April 17, 1998

"Armorial bearings" not a "crest"

I sincerely hope that there will be an end to the continual references to "the university crest" in Folio. There is a disturbing tendency to use the phrase to refer to the university's armorial bearings, while anyone who is at all familiar with heraldry knows that a crest is only part of the arms, just like the shield, supporters, helm, motto and compartment. The crest of the U of A does not bear a motto, it does not feature a book or wheat, and it does not contain roses or a golden bear. All literate anglophones should realize that the crest is the part at the top -- the university crest is an owl with a green and gold collar.

Darren S. A. George,
Graduate student,
Department of Chemistry

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