Significance in coat of arms

Should the University’s coat of arms be sidelined? asks Gregor Macaulay.

The University of Otago’s coat of arms has been in existence since 1870. It is probably the oldest impersonal heraldic device in continuous use in this country, apart from the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (of considerable significance to Māori, despite including no overtly Māori symbolism) and the New Zealand national flag. It even predates the introduction of rugby football to New Zealand.

It is, therefore, disappointing that it is proposed that the historic arms should be relegated to occasional, ceremonial use, rather than being used prominently and proudly as the University’s primary symbol of identity. The heritage of the University deserves to be celebrated and kept alive constantly rather than to be brought out from storage only for special occasions.

Heraldry is the oldest and most sophisticated system of personal and corporate identity yet devised. It arose, probably initially in Flanders, in the 1100s, about the same time that the first universities appeared, and rapidly spread across Europe. Coats of arms are widely used by the oldest and most prestigious universities around the world.

It is not clear what is meant by the university’s assertion that the use of coats of arms by universities follows "European perspectives of identity, learning and knowledge". Although heraldry originated in Europe (just as universities did), it is remarkably flexible and adaptable and is not limited in use or utility to Europe or Europeans; it has long since grown beyond its origins.

Universities have spread around the world because they work effectively as places for the creation, preservation, and transmission of advanced knowledge. Heraldry has also spread around the world, to every continent, because it is colourful, attractive, and effective in proclaiming identity. In New Zealand, heraldry is used widely every day by local councils, schools, sports clubs, churches, and professional bodies.

I have seen no evidence that those working on the university’s visual identity consulted any experts on heraldry or heraldic art before embarking on the astonishingly expensive project to create a new, non-heraldic logo. They perhaps were not aware that, just as a name can be written or printed in different writing styles or fonts without changing the name, a coat of arms can be refreshed and revised by being redrawn by different heraldic artists with their own styles. They perhaps were not aware that a shield can be accompanied by scrollwork or foliage or other decorative elements relevant to various cultures, ranging from fern leaves or thistles to kowhaiwhai patterns or designs from Pacific or Asian art and first drafts of examples of how the arms could be redrawn and adapted are shown below (many other versions are possible). They perhaps were also not aware that heraldic badges, subsidiary devices used in addition to a coat of arms, can be devised (e.g. the rose and thistle of England and Scotland used in addition to the royal arms of the United Kingdom) that can be used when a simpler emblem might be useful (the proposed logo is not a particularly simple device to draw or explain and is not obviously emblematic of an institution of learning).

A coat of arms is an adaptable device, unlike a logo that must always be drawn and reproduced in one specific way. Logos do not always age well and carry no guarantee of longevity. The Dunedin City Council has adopted two completely different logos in recent decades, despite having a perfectly good coat of arms, while the University of Otago’s coat of arms is more than 150 years old and that of the University of Oxford is 600 years old. No symbol, heraldic or otherwise, can succinctly express every aspect of its owner's history, activities, or ideals. The flag of the United States is a case in point: it refers merely to the 13 original and 50 current states but for many millions of people it has become a powerful symbol of patriotism and liberty. The university's arms similarly do not explicitly speak of academic freedom or research excellence or the culture of the institution but over a century and a-half have worked effectively as pictorial shorthand for everything that the university is and does and yet may be. Brand recognition is already firmly established, but could easily be diminished by the proposed change, and a compelling case to overshadow the historic arms with an unfamiliar logo has not been made.

 - Gregor Macaulay is a graduate and former staff member of the University of Otago. He has been editor of the quarterly journal of the Heraldry Society of New Zealand since 2000 and designed the Otago flag adopted in 2004.