Crests you love

[CutiePie2000]

Don't forget that Alpha Gamma Delta has 2 versions of its crest;
the American one:


and the Canadian one:


"Interestingly, Alpha Gamma Delta chapters in Canada have a
slight variation in the design of the Armorial Bearings. Chapters in Canada use the Coat of Arms without the helmet.
Rulings of the British government do not permit anyone except
the sovereign to bear the Royal Helmet."

[AGDee]

Thanks for adding that, CutiePie! That's a good Alpha Gam trivia question!

[SurfinDBeach]

Of course, I really like ours... Why? Because it looks so different from everyone else's...

Its simplicity is almost on purpose, as there are symbols not even depicted but are cloaked so to speak... It is "correct" in the world of Heraldry, and of course, has its own secret meanings...

Every Teke knows the Heraldric desciption verbatim...
"Gules on a bend argent, five equilateral triangles bend wise of the first voided... Crest: above a peer's helm, a death's head three-quarter's profile proper... Mantling: Gules, double argent... Motto: the Greek letters Pi, alpha, omega, epsilon, alpha..."

As pledges in TKE, we know there are meanings that we don't know at the time because we are told so...
We did not, however, know to what extent...




But I also like Lambda Chi Alpha's Crest...

For sororities, I like Delta Gamma (because I have a soft spot for Delta Gamma in general) and Chi Omega... KKG is nice too...

[ms_gwyn]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
As My Brother RH Cooper Said, LXA is the most true to Heraldry of any [snip]

I have to disagree with this statement, A LOT of CofA are just as heraldic correct as others and some are symbolic and do not conform to the rules of heraldry.

LXA may be the most elaborate, but is not the “most” correct.


Studying GLOs CofA's is one of my hobbies

[WCUgirl]

For NPCs, I like ours the best (of course!), but I also like KD's and ZTA's. Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa get honorable mentions.

For fraternities, I like Pike's (I was a little sis -- again, I'm kinda' partial ), but from going down the list on ariesrising's Greekpages, I also like DU's (it's so...regal!), FarmHouse's and Phi Psi's. FIJI, KA and Sigma Nu get honorable mentions.

[kddani]

of course, i'm partial to KD's



In my chapter we have a tradition of giving hand painted crests (usually on some sort of wooden plaque) to our littles. I had 3 littles. I became intimately familiar with our crest, lol. The first one I did totally freehand with pencil outline then paintbrush. The second two I learned and used paint pens. No matter how hard I tried, the skull always ended up looking like an Elmo head. lol

I think sororities keep the paint pen industry in business.

I have to get more familiar with other's crests before I can really say who else i like.

[SurfinDBeach]

I have to disagree with this statement, A LOT of CofA are just as heraldic correct as others and some are symbolic and do not conform to the rules of heraldry. LXA may be the most elaborate, but is not the “most” correct.

This is true...

Although I have said I do like Lambda Chi's Coat of Arms, ms gwyn is correct...

Lambda Chi chose to be very very elaborate, whilst others choose not to for certain reasons... Like I said above, my Fraternity has a simple Coat of Arms because it "cloaks" a lot of symbols... Basically they're not depicted on the Coat of Arms, because the whole thing is cloaked... During initiation, you see what the real coat of arms looks like - which is a little more elaborate...

And yes, there are more that are "correct"...

I've seen the old sketches of some alternative C of A's we would have used - they look more like other Fraternities with the leaves and stuff... Obviously, the one that stuck looks nothing like it...


But what I find interesting when you go down the line of National Fraternities, is that you can see in a lot of their Coat of Arms the MASONIC origins reflected with the symbols...

That was my first time seeing Kappa Delta's Coat of Arms... I like it! I have a soft spot so to speak for C of A's with the skull...

[ADPi Conniebama]

I love ours - of course I know what everything stands for so maybe that has something to do with it.

I looked through greek info pages and I like these:

^Alpha Xi Delta

^chi omege (although not knowing what it stands for I have always been fearful of the skull thing

^kappa Delta
[img]//www3.telus.net/greek/kappakappagammacrest.gif[/img]
^kappa kappa gamma

I like the crests with a bunch of stuff on them. They keep my AADD suppressed.

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by kddani

I think sororities keep the paint pen industry in business.

YES! Unfortunately, your paint pen skills get rusty after graduation.

