On June 8, 2025–Pentecost Sunday—the Most Reverend Lawrence Brandt (86), a priest of Erie who served from 2004-2015 as the fourth Bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania passed away.
May he rest in peace.
Bishop Brandt RIP
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Category Archives: Work of Other Artists
Corrected Papal Arms
For reasons unknown, perhaps because of all the internet chatter (?) the Holy See has now corrected the armorial bearings of Pope Leo XIV to display a field of Azure & White as well as a fleur-de-lis of a more gray or metallic silver while both are blazoned Argent.
Archbishop McKnight of Kansas City
The Most Reverend Shawn McKnight (56), a priest of Wichita and who from 2018-2025 served as Bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri, was installed today as the 12th Bishop and 5th Metropolitan Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas.
His very simple and striking coat of arms arms was marshaled to those of Kansas City and very ably rendered by Matthew Alderman.
Bishop Lewandowski, CSsR of Providence
On May 20, the Most Rev. Bruce Lewandowski, CSsR (57), a Redemptorist and formerly Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, will be installed as the 10th Bishop of Providence, R.I. I had previously written about the bishop’s coat of arms when he was first made Auxiliary Bishop.
Now that he is moving to become a diocesan bishop his armorial bearings will now be marshaled to those of his diocese. The Bishop had employed his sister, a Felician Sister who “works in media” for her Province to design his coat of arms. As they were back then, so too, are they something of a dumpster fire, heraldically speaking.
In an interview for The Catholic Review, the Baltimore archdiocesan newspaper, in 2020 the Bishop said, “Why would I ask anyone else?” when asked why his sister was designing his coat of arms. I think I can answer that. How about: in order to turn to someone with knowledge of a specific topic that isn’t really a DIY project? How about that? In her own part of the same interview, Sr. Lewandowski remarked about some of the particular elements of her design:
“The Holy Spirit is depicted as breaking the upper edge of the shield ‘as it is the privilege of the Holy Spirit to inspire new life and envision endless possibilities for the Church, God’s people,’ the description says. The designer noted that she was not sure if that was “allowed” but in her research she did not find any parameters that said it couldn’t be done that way.” (emphasis added)
All I can say is that must have been one quick and not very diligent Google search. Even the most cursory bit of online research should have clued her in to the fact that charges emerging through the edges of the field was a puerile and amateurish mistake. Quite frankly, I don’t see how she could have done any research and reached the conclusion that she did! There are numerous resources out there for someone unfamiliar with good heraldic practices, to say nothing of the huge online presence of groups and organizations that could have happily offered her assistance in her project.
But, this, instead, is the worst kind of so-called heraldry: heraldry as logo. (It summons up the bile just by thinking about it!).
In the same aforementioned article she said:
“…she believes a bishop’s coat of arms should tell people who he is and what he stands for. And I believe it should be a more spiritual piece, not just a historical piece,” she said. “And a lot of the coats of arms that I’ve seen and that I kind of read into, it’s a real historical document, but it doesn’t always tell you who the bishop is. She said she tried to tie in Bishop-designate Lewandowski’s spirituality into the symbols she used.”
Well, she got the first part right. A coat of arms should tell people who the armiger is. But, then she rode that right off the rails with the second part. A coat of arms does not tell people what the armiger stands for. It is for identification alone. I have often mentioned that a coat of arms is not one’s C.V. in pictures. Similarly, it isn’t an expression of personal ideology; a manifesto of one’s own spirituality or (for the clergy) a catechetical tool that expresses one’s personal beliefs as a kind of pictorial homily. Unfortunately, that’s precisely how the Lewandowski kids decided to view this project, with disastrous results.
In the latest rendering the overcrowded and poorly composed original coat of arms now falls victim to, perhaps, my second favorite pet peeve: they were changed in order to combine well with the diocesan arms. That’s not an option, full stop. (I suppose Sister didn’t find anything in her research that said she couldn’t do that either!) In addition, the charges form the personal arms are still going beyond the divisions and boundaries of the shield and/or spilling over from one impalement to the other. Clearly, this is also the classic mistake of thinking that the diocesan arms now somehow “become” part of the bishop’s coat of arms rather than being an example of two distinct and separate coats of arms marshaled together on one shield so as to express the relationship between the two!
