Fraternity and Sorority Arms, Seals, Flags and other Insignia

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Woah, I never noticed how similar the tops our our COAs are! Weird!

[Leslie Anne]

Here's Kappa Delta's COA. It doesn't conform to heraldic rules; it's more of a design suited for our ritual. There are interesting things about it that I could point out, but then I'd have to kill you.



I'll have to scan some photos of the original COA and post them. It's pretty funny.


Oh, I forgot to mention that the lettering in the banner is Ta Kala Diokomen which means "let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest".

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Here's Kappa Delta's COA. It doesn't conform to heraldic rules; it's more of a design suited for our ritual. There are interesting things about it that I could point out, but then I'd have to kill you.

This is going to be a verrrrry interesting thread. sotto voce: are you KDs a little bloodthirsty? I'm thinking about that dagger on your badge

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Oh, I forgot to mention that the lettering in the banner is Ta Kala Diokomen which means "let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest.

I have always liked that open motto. I also like TriDelta's motto, and lemme see... there's another one... it'll come to me.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

This is going to be a verrrrry interesting thread. sotto voce: are you KDs a little bloodthirsty? I'm thinking about that dagger on your badge

Oh yes! Never cross a KD lady. We're the only NPC with a deadly weapon as our symbol.

Originally Posted by AzTheta

I have always liked that open motto. I also like TriDelta's motto, and lemme see... there's another one... it'll come to me.

Thanks!

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Here's Kappa Delta's COA. It doesn't conform to heraldic rules; it's more of a design suited for our ritual. There are interesting things about it that I could point out, but then I'd have to kill you.



I'll have to scan some photos of the original COA and post them. It's pretty funny.


Oh, I forgot to mention that the lettering in the banner is Ta Kala Diokomen which means "let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful and highest".

I've always loved our COA. So many of the elements are spooky and mysterious - a skull, a snake,a bony hand, a dagger... I always liked that it was so different and cool.

I love that our pin is included on it, too.

[Psi U MC Vito]

The Greek at the bottom of mine is our open motto "Unto us has befallen a mighty friendship." And when I first saw the ADPi badge I was struck by the similarities. Both diamond shaped, gold with black fields, with the clasped hands prominent on them.

[WhiteDaisy128]

I, too, never noticed the badge on the Theta COA...how cool!

Here is Delta Gamma's:

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally Posted by WhiteDaisy128

I, too, never noticed the badge on the Theta COA...how cool!

Here is Delta Gamma's:

I've been looking for Delta Nu's crest from Legally Blonde to post next to ours, but I can't seem to find it easily. They show it on Elle's paddle in the opening sequence, and it's pretty much the same although Bruiser's head is in place of the rose

[MysticCat]

Yay on responses!

Originally Posted by AzTheta

In the meantime, here's a question: according to our official website, the coat-of-arms is a registered trademark. Am I going to get in trouble if I post it here? I love our COA, and want to be sure not to do anything wrong. I don't know nothing about trademark laws.

Originally Posted by IrishLake

You aren't claiming it as your own creation, and you aren't making money off it. If you post it, you are covered under a "fair use" law.

This.

Originally Posted by LucyKKG

. . . Oh and of course it's in blue and blue!

Here's a question Lucy. I see this coat of arms a lot (being married to a Kappa). Sometimes I see both the area above the chevron (the ^-shape) darker blue while the base (below the chevron) is light blue, and the fluer-de-lis are gold, like this:



Other times it's like the image you posted -- both darker blue and light blue fluer-de-lis. Any info on the differences.

I'll try to post about Phi Mu Alpha later today.

[thetygerlily]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I see this coat of arms a lot (being married to a Kappa). Sometimes I see both the area above the chevron (the ^-shape) darker blue while the base (below the chevron) is light blue, and the fluer-de-lis are gold, like this:



Other times it's like the image you posted -- both darker blue and light blue fluer-de-lis. Any info on the differences.

As far as I know, this one is just a very stylized version. Our official CoA is the one Lucy posted. Personally I am not a fan of the stylized one... there are some blankets as well that have green added, which baffles me because green has nothing to do with KKG.

As an aside, something I didn't notice until a few years into Kappa: Our overall CoA shape is a fleur de lis. When I realized that it made me like the CoA even more for pure awesomeness.

ETA: Here's a pretty cool stylized one on MSU's site. Not official, but fun:

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Lil' Hannah

I've been looking for Delta Nu's COA from Legally Blonde to post next to ours, but I can't seem to find it easily. They show it on Elle's paddle in the opening sequence, and it's pretty much the same although Bruiser's head is in place of the rose

I found a Delta Gamma web page that discusses it that has a shot (from sort of an angle) of the Delta Nu crest next to Delta Gamma, can't see the top that well and in each branch of the "T" there are three stars rather than one.

http://gwdeltagamma.com/about-us

Randy

[WhiteDaisy128]

Originally Posted by naraht

I found a Delta Gamma web page that discusses it that has a shot (from sort of an angle) of the Delta Nu crest next to Delta Gamma, can't see the top that well and in each branch of the "T" there are three stars rather than one.

http://gwdeltagamma.com/about-us

Randy

Good sleuthing Randy!

Here they are side by side:
"Delta Nu" and Delta Gamma



Pretty similar!

[purcupile]

It is very presumptuous of me to refer to myself as an artist of any sort when actually I am a history buff who can stay in the lines. I became interested in the history of my fraternity (never called it a frat, and it’s very unlikely I will ever call it a GLO) when I was fortunate to come across a copy of the history of my fraternity written in 1906. As I read that history I became intrigued with the development of the coat-of-arms and began to study other histories and images from different fraternities.

