Entrance to Guy's Hospital with Coat of arms at top.
“Sable on a chevron or between three leopards’ head argent, each crowned with an eastern Crown of the second as many Fleurs de Lis azure and for a crest upon a wreath of the colours of the field. A woman sitting accompanied with three children proper habited azure being the emblem of Charity, the arms supported on either side by an Angel proper habited argent the hair and wings or each holding a book proper the clasps or and underneath the following motto: Dare quam accipere.”
Translated from heraldic language this means: a black field intersected by a
gold chevron surrounded by three silver leopard’s heads, crowned with Eastern
crowns. The chevron is decorated by three blue fleur-de-lis. The field is
crested by a helmet, upon which is a wreath in black and gold (the colours of
the field), upon which stands a woman holding three children. They are
‘proper’, that is, they are shown in their natural colours, the woman (Charity)
wearing a blue dress. On either side of the field stand two angels with gold
wings and hair and silver gowns, holding books with gold clasps. The motto
(very loosely translated!) is something like ‘to give is to receive’.
As to meanings, a brief internet search located the following meanings:
Gold: Generosity
Silver: Peace and sincerity
Sable: constancy, sometimes grief
Azure: loyalty and truth
Leopard: valiant and hardy warrior
Celestial crown: Heavenly reward (Crown: Royal or seigniorial authority)
Angels: Dignity, glory and honour
Fleur de Lis: Christian piety, royalty
However, this may be something you will be able to follow up.
A c olour illustration of the arms is available at t £10
(including a CD-ROM and postage and packing) from Kings College.. In order to obtain the scan there are two forms to fill in: a reader’s undertaking form and a
photocopying/scanning form. These are available at:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/archives/coreadf.html. Fill in these two forms
and send them to the archives. Include a cheque for £10 made payable to King’s
College London. Please note that there is a £10 surcharge for a non-sterling
cheque.
Information compiled by Katharine Higgon, Archives Assistant, Kings College Archives