The list of things wrong with this just goes on and on, and on…
Suffice it to say that he had a poorly designed coat of arms to begin with which would have and could have benefitted greatly from some expertise and advice from an organization, an individual, or even a decent book on the subject in order to take the elements and arrange and depict them according to good heraldic practices. Now, that poorly designed coat of arms has been badly modified and marshaled inexpertly to the point that the diocesan coat of arms of the See of Providence is depicted incorrectly!
EPIC FAIL!
But…what do you expect when a coat of arms is approached as an exercise in graphic design to tell us who the armiger really is? I’ll leave that question unanswered, thank you.
What Do YOU Think of Pope Leo’s Coat of Arms?
This question has been posed to me by numerous people since the Holy See released the image of the Pope’s coat of arms as pope. My answer is simply this: it looks pretty much like I expected.
Pope Leo already had a very good coat of arms as a bishop. I’m glad to see he didn’t feel the need to entirely change the design as others have done in the past. A coat of arms is a means of identification. It identifies you. It becomes associated with you in such a way that it shouldn’t be changed cavalierly. A change of position should warrant the use of different external ornaments to signify the new rank, not a full scale change in what is on the shield itself. So, I’m happy to see that the Pope left alone the arms that he assumed as a bishop 11 years ago.
I was not surprised to see the papal tiara rendered in the form of a kind of mitre. This began with Pope Benedict XVI and continued with Pope Francis I. So, we have now seen this for twenty years and I assumed it would be continued. It is, perhaps, important to note that the tiara has not been replaced with a mitre. Rather, it is the papal tiara rendered as a kind of mitre/tiara hybrid. This occurred at all because of ignorance. The argument to Benedict XVI was that since the tiara is, practically speaking, no longer worn it should not be depicted in the coat of arms. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, since it is no longer worn that’s all the more reason it should be used in the coat of arms. It remains a symbol of the papacy. Most of the world’s monarchs no longer actually wear a crown but the use of a crown heraldically remains. Cardinals and bishops no longer wear an actual galero but the galero remains a heraldic emblem. (It is worth noting here that the tiara with the keys remains the emblem of the Holy See.)
St. Paul VI, in his reforms of 1969, decreed that the mitre and crozier which used to be in the coats of arms of all bishops in addition to the galero and episcopal/archiepiscopal cross should no longer be used in the arms of such prelates. He reasoned that the crozier and mitre were still used liturgically as emblems of the episcopal office and their practical use made using them as heraldic symbols redundant and inappropriate. (NOTE: the same is also true for the pallium) Whereas, the episcopal cross and galero—used at one time—had fallen into practical disuse and so were very appropriate to be used purely as heraldic ornaments. By that logic the same is true of the papal tiara. Since recent popes have chosen not to be crowned the use of the tiara as a purely heraldic emblem makes all the more sense.
Yet, those advising Benedict XVI, principally among them Archbishop Piero Marini and the late Cardinal di Montezemolo, argued that the tiara should be modified in its appearance to show that it is no longer actually worn. This was bad advice then and it has now been codified into enduring, though still equally poor advice. Nevertheless, it was easy to anticipate that Pope Leo would simply follow suit. So…no real surprise there.
Similarly, the slight change in tincture of the division of the field in base from Argent (silver or white artistically) to a kind of beige or buff color shows an appalling lack of understanding of heraldry. This is also displayed in the description of this tincture as “light”. Just what, precisely, is THAT supposed to mean ?!?! There isn’t an actual blazon to help clarify this. The lack of a proper blazon could be because no one at the Vatican knows how to write one; they simply don’t find it important enough to care about; or they feel it would be too esoteric and unintelligible for the average person. One can only hope that the reason is one of the latter two rather than the former.
