Heraldic Freedom & Preservation

Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

'There are no mistakes, just happy accidents," the famous American artist Bob Ross (1942-1995) so wisely quipped.  Indeed, my journey into the ever-expansive world of Adobe Illustrator and digital heraldic design has been marked by more "happy accidents," than not.  Interestingly enough, whenever I've made a digital error, somehow the design ends up working and unintentionally solved a problem I was facing.  For this and other reasons I quickly fell in love with the ability to bring to digital life and in full color coats of arms.  

Colored pencil drawing from 2014.

This whole artwork business really commenced back in 2014 as I began my studies in heraldry.  I wanted art for this blog simply because I am a visual learner; moreover, heraldry was intended to live in full color and amplifies any fact or opinion on the subject.

Around 2015, digital heraldry was beginning to take off and those artists available for commission priced me out of the market.  My solution:  colored pencils!

Case in point, please see this amateur drawing of my coat of arms from that time period (never mind the dogwood's flowering variety) to the left.  While dreaming of having a full color digital emblazonment of my arms, pencil and ruler brought me closer to those nuances known abstractly in the art and science of heraldry.

And there were many, many happy little accidents.

I will state it is hard to image that 10 years later, I would be able to solve my own problem and produce plenty of artwork for this blog.

Vector format designed
in 2024.

This year kicked off working with a young digital heraldic artist in Europe who kindly put up with all my requests.  As his free time for commissions became challenging, I knew I needed to pursue other options.  The pressing issue for me was a need for many renderings to use in my presentation at the heraldic congress in Boston.  With "my go to guy" out of commission, I was beginning to worry.  

Enter Adobe Illustrator.  Following a successful pass in Canva piecing together various assets for the American Heraldry Society, I felt empowered to leap to the next level.  

Freedom.  Literally true heraldic freedom; I now have the tools to complete armorial ensigns as I choose.  As a result of the is newfound freedom, I made a decision to focus on those American corporate arms in danger of extinction in the digital age.  What do I mean by extinction?  We truly have a great heraldic tradition in the US born from the early 20th Century onwards; however, many of those institutions which once bore arms have since closed or retired their armorial bearings.  Think Harvard Law, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Calhoun College at Yale are just a few examples of how culture can impact symbols and their ascribed meaning.  Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) rendered numerous designs for schools whose doors have since been shuttered and their archives scattered. 

The retired arms of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, VA.
The "cathedral of the Confederacy," retired the design in 2015.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. 

La Rose's proposed design for St. Norbert's College in De Pare, WI in 1925.
The College did not adopt this design.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Even those designs for arms which were not adopted are worthy of preservation and study.  I am simply having the time of my life with the ability to render historical corporate coats of arms.  My next article will feature my 2024 Top 10 Favorite Renderings.

The Arms of Church of the Advent Boston

Seal and coat of arms of Church of the Advent Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

You cannot have Advent without the Advent...Boston that is.  Hands-down my favorite Anglo-Catholic parish in the Episcopal Church, I have had several deeply spiritual experiences living into the beautiful liturgies at Church of the Advent Boston.  Founded in 1884 in the Back Bay area of Boston--Brimmer Street to be precise--Advent is simply the best of Anglo-Catholic liturgy and theology and well worth a pilgrimage.   

The parish has a special connection to Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) who Shand Tucci (1975) notes Advent became the headquarters for a new gothic liturgical movement which Cram would help advance.  Moreover, Cram's first commissions were completed at Advent Boston, such as the furnishings in the Lady Chapel.  By understanding Cram's origins in his "gothic quest" we can begin to understand his friendship with Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) and their heraldic partnership.  I've posted the link to Shand Tucci's (1975) article below and commend it to the reader.

Coat of arms of Church of the Advent Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Initially, I suspected that la Rose may have had a hand in designing the parish's arms given Cram's relationship to the parish as well as the gothic wafer design so prominently used by la Rose.  I was wrong.  

Arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and Church of the Advent Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The parish seal and coat of arms were designed in 1923 by parishioner Robert Turner Walker (1867-1931).  According to Church of the Advent (n.d.), the trumpet in pale references the Second Advent as told in the Book of Revelation, and the three crowns comprised of alternating crosses patee and fleurs-de-lis identifies the parish within the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts whose arms contain the same crowns.  La Rose designed the arms for the Diocese of Massachusetts in 1906.