It is important to note that on this subject a little of the evolution of fraternities and sororities from literary societies to social societies is important. During the 1870’s into the 1890’s most fraternities were loosely controlled organizations. While they had their roots in a small group of founders the growth of these organizations was limited by the necessity to keep their existence a secret from the administration of their various colleges. It being easier to keep a secret among a small group resulted in slow growth in membership in terms of both individuals and chapters. Following the War of Rebellion and the 1870’s began a period of breaking out of their secret existence. As a result there was a growth of expansion with chapters quickly springing up in different geographical areas across the country. With this expansion there was more control at the chapter levels than through what was then a disorganized national leadership. This resulted in different images (most often in the form of steel engravings) of the various organizations reflecting the local image of the individual chapters or charters. These images most always were represented in the college annuals…in fact that was about the only place where an organization’s image appeared. Some of my favorite images came from this era, in the form of elaborate allegorical representations from the various chapters. One of my favorite images was a Sigma Chi image of their badge and motto floating above an island…from that image I created, what I consider to the most beautiful image of the Sigma Chi badge. I have subsequently seen this same allegory with other fraternity’s badges and mottos. However, I digress as this forum is for a discussion of the arms of the fraternities not for badges…nor is it my intent to discuss fraternities different from my own.

Following this period of chapter freedom the National leaders began to see a need to control what today we call “branding” of their organizations…they wanted to be in control of the images of both their badges and coat-of-arms. It was vital that they take this control for jewelers across the country were designing badges however an individual member wanted it done…and they were finding every possible use for the images they were creating…button covers, hat pins, watch fobs, shirt studs as well as adding symbols and colors which was never intended. And the same thing was occurring in the designs of the coat-of-arms and the seals.

During the period of the late 1880’s through the turn of the century many fraternities went about creating specific images which incorporated the rituals, and purpose of their founding. Some just drew up an image which appealed to them, while others took a more pragmatic approach which required that a heraldic description from which to artistically design the coat-of-arms. For those reading who are not familiar with that terms is a cryptic and specific description of a coat-of-arms,,,it follows the ancient symbols in use hundreds of years ago. At that time there were only 5 colors and 2 metals that were used on arms… e.g. horizontal lines symbolized azure in drawings.

The blazon for the “new” (new being over 100 years ago) coat of arms of my fraternity (Phi Delta Theta) reads:

Escutcheon: azure, on a bend argent, between six mullets of the second, a sword or point downward.

Helmet: affrontee, visor closed of the third, mantling of the first and second.

Crest: a dexter arm embowed vambraced of the third, hand carnation hurling a javelin of the third.

Motto: Eis anhr oudeis anhr

After exhausting and painstaking consultation of heraldic authorities The Fraternity, had the blazon completed and since that description accurately described the various elements of the coat-of-arms it was turned over to the engravers to interpret and etch their image into copper sheets from which the steel engravings were produced.

This leads to the interesting saga of the Phi Delta Theta coat-of-arms. The Fraternity had various images submitted which reflected engraver’s interpretation of the blazon. A specific image was chosen and copyrighted in 1899, and an engraver R.B. Lockwood of New York was selected to engrave the new coat-of-arms. When it was completed it was provided to the publishers of the various college annuals. However the final engraving was rejected by the Convention of 1900…Lockwood had further embellished the image by adding different and undesired components. For instance he added a face on the top of the helmet, changed the visor to look more like a mouth, and added crescent to the bottom of the helmet. This last embellishment was offensive to the members as it did not represent their Christian ideology or the tenets of The Fraternity.

The Convention of 1902 ordered that the coat-of-arms should be engraved by Louis Dreka of Philadelphia…a well know engraver who engraved for the U.S. Mint and was responsible for many fraternity and sorority images. Dreka completed his eng4aving in 1903 and his coat-of-arms was accepted and was the frontispiece of The Scroll, October 1903. The chapters across the country were given the assignment of seeing that the publishers of their annuals had the new coat-of-arms. In many cases this did not happen and as a result, for nearly a hundred years the Lockwood design was used by publishers.

At this time the images of most organization were only what was published in the college annuals and a few specialty publications, in almost every case those images were only a few inches tall. The sometime in the 1920’s a Phi Delt artist hand-drew the image which increased the size, but it was drawn from the Lockwood image and as a result nearly every product the licensed vendors create is from that hand-drawn image…the one rejected by The Fraternity.

I have digitally recreated the coat-of-arms, as well as badges of Phi Delta Theta and I am in the process of donating them to The Fraternity. Those designs represent more than 1000 hours of study and design. As I have done with all of my images I have created them as a vector image which results in being able to reduce the image to the size of a postage stamp and enlarge it to billboard size without any distortion or pixilation.

If anyone is interested in seeing some of these images I will try to figure out how to manage the uploading images process and add them to a later post.

Purc

[GTAlphaPhi]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

as I am intrigued by symbols like the owl, fleur-de-lis and key on your COA; and on Vito's, the clasped hands - echoes of the ADPi badge. This is going to be so educational.

@Leslie Anne, nudge nudge...

So many badges/insignia/COA's of NPC/NIC/other conferences/regional/defunct GLO's have the clasped hands -- I'm guessing for similar reasons (but necessarily the exact same reasons).








I just realized that both KKG and SSS have the same "sigma within a delta" symbol at the top! If this isn't ritual (which I'm guessing it is), could either of you share?

[summer_gphib]

Gamma Phi Beta Coat of Arms-- I love this image! I think the 3-d is beautiful.


Gamma Sigma Sigma Coat of Arms