But there isn’t a lot of evidence to dissuade me. For example, the tiara and keys and motto banner are all clearly just a “cut & paste” job from the arms of Pope Francis I. Really? With all the many competent heraldic artists and heraldic experts available to them no one at the Vatican bothered to reach out to anyone and just figured this could all be handled “in house” by someone with a computer? Is that the most appropriate way to prepare a new pope’s coat of arms? it shouldn’t be a matter of who can get it done first but of who can do it best. What a shame that it has been deemed acceptable simply to cobble something together from existing images.
It’s also probably worth noting that—just like all bishops—all of the popes have had an episcopal motto. However, by longstanding tradition and custom a motto is not supposed to be included in the armorial achievement of the Pope. In his seminal work, Heraldry in the Catholic Church (1978) Archbishop Bruno Heim notes that, “It is widespread custom to put a motto under the shield. It is often held, wrongly, by those who know little about heraldry, that the motto is indispensable; yet it is an addition which does not properly belong to the armorial bearings themselves.” (page 80)
So we see that, all in all, the new Pope’s coat of arms is unsurprising in its composition, disappointing in its execution, and uninspiring in its depiction with numerous errors that could have been avoided with a little creativity and some consultation with people who know what they are doing.
For example, in the hands of an artist of some merit the same exact design can be rendered in a manner that looks considerably better just by the good use of composition and artistic style.
Take, for example, this sketch of the arms of Pope Leo XIV done on the evening of his election by the noted and competent heraldic artist, Marco Foppoli. We can see here that, in the hands of an expert with a great deal of experience, the original heraldic design can be rendered with the appropriate external ornaments in a way that maintains the simplicity that is desired while also creating a new and unique achievement for the armiger. Too bad that someone like Foppoli wasn’t consulted by officials at the Holy See.
Papal heraldry has been in a slow decline since the death of Archbishop Heim. It is sad but true. Unfortunately, at the outset of this new pontificate, there are no signs that this is going to change for the better anytime soon.
God Bless Pope Leo XIV!
Pope Leo XIV
(artwork by Sandy Turnbull)
Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church
During the Sede Vacante the person in charge of the affairs of the Church is the Chamberlain (Camerlengo) of the Holy Roman Church. Since 2019 that man has been the (Irish-born) American, Kevin Cardinal Farrell, former Bishop of Dallas, Texas and also former Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, DC.
During the time of the Sede Vacante he functions as the caretaker of the Church and the Regent of the Vatican City-State. The symbol of the Church since the time of the existence of the Papal States, the crossed keys and ombrellino, are placed above his existing coat of arms in the achievement. These may always be used during his tenure in office but, practically speaking, most of those who are Camerlengo make use of these added ornaments only during the Sede Vacante. Special coins will be struck to mark this moment in the Church’s history bearing the arms of the Camerlengo.
This version of Farrell’s arms is by Marco Foppoli.
Novemdiales
In the midst of all the news out there about the death and burial of Pope Francis I didn’t bother to post anything. In addition, I was dealing with some personal matters during that time as well that prevented me from having the time for posting. We now find ourselves in the midst of the nine official days of mourning for a pope, the so-called Novemdiales. Now, the world waits the start of the Conclave which will commence on May 7.
I post here a funerary hatchment made by the Australian Heraldic Artist, Mr. Sandy Turnbull. May Pope Francis Rest in Peace.
Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe, OP
It took a bit of time but the arms used by Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe, OP the Dominican friar who was created cardinal just last autumn by the late pope and who will now be an elector in the upcoming Conclave, has now been published.
He has not been ordained a bishop so there is no episcopal cross behind the shield in the achievement. Overall, he has chosen very Dominican looking symbols and a differenced version of the arms of Radcliffe. A very handsome coat of arms.
Archbishop Weisenburger of Detroit
On March 18 the Most Reverend Edward J. Weisenburger (64), originally a priest of Oklahoma City, former Bishop of Salina, Kansas, and most recently Bishop of Tucson, Arizona, will be installed as the 10th Bishop and 6th Archbishop of Detroit, Michigan.