Furthermore, the charges in dexter quarter also bear meaningful symbolism as Church of the Advent (n.d.) notes:

"In the upper left quadrant is the red cross of St George, badge of England, surmounted by a circle containing wavy blue and white lines. The lines symbolize water, and the heraldic device is called a fountain and represents a well or spring. This may allude to our roots in the Church of England, but Cross + Well is also a rebus for Croswell, our first Rector."

The parish's arms make a lovely armorial flag as well.

Banner of arms, Church of the Advent Boston.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Works Cited

Church of the Advent Boston (n.d.). The parish seal.  Church of the Advent Boston.

Shand Tucci, D. (1975).  Ralph Adams Cram & Mrs. Gardiner: The movement for a liturgical art.  Fenway Court, pp. 27-34 https://issuu.com/gardnermuseum/docs/1975_web

Cram's Scholastic Heraldry

The arms of Groton School.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The father of "collegiate gothic" architecture, Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) received a lot notoriety for his depth of knowledge regarding the art and science of heraldry but rarely do we see specific examples of his armorial designs rendered for US corporate bodies.  

The earliest known scholastic coat of arms designed by Cram are those of the Groton School located in Groton, Massachusetts.  According to Groton School (2009), the arms were unveiled in 1902 and blazoned:  Argent, on a cross Gules a sword with point to base hilt enfiling a crown Argent on a chief Sable three open books edged with two clasps Argent.

In my rendering above, I wanted to solve one problem I kept seeing in various emblazonments of Groton's arms, namely that the crown tends to get lost with the sword's hilt when everything is kept white.  By using various shades of white to silver for the sword's hilt and pommel, the crown is able to pop and become more evident in arms.  

The arms of Wellesley College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Following a devastating fire in 1914 on the Massachusetts campus of Wellesley College, Cram was commissioned to help rebuild the charred grounds.  According to Wellesley College (1918) we learn about how the college's arms came to be:

"During various discussions that occurred with Messrs. Day & Klauder and other architects the desire was often expressed that the College should have a coat-of-arms. Mr. Day called attention to the fact that the seal of a college should not be used as a heraldic device on buildings. It was Mr. Davenport of the Board of Trustees who became interested in securing a coat-of-arms for the College, and asked the privilege of taking the initiative in the matter.  On consultation with Mr. Cram, Mr. Davenport asked Mr. William T. Aldrich of Boston to prepare a coat- of-arms for the College. Various designs were considered, and finally in June, 1917, he presented to the Trustees a coat- of-arms which had been prepared by Mr. Aldrich and approved by Mr. Cram. This design was accepted as the coat- of-arms of Wellesley College. The heraldic reading is as follows: 

Blazon: Azure, on an open ancient book the words "Incipit Vita Nova" on a chief Or, a cross crosslet of the field between two fountains" (pp 21-22).

Contemporary emblazonments of Wellesley's arms show five clasps on the open and inscribed book, and for this reason I added clasps to my rendering above.  The official blazon noted in Wellesley (1918) does not have have clasps on the book.

So, while Cram did not design Wellesley College's arms, he "approved" them.  I included these arms simply because it was important enough for the college to mention Cram's nod to the design and thus relevant to our discussion regarding his scholastic heraldry.

William T. Aldrich (1880-1966) was an architect in Boston who was later commissioned in the 1930s by Wellesley College to design a sports center.  At the moment I cannot find any other heraldic designs by Aldrich.  Perhaps Wellesley's was a one-off? 

The arms of Rollins College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The coat of arms of Rollins College is the other known work in scholastic heraldry by Cram.  Rollins College, located in Winter Park, Florida, was established in 1885 by the Congregational Church.  Zang (2019) notes that the college adopted Cram's design in 1933 and adds: 

"[Rollins' coat of arms] carries a blue St. Andrew’s cross on a gold shield. In addition to the college motto in Latin, it also incorporates the key elements of a rising sun and cascading water below from the College Seal. The two swords emblazoned on the cross were taken from the Coat of Arms of the family of Alonzo Rollins (1832-1887), the initial donor of the College. The book above the cross is a symbol of knowledge, and the emblem below designates a natural spring as a representation of Ponce de Leon’s famous Fountain of Youth." 

The arms of Rollins College are blazoned:  Or, on a cross saltire Azure two swords in saltire Argent pommel and hilt Or between in chief an open book with two clasps proper and a fountain in base

Should more examples of Cram's designs in scholastic heraldry come to light, I'll promptly update this article.

