Heraldry at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

In early April, I toured the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC, with the St. Nicholas Society of NY. Our guide, the excellent and well-informed Father Thomas Pike, led us through the length and breadth of the building, where I took photos of most of the shields embedded in the floor (having wandered away on my own, no disrespect intended). I also photographed the baptistry. Here are a few images, with more to come.

First, here is the Stuyvesant shield from the baptistry:

The inscription reads: "This baptistry is erected to the glory of God and in loving memory of Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant and Harriet Le Roy Suyvesant by their children Catherine E.S. Stuyvesant, Augustus Van Horne Stuyvesant Jr. and Anne W. Stuyvesant. Dedicated anno Domini MCMXXVIII.

The motto, I believe, reads: "Jovae praestat filere quam homini." The best translation I can give is "In excellence as possible by man," which is not elegant. [Man should strive for excellence?] Does anyone have a better one? I'd be grateful ... This is the same inscription that appears on the tomb of Rutherford Stuyvesant.

Here are two shields sent into the floor of a side aisle:

This is a stripped-down version of the arms of the City of Cologne, Germany, emphasizing the Three Kings, but without the eleven flames that are said to signify Saint Ursula.

The bones of the Three Kings (Magi) are said to be kept in a golden tomb in Cologne Cathedral. I leave it to you to discover whether this is true, though the story has its roots as far back as the twelfth century.

Finally for today, here is a rendering of the arms of the municipality of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain:

This rendering features the tomb of St. James, strongly associated with this city, and the star shining above his resting place. Omitted are the Host, chalice, and seven crosses that appear on the left side of the arms of the city. What you see above appears on the right half (as you view it) of the shield.

Comments, corrections, additions, anyone? Always grateful for your time and consideration.

A very happy Easter to all!

New Photos NYC Seals

Greetings and early good morning! Just posted four new photos of seals on public buildings on the New York City Heraldry page on Facebook. Come on over, join the group, and check out all the photos!

More here soon ...

New York City's Seals

In Central Park, there is still one example of the old seal of New York City, which looks like this:


from Seal and flag of the city of New York: authorized by the committee appointed by the mayor to commemorate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the installation of the first mayor ... Edited by John B. Pine. In the public domain; on Google Books.

The relatively new seal bears the date 1625. You can see it on many municipal buildings, on wikipedia.com (copyright protected), and on NYC licenses.

Heraldists and historians: Why was the date changed? Do you know the answer?

Do you know where the old seal appears in Central Park?

Post here -- and stay tuned for a great story.

Heraldry Everywhere -- T-Shirts Today!

I was walking home when I spied a group of bicyclists outside Levain Bakery. Their t-shirts caught my eye from a half-block away. Here is the design used by the Overseas Chinese Mission (OCM) to identify themselves and their organization. My thanks to these cheerful people for allowing me to photograph the back of one of their group!


Heraldry is bold and visible this afternoon! I hope the OCM had a great bike ride today.

Pythian Heraldry??

All photos by Maria A. Dering

Since the early 1980s, I have been fascinated by a building in my Upper West Side Manhattan neighborhood: formerly the Pythian Temple, now a condominium. If you would like a larger image of the plaque, please post a comment here or a note on Facebook.

Today, I photographed the exterior details and present them here. The question: are these examples of heraldry (ways to identify oneself and group), decoration, symbols, or something else? What do you think? Please comment.

above the main entrance

Pharoanic figures, maybe based on Ramses II

Horus, perhaps?

asps and lotus

ankh, asp, etc.

At a glance:

2 Heraldry Presentations

Hello, everyone! Just posted two of my heraldry presentations on my website: www.mariadering.com. Click "Portfolio" once there and scroll down to the Heraldry heading. The "Lost Arms" presentation takes a few seconds to load. I hope you enjoy these.

Arms of the Czech Republic

Thanks to Sandy Sanford for grabbing a photo of the shield on the outside of the Czech Mission on Madison Avenue, Manhattan. Aren't these lovely?

The English translation of the label reads: "Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations."