More Heraldry in the Wild

I swear, it seems like nearly every time I turn around, no matter where I am or what I am doing, I will find heraldry of one kind or anther.

This time, it was while going to my first appointment to a physical therapist. (I messed up my right shoulder working the yard, trying to move something heavier than I should have.* My physician and the therapist both think I didn't do anything seriously damaging to it beyond a sprain, and so a few weeks of physical therapy should have be "back in action" before long.)

Anyway, while I was there, I just happened to notice (because I am so attuned to looking for things on shield shapes, don't you know?) this large sign hanging on one wall.

This is the sort-of heraldic logo of the Grand Prairie, Texas, High School. Their mascot is the Gopher, and school is located, appropriately enough, at 101 Gopher Boulevard in Grand Prairie.

The shield is probably best described as Per chevron and per pale to chief with various charges, including the State of Texas with a star marking the location of the City of Grand Prairie, a key and scroll in saltire, and a sideways oval with a large "G" on it. (This last appears to be basically taken from the logo of the American football** team the Green Bay Packers of Wisconsin. See, e.g., https://www.shutterstock.com/search/green-bay-packers) Taking the place of a crest is a lit torch bendwise sinister issuing from behind the shield, and the shield itself surrounded by a laurel wreath superimposed in base by a double scroll with the words "Grand Prairie" and "Gophers".

It is not by any means the best heraldic design. Indeed, it bears many of the hallmarks of "design by committee" where none of the members of the committee had any real knowledge in or experience of heraldry.

Nonetheless, there it was, all heraldry-like, hanging on the wall, out there "in the wild", and so I had to photograph it and share it with you!

* Sometimes it makes me want to write new words to the old 1965 song by The Bobby Fuller Four (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgtQj8O92eI). In this case, the wording would be: "I fought the yard, and the yard won." It's happened before.

** I always feel the need to specify "American" football, to differentiate it from what the rest of the world knows as football. See immediately below.