His immediate predecessor, Archbishop Allen Vigneron, had the archdiocese’s coat of arms redesigned into a logo-like emblem in 2017.
Thankfully, Archbishop Weisenburger has chosen to impale his personal arms with the traditional version of the archdiocesan coat of arms adopted in 1937 to indicate a sense of continuity with his predecessors. Excellent choice!
Abbess of Eichstätt (better late than never)
The Benedictine nuns of St. Walburga Abbey, Eichstätt elected Mother Elizabeth Hartwig, OSB as their abbess on October 28 of last year. On November 30 she received the abbatial blessing from the Rt. Rev. Barnabas Bögle, OSB, Abbot of Ettal.
Her assumed coat of arms depicts, in chief, the bread and roses that are symbols of her patroness, St. Elizabeth of Thuringia. In base the three wavy lines represent rivers from three places of importance in her life: the Elbe in Torgau where she grew up; the Saale in Jena where she studied; the Altmühl in Eichstätt where she became a nun. The motto says “We are bound together by the love of Christ”.
The coat of arms was designed by one of the nuns of the Abbey, Sister Caritas Dirr.
New Bishop in Oslo
The Most Rev. Frederik Hansen (45) was ordained a bishop on January 18 and became Coadjutor Bishop of Oslo, Norway with the automatic right of succession to Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, CRSA, who is currently 71. When he succeeds to the See, Bishop Hansen will be the 9th Bishop of Oslo.
In the interests of full disclosure, the new bishop, who spent some time working for the diplomatic corps of the Holy See and was in residence in a parish in my native diocese of Rockville Centre, NY contacted me upon his appointment to design his coat of arms. However, he later was informed that the diocese of Oslo had already secured the services of another heraldist, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta.
The Bishop’s arms are quartered with those of the Diocese of Oslo, somewhat unusually for someone who is not yet the diocesan bishop but more of a “diocesan bishop-in-waiting”. This will, of course, save him the trouble of having a new rendering made when the time comes that he succeeds to the See. nevertheless, it is unusual because he does not yet possess jurisdiction over the See.
For his personal arms, seen in the second and third quarters, the heraldic colors, blue and silver, are from Drammen’s city coat of arms. The “IHS” is the monogram of the name “Jesus” and points to Jesus’ holy name and Bishop Hansen’s devotion to “the name above all names” (Phil 2,9–10) which is given to mankind for salvation (see Acts 4,12). The open book refers to Bishop Hansen’s work in church administration and in priestly formation and teaching. The two croziers allude to two Norwegian saint-bishops: St. Torfinn, bishop of Hamar, and St. Eystein, Primate-Archbishop of Nidaros.
Despite not having worked on this project I’d say the bishop was in good hands and has achieved an excellent result (pun intended).
Danish Coat of Arms Updated
HM, King Frederik X has undertaken to issue a new, updated version of the Danish royal coat of arms dated December 20, 2024. The new version, prepared by Ronny Skov Andersen, simplifies the overall design.
It removes the three crowns of the Kalmar union and gives the arms of the Faeroe Islands and Greenland their own quarterings. It also places the arms of Denmark, originally the arms of the House of Estridsen, in the first quarter and instead of repeating it in the fourth quarter the arms of Schleswig are placed there. In addition, the Dannebrog, the cross that divides the shield into four quarters, has been returned to a more traditional form with the ends of the arms slightly flared. Overall, there remains the dynastic inescutcheon for the arms of the House of Oldenburg. The new version is:
The blason could be written as: A shield quartered by a cross pattée throughout Argent fimbriated Gules; first quarter Or, three lions passant in pale Azure crowned and armed Or langued Gules, nine hearts Gules (for Denmark); second quarter Azure a ram passant Argent armed and unguled Or (for the Faroe Islands); third quarter, Azure a polar bear rampant Argent (for Greenland); fourth quarter, Or two lions passant in pale Azure armed Or langued Gules (for Schleswig). Overall an escutcheon Or two bars Gules (for Oldenburg) the whole surrounded by the Collars of the Order of the Dannebrog and the Order of the Elephant. Supporters two woodwoses armed with clubs Proper standing on a pedestal. All surrounded by a mantle Gules doubled Ermine crowned with a royal crown and tied up with tasseled strings Or.
