Fraternity and Sorority Arms, Seals, Flags and other Insignia

[Gusteau]

Re: The old Phi Mu CoA. What I think is really interesting is the depictions of the lions as rampant regardant and rampant guardant, where they are both depicted as guardant in the current version.

In case I lost you there:

Lion Rampant


Lion Rampant Regardant


Lion Rampant Guardant


@pshsx1: that is intriguing...if you can tell (which I doubt) why is the term keynote used instead of, for example, emblem or allegory which is what I would tend to classify it as.

[steelerbear]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

Re: The old Phi Mu CoA. What I think is really interesting is the depictions of the lions as rampant regardant and rampant guardant, where they are both depicted as guardant in the current version.

Yay education! I noticed the differences, but I had NO idea there was terminology for it. Thanks!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by pshsx1

This is the Sigma Phi Epsilon keynote. Everything in it has a Ritual meaning soooo.....

Originally Posted by Gusteau

@pshsx1: that is intriguing...if you can tell (which I doubt) why is the term keynote used instead of, for example, emblem or allegory which is what I would tend to classify it as.

It is really interesting. Can you tell us anything about how/where it would be used, pshsx1?

Originally Posted by steelerbear

One thing I've noticed while looking through this thread is how many orgs have CoAs that use their official colors--but Phi Mu doesn't. Our colors are rose and white, but our Coat of Arms is or (gold), gules (red), and sable (black)--yes, all secret.

I may be remembering incorrectly, but I can't think of any use of rose as a color in heraldry. Roses themselves are always red or white. Perhaps the designers used gules as the heraldic equivalent? Do you know if the colors were adopted prior to the adoption of the coat of arms in 1904?

Meanwhile, I heartily approve of the use of gold, red and black (though I'd order them a little differently).

I wonder if any other orgs have CoAs in colors other than their official colors--I'm sure some group does, but I don't know who.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Beta Theta Pi:



Their colors are "delicate shades of pink and blue." The colors were adopted in 1879, the arms in 1897. This may be another case of using gules and azure to represent pink and blue.


Chi Phi:



The colors are scarlet and blue, but the only scarlet/red is on the badge in the crest.


Alpha Sigma Phi:



The colors are cardinal and stone, but there is no red in the arms. I suppose silver (argent) = stone.


Delta Tau Delta:



The colors are purple, white and gold, but purple appears only in the torse.


Phi Gamma Delta:



The colors are purple and white, but the arms are purple and gold. (The owl appears to be ermine, not argent.)

Something weird I've found on e**y: a framed copy of our Coat-of-Arms in a somewhat gruesome style. The lions look especially weird, the torse is missing, there are stones surrounding the badge (and they're even missing one stone on the top left hump), and the shield's unique shape has been slightly changed...

FWIW, heraldically speaking an artist can design the shape of a shield however he or she wants and can otherwise exercise some artistic freedom as long as the elements of the arms are preserved. In other words, things like the shape of the shield are not part the blazon -- the "official" description of the arms. That said, most GLOs have an official, standardized design that does dictate things like the shape of the shield.

We also have an official Fraternity flag, but I haven't seen it in years. We also have a banner that's used during official national events (i.e. Convention). Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the flag or banner.

I tried googling for them, but the hits I got were for the Phi Mu Alpha flag. Can you describe either of them?

Thanks for all the info!

[pshsx1]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

@pshsx1: that is intriguing...if you can tell (which I doubt) why is the term keynote used instead of, for example, emblem or allegory which is what I would tend to classify it as.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

It is really interesting. Can you tell us anything about how/where it would be used, pshsx1?

It is sometimes called an allegory, but I honestly don't know why it is called the keynote; that's the term we use, though.

It appears at the top of every chapter's charter.

The road leading to the building on the hill and the hill it sits on are fairly "new." It used to be a body of water with the hill behind it. At that time, the hill did not have anything but the badge on it and the rays illuminating outward. Also, on the water, there was a sailboat. The weird part is that there is no mention of a boat in any of our Rituals or ceremonies. No one knows what the boat means. I guess our Founders and their friends took that secret to the grave...

ETA: I guess I can point out things on the keynote if you ask.. I just can't give you any meaning!

The three steps, though, allude to a few things such as our 3 Greek letters or our 3 cardinal principles.

[steelerbear]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I may be remembering incorrectly, but I can't think of any use of rose as a color in heraldry. Roses themselves are always red or white. Perhaps the designers used gules as the heraldic equivalent? Do you know if the colors were adopted prior to the adoption of the coat of arms in 1904?

We're like Gamma Phi Beta in that our flower is a pink carnation; our colors are pink and white, but we like to fancy it up and say 'rose' and white. GPhiB's (beautiful! I've always admired it) coat-of-arms even shows the pink carnation, but ours doesn't have a smidgen of pink or any reference to our flower. The meanings of the colors gules and rose are totally different, so I seriously doubt the red was chosen to take the place of the pink.

Also, Phi Mu's coat-of-arms was adopted in 1904 when we officially became Phi Mu, whereas the colors of rose and white were adopted in 1852, just after our founding (we originally used blue ribbons to designate members until the original Philomathean badge was designed).

I tried googling for them, but the hits I got were for the Phi Mu Alpha flag. Can you describe either of them?

Honestly... not at the moment. I'll check with my mom later. As our Convention Marshal, she'll have a MUCH better recollection of our banner and flag than I obviously do.