The University Coat of Arms

Lincoln University’s crest or ‘coat of arms’ (technically ‘armorial bearings’) is an amalgam of design elements from three sources and periods of time. Together these sources provided the basis for a fourth unifying design commissioned in 1939 and adopted in 1940.

The three initial sources and times were the Canterbury Association’s emblem of 1849, the Canterbury Agricultural College’s Seal of 1896 and the Canterbury Agricultural College Students’ Association’s badge from its foundation year of 1919.

The unified design dates from 1939-1940 when Professor Eric Hudson, Director of Lincoln University’s antecedent institution Canterbury Agricultural College, invited the School of Art at Canterbury University College to draft an appropriate heraldic crest for official and formal use. In 2018, the design was simplified for the purposes of publications but the original design remains on the parchments.

The Students’ Association badge of 1919, with its motto Scientia et Industria cum Probitate (Science and Industry with Integrity) contributed by College veterinarian AA Taylor, had been widely used on sports blazers and trophies throughout the 1920s and 1930s but its design had never conformed fully with heraldic principles.

The ‘coat of arms’ as designed by the School of Art incorporates ecclesiastical, agricultural and other symbols on the background of a shield. A cross and two bishops’ pallia (vestments) are drawn from the Canterbury Association’s emblem and indicate Canterbury’s original association with the Church of England and the connection of the early settlers with the church-based Canterbury Association. The animal heads (ox and sheep) represent the pastoral industries and the sheaf represents agriculture in the husbandry sense. The mortar and pestle refer to science. The dominating chevron across the centre of the shield, also taken from the Canterbury Association emblem, is an architectural symbol indicating the pursuit of activities as being combined under one roof.

The 1940 crest was approved by the College of Heralds in London, but never taken to the final step of registration, the cost at the time being regarded as prohibitive. It has, however, gone on to become enshrined as Lincoln University’s ‘coat of arms’ and has been used down to the present day.

The colours used in the crest are red, white, gold and navy. Red for the ecclesiastical elements, gold for the agricultural and science symbols, white for the chevron and as the background to the cross and pallia, and blue as background for the remainder of the shield.

Sources: 

Blair, I.D. Life and Works at Canterbury Agricultural College, 1956 

Blair, I.D. The Seed They Sowed, 1978

Burns, R.A. Ivey Hall, Lincoln College, 1977