University of Canterbury - Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

With the dissolution of the University of New Zealand, the newly independent University of Canterbury devised its own coat of arms, blazoned:

"murrey a fleece argent, in base a plough or, and on a chief wavy or an open book proper bound murrey, edged and clasped or between a pall azure charged with four crosses formy fitchy or and a cross flory azure."

What it means. The colour of the shield is the first thing stated. “Murrey” is maroon. This is a colour seldom seen in Heraldry. Next the objects on the shield and their colour are described. “A fleece” is usually depicted as a whole sheep with a band around its middle and “argent” means silver (or white as it is usually depicted.) “In Base” means at the bottom of the shield, and the object is a hand plough. “Or” means gold so the plough is coloured gold. A “chief” is a broad stripe across the top of the shield and “wavy” means the line at the base of the chief is like a sine wave. “Or” again means gold so the chief is coloured gold. Then the objects on the chief are described. “An open book” is self-explanatory. “Proper” means the object is depicted in its natural colour(s) and as books normally have white pages this is how it looks. The book is “bound murrey” which means the covers are in maroon. However the edges of the pages are in gold (“edged or”.) The book also has clasps (“clasped”) in maroon. A clasp allows the book to be more securely bound after it has been closed. The “between” indicates that the book is between two other objects; in this case a “pall” which is the Y shaped object. “Azure” means blue. “Charged” means that the following objects are placed on the pall. The “four crosses” are Christian crosses but “formy” means the arms of the cross flare at the ends and fitchy” means that the lower arm has a pointed end. Again “or” means these crosses are gold. The pall is a link between Canterbury, New Zealand, and Canterbury, England as it (and the crosses) appear on the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The other object is another type of cross this time all arms are of equal length and the “flory” means the shaped part at the end of each arm is a fleur-de-lys. “Azure” again means blue, so this cross is blue.

This replaced the arms formerly used by Canterbury College — an unofficial, simplified version of the Canterbury Province coat of arms.

The fleece symbolises the pastoral, and the plough at the base the agricultural background of the province of Canterbury. The Bishop's Pall and the cross flory represent Canterbury's ecclesiastical connections, and the open book denotes scholarship.

As it relates to an institution of learning, the University's coat of arms does not have a helmet, crest or mantling on its bearings.

A more detailed history of the arms, including their formal heraldic description, appears on the University website.