SMWC Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (from 1919 publication of Les Bois)

The many occasions on which schools, particularly those chartered by national or state laws, as is Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, find necessary the use of some distinguishing device, caused legislators on heraldic matters to class such institutions among those which by right may bear coats of arms. And as arms are considered an essential element of the seal required to be affixed to legal and other official documents, the designing of the coat of arms is one of the first matters to receive the attention of a governing body.

At Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, the simple device, designed nearly eighty years ago, of the book and violet, arranged on a lozenge, together with the motto, "Knowledge and Virtue United," without any attempt at heraldic design, for a long time served, temporarily, the use which is now supplied by the coat of arms shown on the opposite page. In this device every detail is symbolic, and the entire achievement makes a very interesting study in heraldry.

The blazoning, or heraldic description, of the coat of arms of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods reads: Shield: Per pale azure and argent: at dexter, a poplar tree on a mount proper, between two Latin crosses, or, and surmounted of a star radiant of the second, with the initial M of the first; at sinister, three double-headed eaglets displayed of the first, armed gules. Crest: A count's coronet. Supporters: Angels. Motto: Virtus cum Scientia.

Translation: A shield divided vertically in halves; the field of the dexter, (the left of the beholder,) is blue, showing in the center a poplar tree on a hill or terrace in natural colors, with on either side a Latin cross in gold, and above it a radiant star in silver with the first letter of the name of Mary in blue. On the silver field of the sinister half (the right of the beholder) are displayed three eaglets in blue color, placed two and one, with open wings, and beak and talons of a red color.

Explanation: The dexter is charged with devices symbolic or significant of some fact associated with the history and spirit of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. The star, rayed and charged with the letter M in blue, is an emblem of the Blessed Virgin, the Stella Matutina under the benign influence of whose light and love Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, represented by the tree, places all its hopes of growth and prosperity; the Latin crosses are emblems of the Redemption; the crest is the count's coronet of the Rolland du Roscoat family; the motto, "Virtus cum Scientia," was chosen of old by Mother Theodore Guerin, Foundress of the Sisters of Providence in America, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

The sinister half of the shield shows the coat of arms of Mademoiselle du Roscoat, the daughter of Count Louis Casimir Rolland du Roscoat, Lieutenant Marshal of France, and the Foundress of the Sisters of Providence at Ruille-sur-Loire, France. The three eaglets are emblematic of the Holy Trinity, the motto of the Du Roscoat family being, "Trino Soli sit Honor et Gloria," -- "To the Triune God alone Honor and Glory."

Angels were chosen as supporters, both because of their prevalent use in French heraldry, (the Sisters of Providence were originally founded in France,) and because devotion to the Angels has always been loved and promoted by the Sisters of Providence.