Upper Canada College - Arms, Motto, and Crest

Arms, Motto, and Crest

Upper Canada College's motto is palmam qui meruit ferat, meaning "let he who merited the palm bear it," and was derived from the poem by John Jortin titled Ad Ventos— ante A.D. MDCXXVIII ("To the Winds— Before 1727"). The words, attached to the arms of Lord Nelson in 1797, were first used in relation to UCC in 1833, as part of an emblem stamped on the inside of books given as prizes, showing the phrase written on a ribbon tying together two laurel leaves around the school's name. Around 1850, a crown replaced the school's name; John Ross Robertson stated this was at the insistence of Henry Scadding, who argued in favour of its use because the school had both been founded by a lieutenant governor and was at first a Royal Grammar School. The crown first used was that of King George IV.

In 1889, Scadding produced the design for the insignia which can still be seen over the doors to Laidlaw Hall at the college's Upper School. L.C. Kerslake described this crest in 1956:

This complex design, known as Scadding's Device, which was just the Seal of Upper Canada, authorised in 1820, with the college's motto and palm branches applied, was never widely used. Instead, the simple crown between laurel leaves tied with a ribbon bearing the school motto became the standard crest, though its appearance changed throughout the decades in reflection of current tastes.

It was not until the mid 1970s, as the college approached its sesquicentennial, that consideration was given to having the crest authorised by the College of Arms, then the heraldic authority for Canada, and the Armoral Bearings Committee was established to oversee the project. A petition was thereafter submitted to the Earl Marshal in 1981. The Board of Governors insisted that the school's traditional crest be incorporated into the forthcoming achievement; however, as the crest includes a royal crown, it was necessary to obtain the Canadian monarch's personal permission to use it officially. This was done via the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, then John Black Aird (himself a UCC Old Boy), and Queen Elizabeth II consented to the request, making UCC the only institution of its kind in the Commonwealth of Nations to have the royal crown in its arms.

The letters patent granting UCC its armorial achievements, including a heraldic standard, were issued on 4 January 1985, the 155th anniversary of the college's first day of classes. The traditional crest became the school's badge, though without the motto, as text and figures are normally not included in such emblems, but the King of Arms made an exception to the rules by allowing the retention of the date 1829 in the design. The symbol also became the crest of the school's new arms, though here with the number 1829 omitted, as, per heraldic rules, the royal crown must sit directly on the helmet. The escutcheon of the arms shows two deer's heads in the chief— one being the crest of the arms of the Lord Seaton and the other taken from the arms of Bishop John Strachan, the first Chairman of the Board of Governors— while, below a line of division embattled as in Seaton's achievement, is the aforementioned Scadding's Device surmounted by another royal crown. The shield is supported by, on the left, a master in academic gown and, at right, a student in cricket uniform, both styled on such figures in the mid-19th century. These devices were in 2005 registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority.