Episcopal Arms from New England

Arms of the Episcopal Church designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

It seems rather odd to me that several Episcopal diocesan arms which are nearly impossible to find clean digital emblazonments are from those sees in New England.  Well, that changes now.  

(1) The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut

The Diocese of Connecticut was the first American diocese to receive a grant of arms from the College of Arms in London.  That's right.  With letters patent dated 15 February 1924, the Diocese spent quite some time on the issue of heraldry.  Having initially accepted a design proposal from Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), the Diocese bowed to pressure from one of its lay leaders, Robert H. Symonds (1887-1962), who went to extraordinary lengths to convince diocesan leadership to reject la Rose's design proposal.  Furthermore, Symonds paid for the bill from the herald's college in order for the diocese to have arms designed and granted by the heraldic authority.  The result: a rather busy coat.

Diocese of Connecticut coat of arms, granted by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

Blazon:  Azure, a saltire Argent in chief two swords poments and hilts Or on an ineschuteon sable a key and a pastoral staff in saltire of the third and on a chief also of the third three grape vines fructed and issuing from mounds proper.

Banner of arms, the Diocese of Connecticut.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

(2) The Episcopal Diocese of Vermont

Currently under research.  It is highly likely the arms of the Diocese of Vermont were designed by la Rose given the distinctive use of charging the ends of piles.  I have numerous examples in my data where la Rose uses this method.  For Vermont, it's clear the reference here is to the Green Mountains.  

Diocese of Vermont coat of arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Blazon: Argent, three piles from base each ending in a cross formy Vert

(3) The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts

This diocesan coat is well known to be from the hand of la Rose, designed in 1906, and among his earliest Episcopal arms.  

Diocese of Massachusetts coat of arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Blazon:  Azure, on a pale gules fimbriated argent a sword of the last, the hilt in base or, enfiled with three coronets composed of crosses pattee and fleur-de-lis of the same; in dexter chief a star argent

Banner of arms, the Diocese of Massachusetts
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Design Conformity: The Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

Seal and arms of the Diocese of Washington
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

There stands out one coat of arms which drew wrath from the pen of Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) regarding the state of heraldry in the Episcopal Church. The heraldic designer from Harvard made his life's mission to correct the wrongs inflicted by arm chair heralds in the US during the early-to-mid 20th Century and set a new standard for corporate heraldry. The coat of arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC quickly became la Rose's favorite target highlighting the gross misunderstanding shared by many Americans when designing arms.

Excerpt from la Rose (1907): 

Perhaps the worst of all, as even though unconsciously, the most impudent and misleading of American coats [Diocese of Washington, DC]...From the foregoing it will be seen: first, that the dexter impalement of the diocesan arms is an incorrect version of the arms of the kingdom of Jerusalem; and secondly, that in using these arms the diocese and bishop are guilty of a bit of heraldic assumption which even the Patriarch of Jerusalem or the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem would never dream of" (64).

In the same article, the heraldic designer proposed the following revision:

La Rose's (1907) illustrations published in his article.

La Rose's revision appears deceptively simply, yet this coat reveals a level of mastery already at work in his early heraldic career--combining all the desired elements and yet clearly providing geographical identification at the same time.

Arms of George Washington.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The blazon la Rose created for his proposal:  Argent, two bars and in chief, between as many stars, a mural crown of five towers all Gules; on a chief Azure a Jerusalem cross Or (La Rose, 1907).

 

Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

Sometimes, however, those great designs cannot break through rife heralditis.  As such, the Diocese of Washington, DC would not take action on la Rose's proposal for 39 years.

Retired US-Army Major George Moseley Chandler (1876-1961), a former member of the Joint Commission on Flag and Seal, was the layman who helped correct these heraldic matters.  The year 1946 would prove to be a banner year for the Major.

Chandler's design for the arms of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Chandler, of note, claims two heraldic designs in the national sphere.  First, Chandler designed the coat of arms for his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, which was adopted by the national organization in 1897 (Beta Theta Pi, n.d.).  Secondly, it was Chandler's rendering of the newly illustrated seal and coat of arms for the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church which General Convention adopted in 1946 (Oldham, 1946).

Chandler's design of the Presiding Bishop's seal
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Following successful adoption of his design for the Presiding Bishop's seal, Chandler would turn his attention back home to his diocese in Washington, DC.  During its annual convention in 1946 the Diocese of Washington would officially adopt la Rose's design using Chandler's rendering inside a vesica-style seal (Chandler, 1946).  

Banner of arms for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC
based on la Rose's design.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Now in 2024, some 78 years later, the design of arms for the diocese has not changed, proving la Rose's eye for sensible corporate heraldry.

Works Cited

Beta Theta Pi. (n.d.).  Coat of arms & great seal.  Beta Theta Pi.  https://www.beta.org/archives-heraldry/

Chandler, G.M. (1946 December).  Seal of the Diocese of Washington--1946.  Washington Diocese, 5-6.

La Rose, Pierre de C. (1907 November).  Ecclesiastical heraldry in America II.  Diocesan arms.  Christian Art, 2(2), 59-71.

Oldham, G. Ashton. (1946 May 26).  A seal for the Presiding Bishop.  The Living Church, 112(21), 12-13.

Bridges & Cantabrigians

The impaled arms of The Rt. Rev. Augustine F. Hickey as a Domestic Prelate
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

When designing corporate heraldry, providing clear geographical identification through abstraction transforms an otherwise acceptable coat of arms to an extraordinary one.  Heraldic designers who  understand and master this foundational principle, create arms with true carrying power.  In other words, these designs persist, standing the test of time and last.  One such designer, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), expertly illustrated these skills in nearly all of his corporate work. 

