Logos and Symbols
1. The Coat of Arms
2. The Badge of the Brotherhood
3. The Associate Member Pin
4. The Cross and Crescent
5. The Fraternity Flag
6. The Fraternity Flower
The Coat of Arms
Coat of arms were originally family emblems. Then cities, societies, and institutions adopted them. All college fraternities have them, but few have created their design with such faithful adherence to the laws of the ancient art of heraldry as has Lambda Chi Alpha.
“Here is where nine out of ten farternities run up against a snag. They either make their design out of their own heads, without consulting the rules of heraldry or else they put the whole business in the charge of an engraver, who doesn’t care a rat about approriateness or anything else, so long as he gets his money. In either case there is always some blunder or other, often many. …… To corredt these blunders we looked up a number of textbooks on heraldry, and went through them very carefull. …… We took the cross and crescent, the book, the lamp, balance, the crossed swords, the clasped hands, the ‘delta’, the olive branch, the motto and the pin, and did our best to make a consistent design which should embody them all. …… The design is one of the richest and most elaborate that any fraternity has ever turned out; and I really think it is one to be proud of.”
–Letter from Jack Mason to Warren Cole, January, 6th 1913
Each part of the Lambda Chi Alpha Coat of Arms has a special meaning, the details of which are explained during the Initiation Ritual. The crest of the coat of arms consists of the cross and crescent, the two primary symbols of Lambda Chi Alpha. The basic section of the shield is quartered and consists of a greek lamp, a balance, a book, and clasped hands with three stars. Upon the shield is an inescutcheon, or small shield placed in the center of the shield. It was added to signify the union of Lambda Chi Alpha and Theta Kappa Nu; it contains the primary symbols of Theta Kappa Nu- the lion bearing a white rose. Another unique feature of our coat of arms is the presence of the badge. A most appropriate design element, Lambda Chi Alpha is the only college fraternity to include its badge on the coat of arms
Mottos on early coats of arms were battle cries. Today, they serve to challange all members of Lambda Chi Alpha.
Per Crucem Cresvens – Growth through the Cross.
Vir Quisque Vir – Every man a man.
χαλεπα τα καλα – (Kah-lay’ -pah Tah Kal-lah’) Naught Without Labor
The Badge of the Brotherhood
The badge is a pearl-set crescent with horns turned toward the left, enclosing a monogram of the Greek letters Lambda, Chi, and Alpha. The center of the crescent bears the Greek letters Delta and Pi in gold on black enamel.
Probably no fraternity badge has a deeper meaning than that of Lambda Chi Alpha. Not meerly the pearls and the Greek letters and the crescent have their symbolism, but each line of the crescent and the relationship of the emblems to each other add still greater signicance
The wearing of badges or other symbols of allegiance, authority, or rank is a I custom which we know dates from antiquity. From an early period in the history of Greece,every freeman,it appears, wore a signet ring. In the story of the prodigal son, a signet ring is placed upon his finger emblematic of the renewal of the family tie. The order of knighthood developed badges of more complex design than the devices of allegiance such as the white and red roses of York and Lancaster and the falcon of Elizabeth.
The general social fraternities followed the lead of the earlier literary societies in making a badge one of the central symbols. Kappa Alpha Society, the oldest of the present fraternities, adopted the “key” worn upon the watch chain. It literally was a key…used for winding the large pocket watches of the day. Today, all other contemporary groups display the badge as a pin, which has migrated from the jacket lapel to the area over the heart on the vest or sweater (if worn) or shirt. At one period of heavy persecution of fraternities, several groups specified the left armpit region of the shirt as the location. About one-third of today’s badges are some form of shield or slab with the fraternity initials and significant symbols displayed. Another third consists of a symbolic shape (some form of cross, diamond, or triangle…such as the four triangles of Theta Kappa Nu) also often containing additional symbols as well as the Greek letters. Almost one-third use a monogram of the letters composing the name. Lambda Chi Alpha shared only with Alpha Chi Rho, Theta Chi, and Triangle the use of both monogram and symbol in the basic shape of the badge. Many .badges are set with stones, with pearls being the most frequently stipulated.
Development of Our Badge
The first Lambda Chi Alpha badge was designed in 1912 by a Boston jeweler, J.G. Johnson, according to the stipulations of Warren A. Cole: a crescent with the horns to the left encircling a monogram of the letters Lambda, Chi and Alpha, on the crescent appeared the initials of the first secret motto…delta and phi. The Delta and Phi were located inside a black enamel oval on the thickest portion of the crescent; above the letters appeared a purple enamel bunch of grapes with green leaves; below was a sprig of an olive tree in green enamel; thus the earliest badge displayed the Fraternity colors of purple, green and gold. This badge appeared as part of the first coat of arms or “Gamma plate” designed at Massachusetts from Cole’s list of symbols.
