Fraternity and Sorority Arms, Seals, Flags and other Insignia

[ms_gwyn]

I have one history book that shows the evolution of a COA, I have to find it and then scan it...Monday perhaps if its not too crazy at work....

[ForeverRoses]

Here is AOII's. I would tell you what it is, but then I'd have to kill you.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

Here is AOII's. I would tell you what it is, but then I'd have to kill you.

Thanks, ForeverRoses. I knew that AOII does not have a coat of arms (I was thinking of y'all when I said "I am mindful that some organizations do not have coats of arms" in the OP), and knew that you use a Jacqueminot rose as a distinctive symbol. Do you consistently use the emblem that you posted, or might different designs of the Jacqueminot rose be used in different contexts/times?

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

Somebody correct me if wrong, but most of the CoAs aren't technically correct right?

For women's groups things are iffy, but MysticCat posted about that. Pi Beta Phi's use of the lozenge is more "correct" in terms of women and crests/COA.

You know who knows a lot about heraldry, created COAs and corrected some? Emily Helen Butterfield, the first woman architect in Michigan, and a founding member of Alpha Gamma Delta. Other than us, groups I can think of she worked with are Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Phi Alpha, and Sigma Tau Gamma, but I know there are others I've forgotten.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

You know who knows a lot about heraldry, created COAs and corrected some? Emily Helen Butterfield, the first woman architect in Michigan, and a founding member of Alpha Gamma Delta. Other than us, groups I can think of she worked with are Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Phi Alpha, and Sigma Tau Gamma, but I know there are others I've forgotten.

Definitely. Per The Wiki, she designed or helped design/revise the arms for Alpha Kappa Psi, Sigma Delta Rho, Sigma Tau Gamma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Zeta Tau Alpha, Phi Beta, Theta Upsilon Omega (later merged with Sigma Phi Epsilon) and Theta Kappa Nu (later merged with Lambda Chi Alpha), Lambda Omega (later merged with Delta Zeta).

[MysticCat]

I love it when I have a reason to bump this thread.

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I wasn't sure of the wiki, so I went off my own research/memory. I found it interesting she was working with George Banta and allegedly did "crests for hire" via BPA for new and emerging organizations.

To my surprise, I have recently read (on the Wiki) that one of the newer fraternities for whom George Banta and Emily Butterfield did the coat of arms was Sinfonia. (Banta also published The Sinfonian in its early years, and was a 1917 honorary initiate of Alpha Chapter.) I haven't seen it anywhere but the Wiki, but knowing how the brother who maintains our Wiki pages operates and how careful he is on accuracy, I can't imagine he would have put it there without evidence.

I knew that a committee had been responsible for the design and had solicited ideas for what should be included, and that at the 1910 convention the design was adopted "in its essentials," but was later put into its final form by the committee. If what's on the Wiki is right, the committee enlisted Banta and Butterfiled to design the final form.

I'm finding this very cool, and it makes me even more glad that the decision was made to revert to the original form of the design. (I wonder if uncovering information that led to going back to the original design is also what led to information regarding Banta and Butterfield's involvement.)

Just as a reminder:

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Thanks, ForeverRoses. I knew that AOII does not have a coat of arms (I was thinking of y'all when I said "I am mindful that some organizations do not have coats of arms" in the OP), and knew that you use a Jacqueminot rose as a distinctive symbol. Do you consistently use the emblem that you posted, or might different designs of the Jacqueminot rose be used in different contexts/times?

Sorry- I haven't been on Greek Chat for a bit. Generally, the rule is that in place of the crest, we use the rose. The one that I posted is the most common one that I have seen, however any representation of a rose can be used. I know a few years back we started using a more "modern" stylized rose,
but the one I posted still pops up fairly regularly. Probably because it is so similar to the colony pin.

Interesting to note- on a few documents, rather than the rose, the AOII monogram is used (where most fraternities & sororities use their crest/bearings). However the monogram can only be used on those specific things. The charter and the member certificate are the two that come to mind.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

If people want I will discuss the meaning behind my CoA

We want!

Originally Posted by rljenk

I've read that Beta Theta Pi uses such a system (http://www.betathetapi.org/about-beta/history/heraldry), but I have not seen any examples of chapter arms. Can anyone share? Do other fraternities use a similar system?

Same here. I've read about it but never actually seen it in practice.

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

Interesting to note- on a few documents, rather than the rose, the AOII monogram is used (where most fraternities & sororities use their crest/bearings). However the monogram can only be used on those specific things. The charter and the member certificate are the two that come to mind.