This replaces the version of the coat of arms that had been modified after the reign of King Frederik IX by Queen Margrethe which had been in use since 1972. (below)
I think this updated version is aesthetically more pleasing. It is a slightly less busy composition and the juxtaposition of the arms of Denmark and those of Schleswig provide a more pleasing visual. There is no longer the multiplication of lions and the two quarters with fields Or look better on a diagonal from each other, as do the two quarters with fields Azure. It all seems less imbalanced. I also happen to think the style of the cross looks better that the simple cross throughout.
It is exciting to see heraldry—long erroneously thought by the ignorant to be stagnant and encrusted with the weight of history and therefore irrelevant to today’s society—being updated and dynamic. The current situation calls for an updated symbol of the monarchy. This was true in 1972 and it is just as true some 52 years later. I applaud the efforts of His Majesty and also Ronny Andersen and those who worked with him to devise this updated coat of arms.
Feast of St. Nicholas
Some years back there was a discussion about the devisal of attributed arms for St. Nicholas of Myra (aka Santa Claus). My fellow heraldry enthusiast, Michael Quigley, proposed this design.
Attributed arms are created for individuals who didn’t bear a coat of arms themselves. Either, they are fictitious characters, they simply didn’t have a coat of arms or they may have lived prior to the development of heraldry.
St. Nicholas was definitely a real person but he lived from A.D. 270 – 343, roughly nine hundred years before heraldry existed.
This fanciful coat of arms employs an Eastern mitre and the traditional 3 gold coins associated with St. Nicholas from the story of him ransoming three children from being sold into slavery. It also uses deer (reindeer) supporters, fir twigs and the colors green and red so associated with the legend of Santa Claus and Western Christmas lore and custom.
December 6 is the feast of St. Nicholas.
Cardinal Bychok
His Eminence, Mykola Bychok, CSsR (44) is a Ukrainian Catholic who serves as Eparch of Ss. Peter & Paul of Melbourne since 2020. On December 7 he will become the Church’s youngest cardinal.
The arms he assumed upon becoming a bishop were designed by others for him and he was not entirely satisfied with them. With his upcoming creation as a cardinal he saw this as an opportunity to tweak the design of his coat of arms.
The redesigned coat of arms does not depart that much from what he originally had but cleans it up a bit and adds the external ornament unique to Cardinals.
The blazon is: Tierced in pall; in chief, Gules a rose Argent, barbed and seeded Or between three bezants; in dexter base Azure a trident (tryzub) topped with a Greek cross, all Or; in sinister base Or a Latin cross on a perch of a staff topped by a sponge in bend and a spear in sinister bend all Azure. The shield is ensigned with the galero of a cardinal of the holy Roman Church with cords and 30 tassels disposed in five rows of one, two, three, four and five all Gules; the whole within a mantle Gules lined ermine surmounted by the Eastern mitra Gules; in saltire behind the mantle a crozier and a cross both Or.
The charges in chief symbolize the place he is from; the trident (differenced by the addition of a cross) is a symbol of Ukraine; the cross, sponge and spear are borrowed from the arms of the Redemptorist Order of which he is a member.
I was very happy to consult on this redesign and work to put it together with Mr. Richard d’Apice of the Australian Heraldry Society. As with all our collaborations the artwork has been deftly provided by Mr. Sandy Turnbull, also of the Australian Heraldry Society.
Archbishop Wiesław Andrzej Śmigiel
On October 24, the Most Rev. Wiesław Śmigiel (55) a priest of Pelplin, Poland who also served as Auxiliary Bishop there, and from 2017-2024 was the Bishop of Toruń, will be installed as the 6th Bishop and 4th Metropolitan Archbishop of Szczecin-Kamień.
