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The Arms of Yale University

The iconography of the Yale shield (or "arms") is taken from the University's seal, which was adopted by the Trustees of Yale College in the early eighteenth century. The unknown designer of the seal identified the book as the Bible by words which read "Urim and Thummin," probably names of sacred lots to be cast for the purpose of ascertaining the divine will (cf. Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; I Samuel 14:40 f.; Ezra 2:63).

When the Old Testament of the Bible was translated into Greek, the original meaning in Hebrew of "Urim and Thummin" was no longer known, and different words were used in different passages to translate them. Among the renderings given were "Light" and "Truth," and it is this interpretation which was chosen for the seal's legend and placed below the shield in Latin: Lux et Veritas.

The preceding text is adapted from The Arms of Yale University and its Colleges at New Haven, Yale University Press, 1963.

The Arms of the Yale School of Nursing

The arms of the Yale School of Nursing are the design effected by the late Professor (Art) Theodore Sizer, Pursuivant of Arms of Yale University. The shield was originally designed for the YSN banner first carried in 1959. The upper third shows the coat of arms of Yale University (without the Lux et Veritas ribbon). The lower two thirds show the eight pointed white cross on a black background of the Hospitallers or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the earliest nursing order of Christendom.

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