and referenced through the clerical color of black for the fess. The fess is charged with two Mayflowers (epigaea repens) honoring the armiger’s ancestor, William Bradford (1590-1657), who emigrated from England and arrived at Plymouth Colony aboard the Mayflower in 1620.

The flowers are charged with a fleur-de-lis representing not only the City of St. Louis where his ministry began, but also his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Additionally, the fleur-de-lis is used as the crest in the armiger’s order, the Order of Christ the Savior.

The blue pile represents the limitless heavens above as the dove of peace descends offering grace, healing, and hope in the world today. The motto is attributed to King Charles the Martyr, representing another saintly model for the armiger.

Date: 10 January 2025

The cleric's arms are ensigned by a black galero, cords alternating white and black, and ending with one tassel to indicate his priestly office.  As a guideline, I followed the Earl Marshal's Warrant of 1976 which authorized clergy in the Church of England to ensign their arms with ecclesiastical hats following a prescribed "annex schedule."  To read the Earl Marshal's Warrant of 1976 regarding the use of ecclesiastical hats, click this link to view the document on the College of Arms website.

To view illustrations by rank/office from the College of Arms, click this link for the College of Arms website.

Arms for an Episcopal Priest

The newly assumed arms of an Episcopal Priest
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

I'm honored to share my design of a coat of arms recently assumed by an Episcopal priest.  For privacy, let's just call him "Father Sam."  

Arms: Argent, on a fess Sable two Mayflowers (epigaea repens) Argent barbed Vert each charged with a fleur-de-lis Azure debruised by a pile Azure charged with a dove descending Argent haloed Or

Motto: Dum Spiro Spero, Latin for, “While I breathe, I hope”

My version of a "library print" including the arms of the
cleric's seminary, diocese, etc.
Designed and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Design Rationale: The new armiger is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, and referenced through the clerical color of black for the fess. The fess is charged with two Mayflowers (epigaea repens) honoring the armiger’s ancestor, William Bradford (1590-1657), who emigrated from England and arrived at Plymouth Colony aboard the Mayflower in 1620.  The flowers are charged with a fleur-de-lis representing not only the City of St. Louis where his ministry began, but also his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Additionally, the fleur-de-lis is used as the crest in the armiger’s order, the Order of Christ the Savior.  The blue pile represents the limitless heavens above as the dove of peace descends offering grace, healing, and hope in the world today. The motto is attributed to King Charles the Martyr, representing another saintly model for the armiger.  The external ornament of a black galero with a single tassel follows the guidance set forth in The Earl Marshal’s Warrant of 1976 which codified such use in the arms of clergy in the Church of England.

Designer: Chad M. Krouse, EdD of Richmond, Virginia

Date: 10 January 2025

Shakespeare's Arms

Arms of William Shakespeare.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I feel like its a rite of passage...a step forward that every aspiring heraldic artist must tackle...yes, the arms of the great poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616).  I will say, however, I actually enjoyed putting these arms together in vector format.  Who doesn't love good canting arms?  Which reminds me of a saying I recently heard, "heralds don't pun, they cant."  

Scott-Giles (1950) offers the following blazon for the armorial ensigns of William Shakespeare:

Arms:  Or, on a bend Sable a spear Or headed Argent 

Crest:  On a wreath Or and Sable, a falcon displayed Argent supporting a spear Or headed Argent

Motto:  Non Sanz Droict ("Not without right")

The crest of William Shakespeare.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The crest is simple, clean and straightforward.  I like it!  Moreover, I was thrilled to be able to have the falcon actually holding the spear.   

Arms of William Shakespeare.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I even added what's called "diapering" in the background to help provide better visualization of these arms.

From Scott-Giles (1950).

I enjoy Scott-Giles (1950) work on the heraldry of Shakespeare, definitely worth having a copy in your library.  

Works Cited

Scott-Giles, C.W. (1950).  Shakespeare's Heraldry.  AMS Press.

The Struggles of Personal Heraldry

Arms of private armigers designed by the author.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I've been asked before to design personal coats of arms--mostly from well-intentioned individuals struggling to come up with their own design.  I certainly relate to this design struggle, vividly recalling my own ordeal tearing through untold drafts with dissatisfaction.  One thing, however, changed for me when I decided to research how well designed arms were pieced together with intention and meaning.  When I kept stumbling on this rather odd name, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), I decided this guy must know something about heraldic design and so it began.  Researching a designer's work unlocked everything for me, for I knew I did not want to simply throw a bunch of charges on a field and call it a day.  I wanted a design layered, abstractly true to my brand, and above all balanced and beautiful.

My journey into this newfound world of heraldry all of sudden became special and filled with purpose.  While it took time and many drafts to arrive on my chosen design, I was glad for both the journey and its intended destination.  Now ten years on since I finalized my arms, I'm still in love with them.  

For this reason I politely decline most requests to design personal arms.  In a word, these are personal.  Without really knowing a person, and I mean truly knowing them, I find it quite difficult to come up with ideas that resonate and reflect the would-be-armiger.  I do encourage them to take their own journey, take time, and ultimately to be patient.

That being said, the few designs I have completed have been for close friends--meaningful experiences for myself and the armiger.  Will I do more in the future, who knows?  My love of corporate heraldry readily holds my attention these days.  

Old Armiger, Fresh Arms II

New emblazonment of arms for a private armiger.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Final emblazonment for a private armiger.  While I originally designed these arms in September 2014, we were never able to get a digital emblazonment, something I regret now.  

Arms: Gules, on a pale Azure fimbriated Argent three escallops Argent enfiled with as many vidame coronets Or;

Crest: On a wreath of Argent and Gules, a lamb rampant gorged of a vidame's coronet Or holding in dexter arm a market stick proper erect with crook facing sinister and on sinister arm an eschuteon Argent thereupon a Chi Rho Gules;

Motto: "From Strength to Strength."

Old Arminger, Fresh Arms

New emblazonment of arms for a private arminger.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

On fire this weekend and managed to knock off another project that I've delayed for some time.  Arms were designed in October 2014 but never managed to get a digital emblazonment.  It's lovely to see these in full color now.

Arms: Per chevron Gules and barry wavy Argent and Azure, in chief a demi sun in splendor Or and in base an anchor Or;

Crest: On a wreath of Argent and Gules, a Golden Retriever passant gorged of a collar Gules, in dexter paw a shotgun proper;

Motto: "Fire When Ready."

New Armiger

New personal coat of arms for a dear friend.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Now that Congress is over I have a little more time to pursue a few projects that I had shelved for some time.  One important project that I wanted to complete straightaway was to render digital emblazonments of arms for a close friend.  We jointly designed the arms back during the Summer '23 and it was time to get this off my list--and I'm thrilled that I can actually do this work digitally now too.

The blazon for these new arms:  

Arms: Sable, on a pile reversed argent a fir tree proper issuant from flames Gules in base, charged with a guitar pick Argent point to base with a chevron rendered as a carpenter’s square Gules.

Crest: On a torse Argent and Sable, a stag salient guardant proper incensed Gules, holding a six-string acoustic guitar proper.

Motto: Ich Geb Bestes, German for “I’ll try my best”

A quick bit about the design rationale.  The armiger was born and lives in Richmond, Virginia. The new armiger is both a musician and a carpenter. In the days following the Christmas holiday, the armiger likes to collect the dead or dying Christmas trees for a ceremonial burning party--actually a nice get together of friends to celebrate the end of the holiday season. The fir tree engulfed in flames makes this reference clear.

New crest.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Charging the tree with a guitar pick alludes to the armiger's passion for playing and writing music on the guitar. The addition of the chevron on the guitar pick, rendered as a carpenter's square, illustrates the armiger's profession.

Draft badge idea for the new arminger.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Personal banner of arms, private arminger.  Left the field on this pure black.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I seen examples of using a faded black whenever the field is Sable (black) to avoid an otherwise stark heaviness.  I tried this with the arms and then left the field on the flag pure black to show the difference.  I'm waiting to see which the new armiger prefers.  I love this simple design.

