Monday, November 6, 2023

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round (Part 2)


To finish our review of the arms/logos of the remaining six of the nine (out of 11) colleges of the University of York appearing on the buses following their routes in the City of York, I was better placed to catch this one on camera as it drove by:


You will note, if you compare this bus to the one in my last post, that the arms of the University of York do not appear here.

For the rest, we will visit the arms/logos of the remaining six college that I was able to capture in more detail.

(It did gratify my OCD sensibilities somewhat that they placed the arms/logos of the College from left to right in alphabetical order.)

As before, the tinctures in my blazons of these emblems come from the web pages of the individual colleges.

First up, Constantine College and Derwent College:


Constantine College: On a scutum purpure a billet pierced winged with four wings, the lower two reversed/inverted in chief the overlapping letters C C, surmounting the shield in base a straight scroll gray charged with the Roman numerals MMXIV argent.

Derwent College: Azure (really, it’s Navy Blue, very dark!] in chief the interlaced letters D C and in base a double rose all argent.

Then Halifax College and James College:


Halifax College: Argent four bendlets azure a double-rose argent barbed and seeded proper all within a bordure argent, the shield supported by two lions rampant or, the supporters overlapping more than usual the shield on each side.

James College: Argent a swan naiant to sinister atop waves of water sable both debruised by the letter J argent in chief a rose argent extending beyond the chief edge of the shield.

And finally, Vanbrugh College and Wentworth College:


Vanbrugh College: An entirely unheraldic logo, consisting of a V marked like piano keys to dexter and like steps to sinister, the lower part barry wavy, and in chief a bird volant affronty? aversant?. The “shield” on their page on the University website (https://www.york.ac.uk/colleges/vanbrugh/) is only marginally more heraldic.

Wentworth College: Quarterly of six: 1, Sable a chevron between three leopard’s faces or; 2, Argent a cross couped grady of three sable; 3, Argent a cross couped formy sable; 4, Argent on a pale sable an eel’s head or; 5, Gules a saltire argent; and 6, Gules a fess of five fusils conjoined or. The quarterings are taken from the even-more-quartered arms of the College’s namesake, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Stafford.

I feel pretty good about catching on camera as many of these shields/logos as I did, considering that the bus driver wasn't going to stop for me to catch all of them.

On the other hand, I was left feeling a bit sad that no one with any real familiarity with heraldry seems to have been involved in the creation of these designs, and that even the most truly heraldic ones contain some pretty conspicuous errors.

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