European heraldry is a visual identification system, based on “coats of arms,” developed in the late Middle Ages to identify and distinguish the nobility. By the 1500s, the right to “bear arms” was extended to the wealthier classes, as well as to universities, businesses, guilds, and municipalities.
Heraldry can be thought of as an early form of branding. As for most contemporary branding and institutional identity systems, a high level of consistency was valued in the creation and use of heraldic arms, which were, and continue to be, designed within the constraints of the “Laws of Heraldry.” These laws limit the ways arms may be drawn and colored. With few exceptions, Yale’s coats of arms—usually comprising simple shields without additional elements—follow these formal heraldic laws.
Yale University, the College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, along with all of the professional schools and residential colleges, currently make up an array of 31 coats of arms (shields), shown here.
In 1722 the trustees of Yale College were granted permission by the Connecticut general assembly to use a seal to validate its official documents such as diplomas. While the designer of this seal is unknown, it remains in use today to certify documents, such as diplomas and citations, by Yale’s president and board of trustees.
Until the late 1920s, with the establishment of Yale’s residential college system, our heraldry was confined to the use of the Yale seal and the familiar Yale shield extracted from it. As new colleges were established, shields were developed based upon coats of arms of members of families after whom the colleges are named. Shields were also developed for Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the professional schools with the objective of enhancing the pageantry of Commencement and other ceremonial occasions. A number of Yale’s shields were designed in the 1950s by Theodore Sizer, the “Monument Man,” art history professor, and retired director of the Yale University Art Gallery. He bore the official Yale title Pursuivant of Arms.
After 1998, Yale’s new or revised coats of arms were designed by John Gambell ’81 MFA, then university printer, in consultation with art historian Steven K. Scher ’56, PhD ’66, Jonathan Corum ’95, and Nicholas Benson produced finished digital renditions.
The essentially decorative function of Yale’s heraldry is to evoke the university’s storied history and bold mission in its publications, architecture, and ceremonial pageantry. Yale’s coats of arms are not logos. The use of Yale’s logo and wordmarks is outlined here.
Any Yale organizations, including approved student groups, may use the Yale shield in its digital and print publications or “swag.” The Yale shield should not be arranged in close proximity to other words and images in such a way that a new logo or identifying mark is created. It may be used decoratively as a repeating pattern or as background “tint.” With some exceptions, Yale’s coats of arms should not be “locked up” with typography or other images. Please consult with the Office of the University Printer for details.
The use of coats of arms (shields) in any form at Yale is limited to schools and residential colleges. The Office of the University Printer must be contacted when new shields are required—as for new schools or residential colleges—or when changes of any kind to existing shields are proposed. All such projects must be art directed and/or managed by that office.