Vector Magic

Arms of the American Heraldry Society.
I'm obsessed with this shield shape now.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

All this practice in Adobe Illustrator is beginning to payoff...I recently got round to doing my own arms (about time, I think) and even created a lozenge shield for my daughter.  I have not yet begun to explore shading and highlighting in the software as I feel like I still have a ways to go getting the basics dialed in.  

The arms of Chad Krouse

I'm still in love with the design I created in 2014, and its hard to image that 10 years have flown by since those days of multiple drafts while sketching everything in colored pencil.  I would have NEVER conceived the possibility of one day creating novice renderings on a computer.  

Arms of the author's daughter.

Banner of arms of Chad Krouse

I even successfully tackled my first ribbon with text all in vector--that was a fun learning experience.   The possibilities, now, are endlessly exciting.

For the Love of Flags

My ever-expanding collection of armorial desk flags.

Readers will recently notice that I've seriously kicked up my artwork game, namely adding armorial flags and banners to posts in an effort to break up lengthy texts.  My confession:  I am absolutely fascinated by flying heraldry and all thanks to Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941).

I vividly recall the first time I encountered one of la Rose's flags early in my research back in 2014.  For his commission with Mundelein College in 1930, la Rose not only designed a beautiful coat for the institution, but rendered an armorial flag and "banner" as well.  Please click here to learn more about Mundelein College's arms.  I had no idea that a shield's design could be arranged in such a way, and my interest was clearly piqued. 

Armorial flag of Mundelein College designed by la Rose in 1930.
Image courtesy of the Women's and Leadership Archives, Loyola University, 2023.

Seeing la Rose's flag design set off a series of ideas running in my head regarding arms familiar to my experience.  Having admittedly poor draftsmanship, I broke out a pencil and ruler fumbling through multiple attempts to arrange the arms of Sewanee: The University of the South and its schools into flags.  Looking back now, selecting these arms with the intricate Sewanee tressure was probably not the wisest choice for my first go at this newfound interest.  Please click here to read about Sewanee's heraldry.  

Pencil drawings of armorial flags of the University of the South and its schools.
By the Author, 2014.

Dialing in the Sewanee tressure to near perfection about did me in, but I learned that it's all about straight lines and angles.  In the end, I appreciated Dr. McCrady's creativity when he designed these arms.  Below is a curated display of armorial flags commissioned so far, and there's a few more still to come.

The University of the South. 
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

College of Arts & Sciences, the University of the South.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

The School of Theology, the University of the South.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

Hampden-Sydney College.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

The American Heraldry Society.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2023.

My attributed design for an armorial flag for Fuqua School.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2023.

The Medieval Academy of America.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

Lenox School.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Lucas Hofmann, 2024.

I've taken my passion for armorial flags to the next level by attempting to digitally emblazon some of my favorite arms designed by la Rose.  Below are several flags I recently rendered as part of a study of la Rose's methods for translating arms from shield to flag.  While not perfect, as I am by no means a digital heraldic artist, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.  Honestly, I was slightly impressed after my first go at things.  I started with Harvard's arms and the next thing I knew I created over 20 flags.  

While la Rose did not create the arms for Harvard University, he was the first to translate its shield into a banner of arms which the Harvard Corporation officially adopted in 1918.  Please click here to read more about la Rose's design for an armorial flag for Harvard.  

The second flag rendering attempted was local--the arms of the Diocese of Richmond which are simple and lovely.  To learn more about la Rose's design for the Diocese of Richmond, please click here.  Finally, if the reader is mesmerized--like I am--by the arms la Rose created for St. George's School, click here for my analysis on these stunning arms.  The portion of the lozengy field covered by the red cross of St. George creates a visual delight drawing the eyes immediately to the arms.  

On the heels of three successful armorial flag emblazonments, I went full throttle without looking back.  So enjoy these flags, image if the reader had nothing to look at other than my humble pencil sketches...   

