Seal of The College
Merrimack College’s official seal was designed by heraldry expert William F. Ryan in New York. Circular with a blue peripheral band, edged in gold, it bears the title MERRIMACK COLLEGE with “A.D. 1947” between two crosses fleurette also in gold.
The center of the seal is a shield, whose upper portion bears the image of a book with the words “Tolle Lege Tolle Lege” (“Take up and Read”) across it. Incorporated in the shield are wavy lines and a cross, superimposed on a trimount figure at the bottom. Encircling the base of the shield on a silver background is a golden scroll displaying the college’s motto “Per Scientiam Ad Sapientiam” (“Through Knowledge to Wisdom”) in blue letters.
Wavy lines represent water in heraldry, so wavy pallets were chosen to represent Merrimack, which meant “swift water” to some of the Indians who once lived in the Merrimack Valley. The seal is an unusually good example of canting arms of which the medieval heralds were so fond. Canting arms, or “arms parlantes” sing out the name of the bearer. The thirteen wavy pallets recall that Massachusetts was one of the thirteen original colonies. And-over (Andover) all in the base is a trimount, charged with a cross fleurette, from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Boston. The old name of Boston was Trimountain or Tremount. The cross fleurette refers to the French ancestry of Bishop Cheverus, the first Bishop of Boston (1810-1823). Thus the shield refers to the name of this Augustinian college and to its location in the Archdiocese of Boston. The trimount also is a charge on the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII, in whose pontificate Merrimack College was established.
The Order pf Saint Augustine is represented in the College seal by the image of a book imprinted with the famous words connected with Saint Augustine's conversion, "Tolle Legge" ("take up and read"). The school colors, blue (color of loyalty and the cold, rippling waters of the Merrimack) and gold (symbol of wisdom and a papal color), predominate on the shield.
Read more about this topic: Merrimack College, Roman Catholic and Augustinian Tradition
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