Works Cited

Groton School. (2009). Groton School Quarterly, LXXI, 3, p.3

https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2009_fall/4

Wellesley College. (1918 December).  Annual reports of the President and Treasurer of Wellesley College 1916-1918, series 7, no. 6.  

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Reports_of_the_President_and_Trea/odgiAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Annual+Reports+of+the+President+and+Treasurer+of+Wellesley+College+1916-1918&pg=PP7&printsec=frontcover  

Zang, W. (2019). Branding Rollins: A brief history of college logos and other institutional symbols. Rollins Archives.  

https://blogs.rollins.edu/libraryarchives/2019/05/29/branding-rollins-a-brief-history-of-college-logos-and-other-institutional-symbols/

More Designs by Temple

My variation for a seal with the arms of the City of Fredericksburg
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

In 1971, Temple's (1911-2004) armorial design for the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia was officially adopted by the city.  Packed with meaning and references for Fredericksburg, Temple's design is blazoned:  Argent, on a cross saltire Azure two ostrich feathers in saltire Or on an ineschuteon Gules the crown of Charlemagne Or.  

The arms of Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The design of arms Temple devised for Tift College which was located in Forsyth, Georgia was adopted by the school in 1965 (Stone, 1969, p.173).  Tift College merged in 1986 with Mercer College and thus these arms are no longer extant. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about Tift College's arms as I had finally located an official blazon; click here to read about Temple's design of arms for Tift College.   

The blazon of arms for Tift College is: Argent, a cross Sable with a maltese cross of the first, on a chief Azure three roses Or barbed Vert (Tift, 1967, p.107).

The coat of arms of Augustine Parish
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

The arms of St. Augustine's Parish in Maryland were covered in my previously article on Temple's design; without hard evidence its entirely likely that Temple created these arms.  I've sent correspondence to Augustine Parish inquiring about design information for their coat of arms which I rendered above and added the processional cross which he used in a few designs.

Blazon for the arms of Augustine Parish:  Per pale Argent and Vert, in base two arrows in saltire Argent with points to chief surmounted by a winged spur Or and a canton of Calvert (Paly of six Or and Sable a bend counterchanged).

The arms of St. Peter's Cathedral in Helena, Montana.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024. 

Dekay (1993) provides both the blazon and design rationale for the arms of St. Peter's Cathedral in Helena Montana; however no designer is named.  Based on the illustration in DeKay (1993) this coat is highly suspicious in that Temple most likely designed the cathedral's arms.  The line dancetty abstractly refers to the Rocky Mountains, the gold base comes from the arms of the first bishop of the Diocese of Montana, and the black cross patee honors the first vicar of St. Peter's.  I will send the cathedral a request for design information in the coming days.

Blazon for the arms of St. Peter's Cathedral in Helena, Montana:  Per fess dancetty Azure and Or in chief a civic crown Argent charged with two keys in saltire Gules in a base a cross patee Sable (DeKay, 1993, p.109).

The arms of the Cathedral of St. Luke in Orlando, Florida.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The arms of the Cathedral of St. Luke located in Orlando, Florida is another design likely created by Temple.  I happened upon these arms randomly and the canton immediately raised an eye brow towards Temple.  While I cannot locate a design rationale, the white canton and red cross saltire makes a clear reference to Florida's flag and the fleam is often attributed as a charge for St. Luke the "surgeon."  I rather like this simple design.

Blazon for the arms of the Cathedral of St. Luke in Orlando, Florida:  Pean, on a canton Argent a cross saltire Gules charged with a fleam Or.

The arms of the Cathedral Church of St. James in South Bend, Indiana.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Dekay (1993) credits Temple for designing the arms for the Cathedral Church of St. James in South Bend, Indiana blazoned:  Azure, three bendlets Or on a canton Gules an escallop Argent (p.112).  The escallop is an attributed charge for St. James the Greater while the three gold lines mimic the waters left in the wake of St. James' missionary travels by ship.  I also like this simple design.

One thing remains clear, Temple loved a canton and he utilized them well. 

Works Cited

Dekay, E. (1993).  Heraldry in the Episcopal Church.  Acorn Press.

Stone, E.W. (1969).  Yesterday at Tift.  Foote & Davies.

Tift College (1967).  Chiaroscuro [yearbook].  The Chiaroscuro Collections, Special Collections and University Archives, Mercer University, Macon, GA.  http://hdl.handle.net/10898/10928