Washington National Cathedral

The coat of arms of Washington National Cathedral.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The Cathedral Church of Saints Peter & Paul occupies prime real estate in our nation's capital.  Also known as Washington National Cathedral, this cathedral houses the cathedra of the Bishop of Washington, DC and even has a place for the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.  

I can recall with great detail my very first time worshipping there, participating as an acolyte around age 12 or so.  I was in awe and filled with questions.  True to form, I wrote a letter to the cathedral (circa 1992) inquiring about those guys walking around with "sticks" during the service--the concept of a verger had yet to invade the Diocese of West Virginia back then.  I received a kind response explaining the ministry of a verger and I was smitten with all things "high church."    

L-R:  Arms of St. Alban's School, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington DC,
and Washington National Cathedral.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

The cathedral's grounds host both the diocesan offices but also the St. Alban's School, and I've included all three as a set above.

The arms of the cathedral combines both attributed arms of its patron saints with an added coronet overall.  From the child-friendly illustration below, the document provides a date for the arms, 1949.  However, I've never been successful in tracking down an official blazon.

An illustration of the cathedral's arms in a coloring book.
Click to enlarge.
Source: Washington National Cathedral.

De Kay (1993) provides a few details such as the metals for the keys, the sword's hilt is gold, and a gold bordure surrounds everything.  But...no blazon...I've turned to the greatest resource at my disposal, The American Heraldry Society for blazonry assistance.  I also wrote to the Cathedral's Archives in hopes they may have some information as well.  

The arms of Washington National Cathedral.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

With special thanks to C. Hale, a member of the American Heraldry Society, we now know the designer as well as the the official blazon for the arms of the Washington National Cathedral.  According to Washington National Cathedral (1949) the arms were designed by Alanson H. Sturgis and blazoned:

Gules a sword proper erect in pale hilted or, surmounted by two keys in satire or and argent over all in fess point a crown or.

As always, I've sent along this information to the Cathedral's Archives in the spirit of sharing.  I'll update this post should more information come to light.

Works Cited

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

Washington National Cathedral (1949).  The Cathedral Age, 24(1).

The Committee on Heraldry

Arms of the Committee on Heraldry, American Ancestors.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

It may come as a surprise to many readers to learn that the United States has the oldest non-governmental heraldic body in the world.  Formerly known to many as the New England Historic and Genealogical Society's (NEHGS) Committee on Heraldry, the Committee on Heraldry was established on 3 February 1863 and remains headquartered in Boston.  While NEHGS has since been renamed to American Ancestors, the Committee's work collecting and preserving American arms continues.  Two distinct functions of the Committee's work:  1) Registering historical arms of early Americans and immigrants, and 2) recording modern armorial ensigns used by Americans today.  Note the distinction between registration and recording!  Both functions require a detailed process for acceptance.  

Click here to go to the Committee on Heraldry's website.     

Recently, both American Ancestors and the Committee served as host for the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences held this past September in Boston.  Congress brought together both genealogical and heraldic scholars from around the world for fellowship, research collaboration, and  presentations.  I was proud to have been among those selected to share a portion of my la Rose research at Congress.

I had every good intention to emblazon the Committee's arms before Congress, however, that didn't happen until this past week.

Banner of arms, the Committee on Heraldry.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

As far as I know the Committee's arms have been in use for quite some time and I wanted the challenge of recreating theses in my newly developing style of sorts.

My blazon for the arms of the Committee on Heraldry:  Argent, a ship under sail Azure, sail and flag Argent a cross throughout Gules, and in base barry wavy Azure and Argent.

Arms of the Committee on Heraldry.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Back in 2014, I had the good sense to have my own assumed arms recorded with the Committee, something that was meaningful for me to be counted among so many others bearing arms in our country.

Sewanee's Heraldry Updated

The full achievement of arms of The University of the South.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

I feel like I waited on emblazoning all of Sewanee's heraldry and for good reason:  the Sewanee tressure.  Yes, that device was challenging to say the least.  After multiple starts (and many deleted works) I unlocked the secrets in Illustrator to make the tressure possible.  Ecce!

To read the updated article on the heraldry of the University of the South, please click this link.

The successful rendering of the tressure got me thinking, I've never seen the full achievement rendered digitally in full color.  Challenge accepted.  My above emblazonment isn't perfect but represents my learning and skills thus far.  Knowing me, I'll continue to tinker with it as time goes by.

Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

I'm currently working on the final shield, that of the College of Arts & Sciences to complete the official set of arms.

