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:
“Even though I had let them choose their own socks since babyhood, I was only beginning to learn to trust their adult judgment.. . . I had a sensation very much like the moment in an airplane when you realize that even if you stop holding the plane up by gripping the arms of your seat until your knuckles show white, the plane will stay up by itself. . . . To detach myself from my children . . . I had to achieve a condition which might be called loving objectivity.”
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“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
—U.S. Constitution, Second Amendment.
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—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)