Heraldry and Not-Heraldry in Ghent

As we walked away from the Friday Market Square towards our next destination in Ghent, Belgium, we passed by the building of the Institut Laurent, housing the Basisschool François Laurentinstitut elementary school at 10 Ondeerstraat.

The front of the school has a large coat of arms flanked by the name of the institute.

Here's a better "face on" view of the name and coat of arms on the facade.

The coat of arms is, of course, the arms of the city of Ghent (Sable a lion rampant argent crowned or) surmounted with an embattled or "mural" coronet.

There are also a number of decorative figures of children sitting at desks with open books and cartouches with symbols of some of what they are learning at the Institute.

Here we have two children, one writing and one reading, with putti on each end holding up scrolls with the words Orde (Order) and Tucht (Discipline) on them.

The somewhat Baroque cartouches, though not truly heraldry, display some of the subjects taught at the Institute which the students are learning:

Reading and writing, symbolized by the book and quill pen, with laurel branches encircling the central motif,

and Geography, symbolized by the globe, with palm leaves:

All in all, an interesting display of carved heraldry and non-heraldry.