Fraternity and Sorority Arms, Seals, Flags and other Insignia

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by ElieM

I imagine a whole bunch of CoA have similarities by the sheer conventions of heraldry and blazon

Not really. The US has no real rules of heraldry and most GLO CoAs violate the English rules of heraldry. Also to respond to lleduc, the torse (twisted band) is a fairly common feature in CoAs in general, not just GLO ones. And finally wasn't Ms. Butterfield not only an expert of heraldry, but the founder of a Women's Fraternity?

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

. . . And finally wasn't Ms. Butterfield not only an expert of heraldry, but the founder of a Women's Fraternity?

Yes indeed; she was one of the eleven founders of her GLO.

[AGD1978]

Originally Posted by exlurker

Yes indeed; she was one of the eleven founders of her GLO.

Indeed. She was one of our Founders. It was mentioned up-thread someplace.

This thread is as addictive as Badge Trends! Love it.

[ElieM]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

Not really. The US has no real rules of heraldry and most GLO CoAs violate the English rules of heraldry. Also to respond to lleduc, the torse (twisted band) is a fairly common feature in CoAs in general, not just GLO ones. And finally wasn't Ms. Butterfield not only an expert of heraldry, but the founder of a Women's Fraternity?

true - I was kind of thinking more in terms of symbolism (like lamps, keys, books, skulls, etc.) , rather than the specific heraldry rules (or on argent - that's unpossible!)

ETA: not that I think that knowing about symbolism means that I could try to discern the secret meanings of other GLO's CoA

[MysticCat]

Yea on seeing this thread active again.

(And yes, the "twisted wreath" or torse, is a standard componant of a traditional coat of arms.)

Originally Posted by lleduc

Here is a very interesting find! Years ago while taking a trip to Williamsburg Virginia with the family, I was in the churchyard, and came across a very neat gravestone that had a COA on it that was IDENTICAL to that of Kappa Sigma Kappa, which was founded in 1867 at VMI, this tomb was from 1746!! Here are the images I have of the KSK COA, and the tombstone.





Its very neat to see where an idea may come from!

While they are certainly quite similar, I'm not sure I'd go as far as identical. I assume the letters "ΚΣΚ" aren't written across the fess (especially since writing on the shield of a coat of arms is almost unheard of in traditional heraldry).

It also looks the crescents on the tombstone are standard crescents (horns straight up), while the Kappa Sigma Kappa ones are decrescent (horns to the sinister/left from the wearer's perspective).

Finally, the colors could be different, given that the tombstone doesn't show the colors.

That said, a did a little digging. If my hunch is right, the tombstone you have the picture of is the grave of Thomas Yuille (1719-1746) in Bruton Parish churchyard. The arms would be blazoned:

Argent on a fess between three crescents sable, a garb or branded gules. Crest -- An ear of wheat proper leaved vert. Motto -- Numine et virtute.

This means a silver shield with a black fess (band across the middle) and black crescent moons, with a gold sheaf bound with a red band on the fess. The crest would be an ear of wheat its natural color, with green leaves. While the fess and three crescents could be a common enough design, the motto is the same as the Kappa Sigma Kappa motto. So I do think you're on to something.

BTW, the VMI Kappa Sigma Kappa went inactive for a while, was later revived and then merged (except for nine chapters) with Theta Xi in the 1960s. The crescents on Theta Xi's arms are taken from the Kappa Sigma Kappa arms.

ETA: I guess my hunch was right.