La Rose's original design of arms
for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Based at Harvard, la Rose created numerous arms for Boston area organizations using imagery to reflect the history and topography of one of the nation's oldest cities.  A trimount in base to reference Tremontinensis, an old Latin moniker for Boston, as one example of la Rose's skill used in his design of arms for the Archdiocese of Boston (La Rose, 1911, 5).  Crowns composed of crosses patte and fleurs-de-lis to reference St. Botolph's Town was yet another method la Rose employed for geographical identification in the arms of Boston College (he even used the trimount too).

By 1937, however, we see la Rose shifting gears and getting VERY local with his design of arms for St. Paul's Parish near Harvard Square--the heraldic designer's home parish.  While Brucker (1910) reveals that la Rose was an Episcopalian earlier in his life, at some point he "swam the Tiber" converting to Roman Catholicism.  

St. Paul's Harvard Square was la Rose's spiritual home and place of divine refuge, and whose sanctuary was the final "amen" and venue for the heraldic designer's requiem mass (The St. Louis Review, 7 March 1941).  

The personal arms and motto of The Rt. Rev. Augustine F. Hickey
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025 

The person charged with la Rose's spiritual care was The Rt. Rev. Augustine F. Hickey (1883-1972), another Cantabrigian and a rather interesting cleric.  For a recent spotlight on Hickey's life, please read this article in The Pilot.  

Monsignor Augustine F. Hickey (1883-1972)
Source: The Pilot.

On January 18, 1937, Pope Pius XI named Father Hickey a Domestic Prelate, an honorific for Roman clergy and likely triggering an opportunity for la Rose to design a proper coat of arms for his pastor and parish (Wills, 1993, 16).  

La Rose's painting of Hickey's impaled arms above provides the following blazon:  Impaled arms.  Dexter, Gules, an embattled fess enarched Argent, in base barry wavy Argent and Azure and overall a sword in pale Or point to base (St. Paul's Parish).  Sinister, Gyronny of eight Sable and Or, on the first four acorns and on the last as many oak leaves counterchanged (Hickey).  Hickey's Latin motto, Primum Regnum Dei, translates to English as "first, the Kingdom of God."

Without any data, correspondence, or written blazon, la Rose's painting in full color is extremely helpful in piecing together the blazon.      

The arms of St. Paul's Parish (Cambridge, MA)
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

Through his design for St. Paul's Parish, la Rose creatively explores a new method for geographical identification--no trimount or crowns here.  La Rose gets local, extraordinary so, with his design for the parish's arms.  The barry wavy lines in base is a clear reference to the Charles River which separates Boston and Cambridge.  Here's the plot twist.  By 1927, the Charles saw one newcomer bridging these two localities with the completed construction of the John W. Weeks FootBridge.  To render the overpass  abstractly, la Rose judiciously arched an embattled fess providing a heraldic reference for the footbridge.  The newly constructed walkway was not insignificant, for the Weeks Bridge effectively connected Boston directly onto Harvard's original campus.  

Arms of St. Paul's Harvard Square and Cambridge City Council (England)
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Perhaps there is another consideration for la Rose's rationale, as posited by my colleague Joseph McMillan of the American Heraldry Society.  There are examples of la Rose "Americanizing" arms by differencing through tincture or metal changes--the Diocese of Richmond (Virginia) is one such example.  The heraldic designer likely pull inspiration from the established arms of the city council of Cambridge in England.

The arms of Cambridge were granted from the College of Arms in 1575 and blazoned: "Gules, a bridge, in chief a flower de luce gold between two roses silver on a point wave three boats sable."

Dorling (1911) notes that traditionally heralds ascribed arms for St. Paul using Gules (red) for the field along with a sword Argent (silver/white).  La Rose differenced the parish's arms by flipping the sword's metal from silver to gold.  Given the volume of designs he created, la Rose would need multiple methods for showing unification, differencing, and geographical identification in order to render clear, perspicuous arms.

Now in 2024, the arms of St. Paul's have reached a respectable age of 87-years old, proving the foundational principle of corporate heraldic design--well designed arms are lasting cherished symbols beloved by those corporate bodies.  La Rose's work, as seen through the eyes of the 21st Century, continues to both challenge and inspire.

Works Cited

Brucker, A. (1910).  The essentials of ecclesiastical heraldry.  The American Ecclesiastical Review, 42, 190-198.

Dorling, E.E. (1911).  Heraldry of the Church.  Mowbray & Co.

La Rose, P. de C. (1911).  Arms of His Grace the Archbishop of Boston.  The American Ecclesiastical Review, 45(5), 2-11.  

O'Grady, R.M. (2024, June 7).  Msgr. Augustine F. Hickey:  First resident of Regina Cleri.  The Pilot. 

https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=197573

The St. Louis Review. (1941, March 7).  Noted exponent of art of heraldry succumbs.  The St. Louis Review, 1(10), 3.

Wills, J. (1993).  The Catholics of Harvard Square.  St. Bede's.  

O Canada!

Arms and crest of the Canadian Heraldic Authority,
rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

When my heraldic journey commenced years ago, I became utterly fascinated with my eyes saw coming from the heralds to the north.  Canadian heraldry has come into its own during the 21st Century and decidedly different from its English roots.  

Some of my favorites, L-R:  The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada,
Canadian Heraldic Authority, and Order of St John in Canada.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Banner of arms of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada based on the Society's arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The coat of arms of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The coat of arms of the Canadian Heraldic Authority.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Arms of the Order of St. John Canada
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.