The attributed arms of the Sewanee Angel.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

There's a lovely tradition at Sewanee involving angels.  The tradition goes like this: every time you leave the Domain you tap the roof of your vehicle in order to claim your Sewanee angel.  Upon re-entry, you tap again to release your angel.  Heavenly protection indeed!  Well, I figured it's not fair that these angelic guardians have absolutely no representation in arms.  So, I've created an attributed coat of arms for the Sewanee Angel.

The idea combines blue and white to divide the shield, in other words the heavens above.  Wings are self-explanatory.  The golden cross in the center represents the large memorial cross on the Domain.

The blazon:  Per pale Azure and Argent, a pair of angel's wings conjoined in lure counterchanged, overall a passion cross Or.  

Arms of St. Andrews-Sewanee.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Certainly not officially connected to the university, though many ties of affection exist, I wanted to include the arms of St. Andrews-Sewanee since this school is very much in the world of Sewanee.

As if the Sewanee tressure wasn't frustrating enough, finding a blazon for the arms McCrady designed for St. Andrews-Sewanee is mind-numbing.  The school could not find a colored image of the seal and arms so all we have to go on is a line drawing--and there are numerous versions too!  To keep things simple, I've opted to use the image of the school's arms emblazoned on the cover of its 1985 yearbook.  McCrady designed the seal and arms in the early 1980s, so my thought is that this line drawing represents the original without the lilies.

My best guess at a blazon for the arms of St. Andrews-Sewanee:  Azure, in pale a sword Argent with point to base wrapped in an oak leaf proper, overall on a cross saltire Argent a roundel Argent edged Azure with a cross moline the extremity in sinister chief recercely Sable.

I've even decided to take up the challenge of emblazoning all the arms of the residence halls McCrady designed in 2018.  The above image shows the four arms I've completed so far.

Making my way through the arms of the residence halls.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

More to come but for now, wow, there's a lot at Sewanee!

Our Lady of Cincinnati College

Seal and arms of Our Lady of Cincinnati College, later Edgecliff College, and the only surviving
artifact identifying tinctures and metals I could find.

Hunting down information regarding the coat of arms for Our Lady of Cincinnati College has proven virtually impossible.  Thankfully I found a reference in Evans (1959) which names Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) as the designer and with the date 1936.  Score for at least the designer.  What about a blazon for the arms?  Tinctures and metals?  What is inscribed on the open book?  The image above was all I could find regarding la Rose's design and thankfully included hatch marks.  

Our Lady of Cincinnati College was founded in 1935 by the Sisters of Mercy as a women's college.  In 1969, the College changed names to Edgecliff College and began admitting male students by 1970.  By 1980, Edgecliff College merged with Xavier University.

As the case with many of the now closed schools la Rose designed arms for, their archives have either been lost or scattered indiscriminately.  While Xavier University has some artifacts from Edgecliff in its collections, there is scant little from Our Lady of Cincinnati.    

Arms of Our Lady of Cincinnati College, later Edgecliff College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Through the hatching on the seal/arms, I was able to make out the tinctures and metals.  The blazon, as best as I can tell, is: Gules, an open book edged with two clasps Or inscribed “Maria Vita et Spes Nostra” and in base a cross of the Sisters of Mercy Argent, on a chief Azure in dexter a crescent and in sinister a plow Argent.

Click to enlarge.

The chief abstractly reads Our Lady, Cincinnati.  I love that even though I find the design somewhat unbalanced.  The cross in the base of the arms comes from the insignia used by the Sisters of Mercy as seen below.  I also like how the cross is literally the foundation of the arms since the Sisters founded the college.

Insignia of the Sisters of Mercy.

Arms of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati designed by la Rose.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

La Rose used the plow in his design of arms for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1921 which are blazoned: Or, a plow between three cross crosslets fitchy Gules.

Recreation of la Rose's design for the College's seal.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Recreating la Rose's gothic quatrefoil was incredibly challenging and my version is not perfect.  Remember, a seal is not a coat of arms and vice versa.  Seals are used to legally authentic documents and may contain a coat of arms but not required.  There is no governance or direction in the US on designing a corporate seal.

Banner of arms, Our Lady of Cincinnati College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Alas, I simply had to create a banner of arms even if the college no longer exists.  I continue to enjoy recreating la Rose's work from the past and hopefully giving them new life in the digital world of the 21st century.  

Even though Edgecliff College is no more, there is a rather active alumni association using the old line art of seal and arms.  I knew something had to be done, for la Rose if nothing else!  I sent the alumni association a suite of emblazonments for their use as well as the write up below.  Since I thoroughly enjoyed my work with Lenox School's Alumni Association, I wanted to do the same here.  Please click here to learn about my work with Lenox School Alumni Association.

 

Works Cited

Evans, Mary Ellen (1959).  The Spirit is mercy: The story of the Sisters of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati 1858-1958.  Newman Press, pp 268-269.