What are the colors for sororities/frats?

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by BrianMUDU
Hey Tom,

What do you mean by most correct for heraldry? I was a little stumped by that.

The ancient art of heraldry is governed by a number of rules, which are designed to make sure that coats-of-arms (never properly called "crests") are atttractive and distinctive. (Remember that arms were first used on the battlefield and tournament field to distinguish knights covered in armour -- they do little good if they can't be easily distinguished.) The exact rules can vary from country to country. (That is, what is prohibited in English heraldry might be okay in Scottish or German heraldry.)

Among the basic rules are things like a color (e.g., red, blue, green, black) must never be placed on another color, nor may a metal (gold [yellow] or silver [white]) be placed on another metal. The only indispensible parts of a coat-of-arms is the shield, although a crest (the decoration over the shield, originally worn on the helmet) and perhaps a motto are also commonly included. Other parts, including supporters, helmet, mantling (the material around the shield) are optional, but there are rules about how they should be used if they are used.

With no disrespect at all meant to Lambda Chi Alpha's arms, it is inaccurate to say they are the most heraldically correct of any GLO. They are probably the most heraldically intricate and complicated -- they use more of the optional parts of a coat-of-arms, and with one or two possible exceptions, everything is done according to heradlic rules -- but there are other, simpler GLO coats-of-arms that are just as "correct" heraldically speaking. The arms of Beta Theta Pi, Alpha Tau Omega, Tau Kappa Epsilon, FIJI and yes, Delta Upsilon come to mind as arms that are completely correct according to the rules of heraldry and that conform to the heraldic goal of distinctiveness and easy identification. More intricate does not equal more correct.

None of that gets into the meaning of arms, of course. The arms of my own fraternity, while not heraldically correct, are nevertheless extremely meaningful to my brothers and me.