The arms (above) were recently designed and emblazoned by me for an American priest who is also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
The priest has a devotion to St. Anthony, his baptismal patron, and is a Third Order Dominican. The gyronny of eight that makes up the field is taken from the arms of the Order of Preachers. In addition, the black and white recalls the arms of the city of Lisbon where St. Anthony was born. The plate charged with a red cross at the center alludes to the arms of the city of Padua, where St. Anthony died and is buried. In addition, this charge represents the sacred Host used at Mass because the armiger has advanced studies in the sacred liturgy. Finally, the counterchanged wavy bar in base alludes to three things: the lake at Mundelein where the liturgical studies were undertaken at the Liturgical Institute there; his home state, Michigan, which is situated in the Great Lakes; a charge in the arms of the diocese in which he serves.
The shield is ensigned with the motto meaning “In Spirit and in Truth”, the priest’s galero and the cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
Does the priest have authority to bear his arms on the cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre? I was under the impression that only members of the titled nobility were allowed to do so. But I may well be mistaken.
PS: The shield is ensigned, not unsigned. I suspåect your spell-check may have got the better of you.
The Order determines its own heraldic practices and they are based upon the ranking one holds WITHIN the Order, not on one’s status in life. Knights may either suspend the badge of the Order below the shield by a ribbon, place the cross of the Order near the shield or place the shield ON the cross of the Order. It has nothing to do with nobility or title.
Typo amended. Thanks.