His armorial bearings:
Marshaling is Everything! (Bp. Martin UPDATED)
You may recall that in a post about several new bishops’ installations I wrote the following about the coat of arms of Bp. Martin of Charlotte, N.C.:
“May 29 saw the ordination and installation of the Most Rev. Michael Martin, OFMConv (62) as the fifth Bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The diocesan website describes his personal arms, “To the viewer’s right is the Franciscan coat of arms. Featuring the traditional Franciscan Tau cross with two arms crossing one another, it is rich in symbolism. The two arms, one Christ’s and the other St. Francis of Assisi’s, both bear the stigmata. They symbolize God’s love and Francis’s loving response to the Word made incarnate, Taberski explained. It is an image found throughout the ministries, friaries, missions and sites served by the Franciscan order.
On the right side of the shield, the top (known as the “chief”) and the bottom (the “base”) feature references to George Calvert and his son Cecil Calvert – the first and second barons of Baltimore. The Calverts were among the first Catholics to arrive in colonial America. They established the then Province of Maryland as a safe place for English Catholics to emigrate to since they were no longer able to freely practice their faith at home. In the coat of arms, the use of six vertical stripes – alternately gold and black, with the diagonal stripe in color – recalls Bishop Martin’s hometown of Baltimore.”
A nice simple design but perhaps the arms of Calvert would have looked better depicted once in the main part of the field with the Franciscan symbols occupying a chief?“
Well, my friend and frequent collaborator, Mr. Sandy Turnbull of the Australian Heraldry Society, read that post and decided to have a bit of fun and create a new emblazonment of Bp. martin’s coat of arms that followed my advice. I’d say the result (below) speaks for itself. I was right! The whole achievement does look better as I suggested. See? One can’t just throw things onto a shield and call it heraldry. How the design is arranged—to be aesthetically pleasing as well as heraldically correct—is a large part of good heraldic design.
Bishop Beckman of Knoxville, Tennessee
The Most Rev. James Beckman, (61) a priest of the Diocese of Nashville since 1990 was ordained a bishop and installed as the Fourth Bishop of Knoxville on July 26. For reasons I don’t fully understand, his installation Mass took place in a local convention center despite the fact that only a few years ago in 2018 the diocese undertook to build a $30 million dollar new cathedral with an area of 28,000 feet and a seating capacity of 1,358. It begs the question: what was the new cathedral for?
The armorial bearings he assumes upon becoming a bishop are the following. The diocesan coat of arms, designed when the diocese was established in 1988 are a dumpster fire and the less said about them the better. After all, this bishop had no hand in designing them and he wisely conformed to the convention of not changing them since they have been in use for 36 years already.
According to information from the Diocesan website his personal arms contain what they do because…
“Bishop-elect Beckman is an avid hiker and has a deep appreciation for the beauty of God’s creation. His coat of arms reflects this part of his life, in which he has found much solace and communion with God in prayer. His personal arms display a symbolic natural setting on a field of green (vert), which also has ties to the bishop’s heritage, and to Sacred Scripture.
The bishop’s surname is German, and derives from the word beck, which means a stream or brook. This is depicted by the wavy vertical lines (pale wavy) painted white and blue (argent and azure) in the center of the shield. This also recalls the prophecy related by St. John the Evangelist about the City of God, the New Jerusalem, which he sees in a vision near the end of the Book of Revelation: “Then the angel showed me, the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city” (Rev 22:1).
John also saw, “on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2). The tree of life and its fruit are alluded to here by twelve leaves of the tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). This was chosen as the state tree of Tennessee in 1947. It is an appropriate symbol for the state that comprises both the Diocese of Nashville, where Bishop-elect Beckman was born and served as a priest, and the Diocese of Knoxville, which he will serve as its bishop.
The charges were chosen for good reasons. The coat of arms is clear and uncomplicated. The only real down side is that they are impaled with the awful coat of arms of the See.