Harvard University based on la Rose's design.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Kirkland House, Harvard.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose and have since changed. Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Harvard Law School.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose and have since changed.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Harvard Divinity School.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Diocese of Richmond (Virginia).  The arms were originally designed by la Rose.  Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Archdiocese of Seattle.  The arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

St. George's School (RI).  These arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Brooks School (MA).  Most likely designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.  These arms were redesigned by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Pierson College at Yale.  These arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Rice University.  These arms were originally designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Two quick projects in the pipeline include digital art for my armorial flag and one for my brother.  Below are my final pencil drawings for Hofmann.

Armorial flag of my brother's arms.

Layout of my assumed arms as an armorial flag.

Armorial flags continue to fascinate me as visual identification flying high on a pole.  The applications for heraldry are truly endless.  More to come.

Armorial Assumption & New Arms

 

Newly assumed arms for a dear friend,
emblazoned by Dimitri Prica of Canada, October 2023.

There is nothing more American, in my opinion, than armorial assumption.  What exactly does that mean?  Simply this: in the absence of any central government agency to grant or regulate the use of arms, US citizens can simply adopt their own coat and rightfully claim the design as their own.  There are some provisions to this scheme; the ancient customs and rules regarding heraldry should be followed, and any future armiger should perform due diligence to avoid possible infringement.  In other words, it would be unwise to copy an established coat of arms known to exist--registrations and published armorials help protect against infringement.

Adopted crest, created on April 2, 2023.

What kind of friend asks, "do you have a coat of arms?"  Well, I am one of those friends.  When my close friend responded with interest in assuming arms, my creative side began bursting.  Discussions of possible ideas began in earnest during April.  The image of a possible crest immediately became apparent in my mind.  With the armiger's German heritage and surname translated as deer, I knew I wanted to incorporate a stag, flames, and a six-stringed acoustic guitar.  Once I sketched out the idea, the armiger quickly approved.  The process of designing his shield, however, would take much longer.

The final sketch presented for approval. Click to enlarge.

I worked out numerous ideas but nothing really took hold.  In August, I was scrolling through a Facebook group on civic heraldry and found inspiration--the arms for the Village of Žárovná located in the Czech Republic.  Since the village's arms are well established, it was important to avoid infringing on their beloved coat, due diligence prevents honest mistakes.    

The arms of the Village of Žárovná,
Czech Republic.
Image source: Wikipedia.

We landed on the following blazon:  Sable, on a pile reversed argent a fir tree proper issuant from flames gules in base, charged with a guitar pick argent point to base with a chevron rendered as a carpenter’s square gules.  This new design is suitably differenced from the village's arms in many ways and I felt confident that we could proceed.  Let's explore the design rationale for these new arms.

The new armiger is both a musician and a carpenter.  In the days following the Christmas holiday, the armiger likes to collect the dead or dying Christmas trees for a ceremonial burning party--actually a nice get together of friends to celebrate the end of the holiday season.  The fir tree engulfed in flames makes this reference clear.  

Charging the tree with a guitar pick alludes to the armiger's passion for playing and writing music on the guitar.  The addition of the chevron on the guitar pick, rendered as a carpenter's square, illustrates the armiger's profession.  Overall, I believe the identification and carrying power of this shield works well and is simple.  

Those readers following my research journey on Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) will no doubt recognize the rendering of the flames as well as the carpenter's square--two items from la Rose that I wanted to incorporate into the design.

Sketch showing the shield, crest, and motto.
Click to enlarge.

Arms: Sable, on a pile reversed argent a fir tree proper issuant from flames gules in base, charged with a guitar pick argent point to base with a chevron rendered as a carpenter’s square gules;

Crest: On a torse argent and sable, a stag salient guardant proper incensed gules, holding a six-string acoustic guitar proper;

Motto: Ich Geb Bestes, German for “I’ll try my best”

Designer:  Chad M. Krouse, Ed.D. of Richmond, Virginia

Heraldic Artist:  Dimitri Prica of Canada

Date of Assumption:  October 27, 2023

I was thrilled to see Prica's emblazonment today, and the new armiger is over the moon with excitement as well.  To learn more about the heraldic work of Prica, please click here.  Keeping heraldry alive and relevant in the 21st Century is important to me, and I truly enjoy the opportunity to help design new arms.  By all means, assume your arms (but please follow the rules).