The archdiocese of Westminster (UK) recently launched the use of a new rendering of the archdiocesan coat of arms. Previously, they had used the arms of the See (Gules a pall Proper) under the galero of an archbishop with the patriarchal (double-barred) cross. This was technically incorrect as the cross and galero imply the arms of an individual archbishop rather than a corporate body like a diocese. So, that has now been rectified with the use of this new rendering that more correctly indicates this is the coat of arms of the archdiocese, rather than of the Cardinal-Archbishop.
As for the artwork: isn’t it hideous?
The artist draws better (=much sharper) then I can, but his shapes and style are horrible!
Processional cross – check; miter – check; pallium – check; stole – check; shield – check. Well, he got the right stuff on there doesn’t that count for something? Isn’t it sweet how the ends of the store are pointed upward as though the coat of arms itself is saying Mass?
There is no processional cross or stole in this coat of arms. The cross is an archiepiscopal or sometimes called a patriarchal cross and is the symbol of an archbishop or an archdiocese. What you thought was a stole are the infulae or fanons that hang off the back of a mitre. I never had any issue with the composition of these arms. Rather, I was critical of the poor artwork used to depict it.
Agh! Stole.