Mission Digital: Preserving Arms From the Past II

Arms of the City of Kinston, NC designed by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I'm thrilled to share several more armorial ensigns that are seemingly impossible to find.  By recreating these coats of arms in vector format and sharing here, its my sincere hope that we can prevent their extinction.   

The arms of the City of Kinston in North Carolina is one such case and these arms will soon get a post of their own.  So for now, enjoy!

Coat of arms for the City of Williamsburg, Virginia.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

In October 1976, the City of Williamsburg, Virginia received a devisal of arms from the College of Arms in London.  These arms are extremely difficult to find anywhere on the web and I needed this coat for a proposal of new arms for a corporate body in Williamsburg as an example.

Blazon for the arms of the City of Williamsburg:  Vert, a sun in his spendor between four billets in chief and three billets in base a bordure Or.

Arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the National Student Council of the Episcopal Church have been covered previously.  These arms represent Pierre de Chaignon la Rose's first national design for the Episcopal Church.  Years later, la Rose would render the ultimate design creating the Episcopal Church's own coat of arms.  Please click here to read more about these arms.

Arms of the Catholic Church Extension Society.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Next up, we have the arms la Rose designed for the Catholic Church Extension Society, an early national design for the Roman Catholic Church in the US.  These arms have previously been covered (but not emblazoned!).  Please click here to read more about these arms.  

Arms of Lancaster Catholic High School.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of Lancaster Catholic High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania are among my favorites designed by la Rose.  Designed between 1928-1930, the school's arms are harmonious, simple, and layered with richness--incorporating the Lancaster rose is brilliant!  Again, rather difficult to find a good rendering out in the wilds of the Internet.

Freshly digitized in vector, several arms of Episcopal Preparatory Schools.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I was never happy with my renderings for St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire as well as St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island.  Both arms were designed by la Rose and I felt I had not done justice to his brilliant design work.

Now in vector format, I can say that I'm pleased and ready to put these designs to aside!  Click here to read about la Rose's work with these three schools.

From L-R:  Arms of Kenyon College and its foundation, Bexley Hall Seminary.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio has a lot of terrible renderings of its arms, most completely ignore the one published blazon I was able to find.  Additionally, Kenyon College established Bexley Hall Seminary as a school to train future clergy in the Episcopal Church.  The seminary's arms are all but extinct, so I went ahead and rendered these in vector format.  

These two armorial ensigns hold immense historical importance as they represent the first known design in US scholastic heraldry using a unifying chief (showing allegiance with the corporate sole).  I've written about both arms and click here to learn more.

La Rose 1921 proposed design for national arms for the Episcopal Church.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Finally, I'm sharing my emblazonment of la Rose's proposed national arms for the Episcopal Church submitted in 1921.  I've covered these arms previously in retelling the complete story of how the Episcopal Church received her own coat of arms.  Please click here to read more.

Lilies and Swords

Arms of St. Joseph's Academy, St. Paul, MN.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

In 1851, the Sisters of St. Joseph established St. Joseph's Academy in St. Paul, MN and would later enlist Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) to design a proper coat of arms for the school.  Created in 1927, la Rose blazoned the arms:  Azure, a semme of Madonna lilies Argent, on a sword in pale Or with hilt in base, an open book edged with two clasps Or inscribed Suboles Doctrinae Pietas (“Reverence, Scion of Scholarship”). 

A library print of the Academy's arms from St. Joseph Academy (1971).
From the Author's private collection.

I remember well when I stumbled upon these arms years ago, utterly fascinated by la Rose's semme work with the lilies.  A striking design for the Sister's school.

Learning how to recreate la Rose's design in vector format presented some challenges.  The library print above was my only guide and I struggled to figure out how to make the semme of lilies work.    After learning what a "clipping mask," is and how to use it, bam we have semme!  

The design incorporates the lilies to reference the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the sword in pale geographically locates the academic institution in St. Paul, MN.  Simple, clear, and perspicuous heraldry at its finest.  La Rose's ability to abstractly illustrate multiple data points in one harmonious design is truly his gift to US corporate heraldry--setting a standard without the need for quartered arms littered with multiple charges as so often seems to be the case in scholastic heraldry.

I simply love this design.

Works Cited

St. Joseph Academy. (1971).  School of happy memories: A pictorial history 1851-1971.  Privately printed.

Lecture Notice

Free virtual lecture announcement!!!

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 17th at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern) for a free virtual lecture sponsored by the American Heraldry Society.  

To register for this program, please click here for the American Heraldry Society's registration page.

I'll be presenting--for the first time--one of my favorite themes from my research on Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941), his use of the phoenix rising from its flames.  We'll cover both some scholastic and ecclesiastical heraldry.  I promise to make this exciting and captivating so log on and join us!

