Public explanation for parts of GLO Coat of Arms?
 

I ran into information online for a fraternity (not NIC or NPHC) where they had study cards that included what the various pieces of the Coat of Arms meant. I found this very surprising. Are there any NIC/NPC/NPHC GLOs that actually explain what the pieces of the Coat of Arms mean publicly (or as part of the pledging process). I guess Delta Upsilon wouldn't surprise me, but anyone else?

(I'm in Alpha Phi Omega, and the explanation of the meaning of the pieces of the Coat of Arms are in our Brotherhood ceremony, which I would *guess* would be more standard)

I mean, there are some obvious ones if you look at NPC coat of arms (I haven't really studied other council coat of arms). You can see many open symbols etc..... The MEANING is revealed in our initiation. I can't speak for other groups.

Part of the meaning of AEPhi's Columns (our equivalent to a coat of arms) is explained when new members receive their pins. That information is also on AEPhi's national web site. The NM pin is essentially the Columns, minus the Greek letters, so it's good that the NMs know at least some of the meaning of the pin they're being asked to wear.

Similarly, the meaning of the colors green and white is explained to NMs when they receive their green and white ribbons.

Most of the meanings of our symbols are not revealed until initiation.

As organizations transition to non-pledging/early initiation processes, it doesn't surprise me that an org would do this.

There are books on heraldry (including one written by our founder, Emily Butterfield), which explain the meanings of parts of coats of arms. Explanations about why some of those were chosen would be private.

I believe DU went completely secret-free many years ago so you can find every detail about their ritual if you cared enough. Personally, I don't.

And most founders would have been traditional college age (although we have one who was 15), so they wouldn't have gotten too overly arcane with their thought processes. If the heraldry book says a broken dagger means X, the sorority probably has it meaning X. Why that is significant to them would be private and special, but the what is probably not too hard to figure out if you cared that much.

So many coats of arms have a book or scroll on them. With e-books taking over, I see there will be a day when the archaic print object will need to be explained.

There can be so many meanings for the stars that appear on many crests and badges. Ursa Major gives a little clue for one group but not why it was dear to the founders. And then why are one, two, or three stars specifically important for the many other fraternal groups who have looked to the heavens?

The sword is the archaic symbol of manhood - yet it is prominent with several women's organizations.

So which symbol captured the hearts and minds of the most founders - stars, lamp, crescent, sword, lion, key, other? The quiver and fleur-de-lis were used by many groups that are no longer active and I think the six sided coffin shape was common with groups gone by.

Another interesting thing is that founders put mottos on crest banners in Greek or Latin at a time when Liberal Arts was THE degree. So, whatever we think, our founders did not intend these mottos to be secret.

(off topic quick offramp) 15 year old founder???

All 3 of ours were 15-16 year olds. But most women didn't go to college back then (1873) and they were in a school for girls.

I'd never discount the possibility that, as with many other symbols, a coat of arms might have exoteric meanings, taught to pledges/new members/whatever (and maybe available to the public as well), and esoteric meanings known only to initiates.

One of KD's founders was that young. Sara Turner White was 15 when she helped found Kappa Delta. The oldest founder was 23.

Of our ten founders, their ages ranged from 15-26. 1 was 15, 2 were 18, 2 were 19, 1 was 21, 2 were 24 and 2 were 26. With Alice Bartlett Bruner being 15.

From my research on the timing of this, This information is for Alpha Delta National Fraternity (social), a splinter group formed by Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity chapters that split off because Alpha Phi Omega after about 30 years of local option for gender open admission started enforcing gender open admission nationwide. This appears to be information supplied to the Alpha Phi Omega chapter at University of Minnesota Duluth as part of having the chapter decide that it wanted to leave Alpha Phi Omega and join Alpha Delta.

I'm not totally sure that the information provided on the page is for public use, or private to Alpha Delta, so I'm not going to provide the website publicly.

I think that day is far off. Besides, when was the last time you used a scroll? Yeah, me too, but we all know what one is and what it's used for.

Not all GLO coats of arms have mottos. (And the coats of arms of many GLOs came years if not decades after the GLO's founding.) Sometimes the "motto" is just the letters: KKG, for example. But sure, if they put a motto on there, that means it's an "open"—i.e., public—motto. That certainly doesn't mean there isn't also a "closed," or secret, motto. Many groups have both.