Cole sent his personal badge to Albert Cross at Pennsylvania so that a local jeweler could use it as a model. But the members of Epsilon Zeta wanted jeweled badges. The Philadelphia jeweler, William Thegen’s Sons, suggested tiny amethysts and emeralds in place of the enamel designs; when actually received in mid-June, the badges turned out to have six large stones on the crescent, three emeralds and three amethysts. Over the next year, one-piece badges were made with eleven pearls in the Lambda, the crescent bearing both the letters delta phi and (a) six emeralds and amethysts, (b) six pearls, (c) eight pearls. Edmands Haldeman Co. of Detroit probably made at least one of these variations. During late 1913 or early 1914, the Art Committee standardized the crescent setting as eight pearls.
In the fall of 1913 the L.G. Balfour Co. of Attleboro, Massachusetts manufactured the first of many badges for Lambda Chi Alpha; since they dealt only with the Cornell chapter, the fraternity was initially listed in the records as a local group. Even a cursory glance at the display in the international headquarters reveals the high quality workmanship by the Balfour craftsmen that continues to this day. Although a number of other firms made our badges in the “late teens…mostly without authorization, the vast majority of Lambda Chi Alpha badges have been manufactured by Balfour, which held the sole official jewelership from 1920 to 1971. The contractual royalty was vital to the fiscal health of our Fraternity in several of those years. Today we have two other authorized jewelers: Bur Patterson & Auld of Elswood, Indiana and J.D. Pollack of Chicago, Illinois.
Badge Guards
From the beginning, a monogram of the one or two Greek-letter chapter designation has been recommended. When linked to the badge with a small chain, it prevents loss should the clasp inadvertently open. Theta Kappa Nu had a similar system, but since they used the “state” system of designating chapters, twenty-nine groups wore an Alpha guard, fourteen wore Beta, nine wore Gamma, two Delta and one an Epsilon. The “scrambled alphabet” system of Lambda Chi Alpha provides each chapter with its unique guard. Since 1926, charter members of chapters have been given the option of wearing the badge of the local fraternity as a guard in place of the monogram. By tradition, that goes back to an edict of the Art Committee in 1914. All members wear the chapter guard positioned below the Delta Pi on the badge.
Who May Wear The Badge?
At First glance, this is a ridiculous question with an obvious answer: the members. Indeed, our early laws stipulated that a member could not be considered to be in good standing (and thereby vote) until he had purchased a badge. But a great deal of ink was spilled and many heated discussions held on this question in the 1920s. What about mothers? Sisters? Housemothers? The laws in the twenties explicitly ruled out these three groups; the current code permits the wearing by mothers and sisters but not housemothers, although that is a custom at some chapters.
Wives and fiancees have always been permitted to wear the badge, although the early rules stipulated that it should be the miniature size. Theta Kappa Nu specified that the half-size badge could be worn by mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and fiancees. The controversy was primarily over fiancees and “steady” girlfriends. As chairman of the Emblems and Ritual Committee Jack Mason wrote as Insignia Ruling #1, “If a woman wears the Lambda Chi Alpha badge, it is a sign to the Brotherhood and to the world at large that she has the same right to aid and protection as a brother. Why should promiscuous females carry an emblem which proclaimsthem entitled to such protection, both to the Fraternity and to the world at large,when they have no just claim to such protection? If a member or his fiancee wants a badge, that is his affair. But a Fraternity obligation is everybody’s affair. I am reminded of the character in Dickens who excused the fact that she had an illegitimate baby because it is such a little baby. I am having Balfour make up a cross and crescent pin with Lambda Chi Alpha on the shield as the Official Badge of Friendship. A member may give this to any woman that he takes a temporary fancy to.
It carries no promise of protection from the Fraternity, and is simply a casual compliment. It does not require the salute of removing one’s hat (which I personally give to a woman wearing. the badge, even if otherwise unknown to me, at the same time showing my own badge in explanation.) Somehow, today, it is hard to understand the vehemence underlying this ruling.
Making The Lambda Chi Alpha Badge
The current badge is made with the lambda being struck separate from the single piece composing the chi, alpha, and crescent. The background for the letters delta and pi enameled. At L.G. Balfour, the lambda is joined to the remainder of the badge before the eight crescent pearls and (optional) stones in the lambda are set.
The Associate Member Pin
In 1939 the Theta Kappa Nu Fraternity Merged with Lambda Chi Alpha. The Associate Member Ceremony is actually a condensed version of Theta Kappa Nu’s ritual. And, the Associate Member Pin is a combination of the early Lambda Chi Alpha pledge button and the Theta Kappa Nu Badge. The four equilateral triangles standing for learning, morality, friendship (fraternity), and patriotism.
The Cross and Crescent
The crescent is our symbol; pure, high, ever growing, and the cross is our guide; denoting service, sacrifice, and even suffering and humiliation before the world, bravely endured if need be, in following that ideal.
The Fraternity Flag
The flag consists of a purple field, in the center is placed the cross and crescent with a shild upon which is placed the letters ΛXA. three gold stars surround the cross and crescent.The Lambda Chi Alpha flag may be flown on appropriate occasions or placed on a wall. Chapters may place their Zeta letters in the upper right corner to identify their flags.
The Fraternity Flower