Thanks for the additional information. I take it that by the monogram, you mean the badge design?

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and discuss someone else's arms and an aspect that I think is really interesting. All public information, I promise.

Originally Posted by angels&angles

Pi Beta Phi:

Based off the COA of one of our founders.

Note has already been made of the reason for the shape of Pi Phi's arms, and as angels&angles says, the eagle on the arms comes from arms associated with the family (Brownlee) of Pi Phi founder Clara Brownlee Hutchinson. (Note: While Americans tend to think of family coats of arms, there really are no such things. Arms belong to individuals, not families. In Britain, for example, they are inherited as personal property, and only one person has the right to them at a time.)

What I find interesting is the sunburst with the Latin LUX ("light") in the center. That is the seal of Monmouth College:



I really like how Pi Phi commemorates the institution where it was founded in this way. The only other GLO that I can think of that does something similar is Theta Nu Xi, which uses Carolina Blue as one of its colors. Are there other examples?

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

Sorry- I haven't been on Greek Chat for a bit. Generally, the rule is that in place of the crest, we use the rose. The one that I posted is the most common one that I have seen, however any representation of a rose can be used. I know a few years back we started using a more "modern" stylized rose,
but the one I posted still pops up fairly regularly. Probably because it is so similar to the colony pin.

Interesting to note- on a few documents, rather than the rose, the AOII monogram is used (where most fraternities & sororities use their crest/bearings). However the monogram can only be used on those specific things. The charter and the member certificate are the two that come to mind.

We also have on our member certificate the "seal" which is a Sheaf of Wheat with Alpha Omicron Pi on it. I don't have a picture but I'll see if I can take one and post it. Our Foundation has a logo that is similar to a seal, it looks like this:


Then a chapter I work with as a Network Specialist has this lovely piece of history. It is an old seal on a plaque.

This chapter was founded in the 1920s and so therefore the rule about the monogram of our letters only being on certain items probably came after this plaque was made. So this chapter can have this plaque displayed in a display case but obviously it is not a common item. So there are probably a handful of these plaques. I thought it was really neat when I was visiting them so I had to take a picture! It is very heavy!

[TPA85]

Theta Phi Alpha Crest:


(sorry it's massive, I could only find really small ones or really huge ones)




Pledge Sister Pin:



Badge of Initiated Sisters:




Our "Tagline Logo":

This is probably my favorite TPA symbol because of the 4 interconnected links in it and the variety of things they can represent.

[shannakate]

Originally Posted by TPA85

Theta Phi Alpha Crest:


(sorry it's massive, I could only find really small ones or really huge ones)


Badge of Initiated Sisters:

I honestly love our CoA so much. And our badge, well, that goes without saying.

[Drolefille]

Here's a monochrome version of our coat of arms, often also seen in lavender. I couldn't find a good, full color version so I'll go with this one.

The Sigma Kappa coat-of-arms reflects the familiar symbols of the sorority - the dove, the violet, the Greek letters, and maroon and lavender. Adopted in 1911, the coat-of-arms consists of a maroon shield with a diagonal bar of gold, bearing five lavender stars; the lower portion a coiled serpent. Above is a wreath of alternate maroon and gold, surmounted by a dove in silver, with outspread wings, all beneath an arch of gold rays. Below is a scroll of silver, bearing in black the open motto and the date 1874. The significance of the coat-of-arms is revealed only during the ceremony of Initiation.

[Drolefille]

This thread makes me wonder if GLO founders, or COA creators, deliberately broke the rules of heraldry since following them would make the meanings obvious to outsiders?

Like if a lion = royalty in heraldry then using a lion would make it obvious that you were kings or something. (Intentionally bad example.)

Obviously not something people could answer in detail as it would 'give away the game' so to speak. But then, I don't know the rules either.

[lovespink88]

Here's a small and bad quality version of our flag (it's all I could find!!) As you can see it's dark blue with Alpha Xi Delta written across the middle. Our coat of arms is in the top left corner and ten stars for our ten founders are in the bottom right corner.

We have one on the flag pole in front of our chapter house, as you can see in the top left corner of this grad picture :

[Miriverite]

Alpha Chi Omega
We have a rather simplistic CoA =)


Alpha Kappa Psi


Beta Sigma Phi - note our motto is in Latin, not Greek.

In both AXO and AKPsi, our badges are not found anywhere on the CoA. There are some symbols, but I feel they are relatively straightforward. The sad thing is that our beloved lyre is not represented on the AXO CoA at all =(