I say "almost" heraldry, because while these next examples do not appear on shields here in the church, they do show up as heraldic emblems and as charges on coats of arms elsewhere.
First, we have a two-light stained glass window:
In the left-hand light, we have a pelican vulning itself (sometimes called a pelican in its piety), a symbol of Christ and the sacrifice He made for mankind, and in the right-hand light, we see a fouled anchor, a symbol of hope and security.
Then, on one wall of the church, in a faux Gothic window, we have a display of the Ten Commandments, and in the quatrefoil opening near the top, there is another pelican vulning itself.
And finally, on the opposite wall from the Ten Commandments, a matching faux window with The Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed, with an Agnus Dei in the quatrefoil space near the top.
As for their use as charges on coats of arms, we have to go no further for examples than, respectively, the well-known arms of the Pelham family (Azure three pelicans argent vulning themselves gules), the arms of the State of Rhode Island, whose state motto is "Hope", (Azure three anchors or), and the arms of the Middle Temple, London (Gules an Agnus Dei proper).So while the charges are not "heraldic" here, they are certainly "heraldry-adjacent", and I think that warrants their inclusion in this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment