School Anthem and Coat of Arms
The school's anthem was written by teacher Henry Martyn Hoisington in 1926. It is adapted from the Canadian unofficial National Anthem, The Maple Leaf Forever and has served over the years as a means of bonding between students and alumni, evoking as it does memories of attending the institution. Drawing inspiration from the anthem, Dr Yap Pheng Geck designed the school arms in 1930.
Placed in chief azure above the three letters of the school name is a golden creature with a lion's head, eagle's wings and a dragon's body with claws, representing that fact that the School was founded when Singapore was a British colony, by an American Methodist mission and during the Qing Dynasty in China. Technically, this creature is an heraldic wyvern.
The lower part of the field consists of two panels, blue and gold, which represent heaven and earth. The colours also symbolize both spiritual and material accomplishment. The letters "ACS" in red symbolize life forming a bridge between both; they also symbolize the blood of Christ uniting heaven and earth. In addition to the school name, the letters ACS are also variously said to spell out Academic achievements, Christian Character, and Sportsmanship or Service beyond self. Finally, the overall shield shape represents the knightly virtues of chivalry, honour, loyalty, valour and manliness.
Read more about this topic: Anglo-Chinese School
Famous quotes containing the words school, coat and/or arms:
“...I believed passionately that Communists were a race of horned men who divided their time equally between the burning of Nancy Drew books and the devising of a plan of nuclear attack that would land the largest and most lethal bomb squarely upon the third-grade class of Thomas Jefferson School in Morristown, New Jersey.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“The old coat that I wear is Concord; it is my morning robe and study gown, my working dress and suit of ceremony, and my nightgown after all. Cleave to the simplest ever. Home,—home,—home. Cars sound like cares to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Women have simple tastes. They can get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)