The Arms of the University of Oxford show an open book with the inscription 'Dominus illuminatio mea' (The Lord is my light), surrounded by three golden crowns.
A blazon of this would be:
Azure, upon a book open proper, leathered gules, garnished or, having on the dexter side seven seals of the last, the words DOMINVS ILLVMINATIO MEA; all between three open crowns, two and one, or.
The arms have been in existence since around 1400, varying in appearance over the centuries. The number of seals and the text, for example, have both varied. The modern version of the arms in which they are not borne on a shield, but rather surrounded by a garter bearing the text 'UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD' was designed in 1993 and is a registered trademark.
Famous quotes containing the words arms of, arms, university and/or oxford:
“It does not come to a man that to be separated from a woman is to be dislocated from his very self. A man has but one centre, and that is himself. A woman has two. Though the second may never be seen by her, may live in the arms of another, may do all for that other that man can do for woman,—still, still, though he be half the globe asunder from her, still he is to her the half of her existence.”
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Standing alone with smooth arms lifted up,
And every leaf of foliage she’d worn
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“I am not willing to be drawn further into the toils. I cannot accede to the acceptance of gifts upon terms which take the educational policy of the university out of the hands of the Trustees and Faculty and permit it to be determined by those who give money.”
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