Mission Digital: Preserving Arms From the Past

The arms of St. Edward Seminary (now closed) designed by
Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered now in vector format by Chad Krouse, 2024.

As I continue to learn and grow in the new world of digital heraldry, I'm embracing a new purpose.  My mission:  to preserve coats of arms from various US corporate bodies that either no longer exist or extremely difficult to find.  This new idea isn't really new for me, most of my heraldic research on Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) has uncovered numerous armorial ensigns that have seemingly been lost to history.  In many cases with la Rose's work, some of his designs have never seen color much less rendered in digital form.  To read one such example, please click here to learn about the arms of St. Edward Seminary.

My new purpose also helps as I continue to present various case studies on US corporate arms--having nicely rendered arms adds tremendous value in telling the stories behind the designs.

Arms of the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic,
designed by John Nainfa and Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade,
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the Catholic University of America,
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

While I've previously covered the arms for the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic, Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, the Catholic University of America, and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, I wanted another shot at reworking the designs in vector and truly give them justice.  Please click here to read my previous analysis on these arms.

The arms of Lenox School (now closed),
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

I also wanted to rework the arms of Lenox School, mainly the open and inscribed book.  Click here to read more about the arms of Lenox School.

Arms of the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors,
designed by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors is another coat I believe has never been digitally rendered before, as I discovered it buried deep in an archives.  I've written previously about this unique design created by la Rose, but now I've finally rendered these arms in vector format.  These arms are among my favorite designed by la Rose.  

And now some fresh emblazonments of old coats of arms.

The arms of Rich's Department Store (now closed),
devised by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Perhaps one of the most unusual arms I've encountered coming from London, the arms devised in 1966 for Rich's Incorporated, formerly a major department store located in Atlanta, Georgia.  Based on my research, Rich's arms represent the only US-commercial body to have petitioned the College of Arms for a devisal of arms.  The retailer merged with what is now Macy's.   

The arms of Georgia State College (now university)
devised by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Georgia State College (now a university), located in Atlanta, Georgia, was the first US academic institution to receive a devisal of arms from the College of London following the Earl Marshal's change in the early 1960s.  The university, as far as I can tell, still use their arms within a seal matrix for its legal mark.  I don't see any use of the arms for decoration, etc.  I wanted to digitally render these arms in vector format as part of my mission to preserve the design for future generations of scholars. 

The coat of arms of Winthrop College (now university)
devised by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Next up, we have the rather lovely and simple arms of Winthrop College (now a university) located in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  Sadly, the university no longer uses these arms in favor of design and thus I wanted to ensure their preservation by digitally rendering them.  I've not encountered a digital version in the wilds of the Internet.

The coat of arms of Kent School,
devised by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Finding a decent rendering of the Kent School's coat of arms has become virtually impossible, and I knew I wanted to help change that.  Located in Kent, Connecticut, the Kent School's arms were originally designed in late 1920s and used a black engrailed fess with a gold fretty.  To celebrate the school's centenary, it received a devisal of arms from the College of Arms as seen above.  Black became blue!   

The arms of Roxbury Latin School,
granted by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I encountered the same issue when trying to find a good emblazonment of the arms for Roxbury Latin School in Massachusetts.  The school, given its pre-Indepedence founding date, received an actual grant of arms from London.  Their lovely and simple.

Arms of the Mescalero Apache Tribe devised by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

File these arms under "extremely rare."  The arms of the Mescalero Apache Tribe represent the only known design of arms for a first nations corporate body in the US.  The tribe received a devisal of arms from the College of Arms in 1986.  I may be wrong here and more research will be needed.  The arms are simple and likely represent important Apache symbols.  I'd love to get my hands on the official blazon.

Arms of the American Society of the Order of Saint John,
granted by the College of Arms.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Before the US Priory of the Order of St. John was elevated to a priory, the organization existed as the American Society of the Order of St. John.  Granted by the College of Arms and conveyed by letters patent dated 24 May 1988, the arms are blazoned:  Gules, a cross Argent in the first quarter the Royal Crest proper and on the cross a Bald Eagle displayed proper.

Following the Society's elevation to a priory, the organization would receive a new grant from the College in 1996. 

The arms of Tift College (now closed),
designed by Col. Harry D. Temple.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

And finally, for now, we have the first digitally rendered arms of Tift College in Georgia which has since closed.  The arms were designed by Col. Harry D. Temple (1911-2004) and I've written about these previously.  Please click here to learn more about Tift College's coat of arms.

The arms of Stanford University designed by
Stanford Professor Eric Hutchinson.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Stanford Chemistry Professor, Dr. Eric Hutchinson (1920-2005), created the "red frond" for Stanford University's heraldry in 1967 to serve as the unifying charge for the arms of Stanford's foundations.  Click here to view Doty's (1996) article on the heraldry of Stanford. 

More arms are in the works, but for now, please enjoy!