[TSteven]

Each Psi Upsilon chapter has their own individual chapter coat-of-arms.

Psi Upsilon heraldry

Chapter coat of arms:

Most fraternities have only one coat-of-arms used by the Fraternity in general, with no special symbols for the individual chapters. Only a few have a system of employing a national coat-of-arms and a similar yet distinctive device for each chapter. Psi U's system involves three principle features: (1) identity of crest; (2) mottoes framed on a uniform plan; and (3) shields, each combining, in accordance with a carefully arranged schedule, the principal emblems of the Fraternity (the letters and clasped hands) with the peculiar emblem of the Chapter. Visitors to this web site may view the individual chapter coat-of-arms and their heraldic descriptions or download a high resolution image of each coat-of-arms by selecting from the icons below.

[Sister Havana]

Another nice one is AEPhi:



I like it because it has a different look to it.

[tunatartare]

I like Pi Beta Phi's because of its unique shape:


I don't like anything that's really ornate or flowery-looking, so for the girls I also like AEPhi's, DZ's, Tri Delts, and Thetas.

For the guys I like Alpha Delta Phi cuz it's different:


AEPi
ATO
FIJI
Pi Kappa Phi
Sig EP
ZBT

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
As My Brother RH Cooper Said, LXA is the most true to Heraldry of any and was made so by a very deep study by one of the early Members.

Second would be Alpha Phi Omega.

Granted, each Coat Of Arms Means much to each of the Members and have special significance in Ritual.

Some are simplistic and very beautiful, but looking at all, LXA is Hands Down one of the most accurate and meaningful for Trueism to Our Heratiged as Greeks of the Social Order..

I'm sorry Tom as much as I love out Coat of Arms I also have to point out that it violates a number of heraldric laws/rules (or at least British, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and Canadian rules). In point of fact we wouldn't be able to register the Coat of Arms here in Canada as a Coat of Arms.... only as a registered trademark/logo.

[AlphaSigOU]

Being an Alpha Sig, I hafta side with my coat of arms:



Below is some research I did which I put on my chapter's website (though the chapter is now defunct, it's still accessible on OU's web):

HERALDIC BLAZON OF THE COAT OF ARMS

Crest: On a wreath argent and sable, a phoenix rising or. Exact symbolism known only to initiated members of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. The phoenix rising reflects the "second founding" of Alpha Sigma Phi in 1907.

Shield: Quarterly argent and or, on a bend sable, three mullets (stars) or, all within a diminutive of a border or. On sinister chief a book open argent, pen and five hieroglyphics or, on dexter base a laurel wreath or, a Greek column minus capital argent, an ancient lamp or with rays sable. Symbolism known only to initiated members of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity.

Motto: On a ribbon or, "18 Causa : Latet : Vis : Est : Notissima 45" sable. The open motto, in Latin, of the Fraternity, "Causa latet vis est notissima" (The cause is hidden (but) the results (are) well known) and the year founded at Yale University, 1845.

The heraldic blazon is the description of the coat of arms in the traditional language and terminology of heraldry (derived from Old English and French). Sinister and dexter refer to the wearer's left and right, respectively; as you face the shield, the directions are reversed.

The heraldic tincture (color) "argent" (silver) is also used to describe the color white, while the tincture "or" (gold) also describes the color yellow. In traditional heraldry, the "rule of tincture" states that metals (the tinctures argent and or) should not be next to metals, nor colors next to colors; a rule designed to make the arms easily identifiable in the battlefield (the original purpose of the coat of arms). This rule is not strictly followed, as varying shades of the tinctures may also be used in the design of a coat-of arms.

In the traditional heraldry of the American college fraternity and sorority system, the coat of arms symbolically denotes many of the principles and ideals of the fraternity or sorority, traditionally secret and revealed only during the initiation ceremonies. Moreover, the right to use the fraternty's coat of arms is limited only to initiated members.

P.S. In case anyone's thinking... no ritualistic information was revealed.

[AlphaSigOU]

Originally posted by KLPDaisy
I like Pi Beta Phi's because of its unique shape:

Heraldically, Pi Phi's emblem correctly denotes it as a women's organization. In heraldry, only males bear coats of arms; the female members of the family use the same armorial bearings upon a lozenge, or diamond-shaped shield.

Greek organizations don't always follow this rule to the letter, nor do they always follow the 'rules' of heraldry in the design of the coat of arms/crest.