Diocese of London, Ontario

DIOCESE OF LONDON, ONTARIO (Dioecesis Londonensis)

Country : Canada
Denomination : Roman Catholic

Established : 1856 as Diocese of London
Renames 1859 as Diocese of Sandwich
Renamed 1869 as Diocese of London

Arms (crest) of Diocese of London, Ontario

Official blazon

Per pale Sable and Or two keys addorsed the bows in base interlaced the dexter bit voided of a fleur de lis the sinister of a trefoil slipped counterchanged all within a bordure compony-counter-compony Or and Sable.

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on July 15, 2005.

The two keys, with their terminals interlaced, allude to St. Peter, the patron of our Cathedral Basilica. This part of the design recalls the Arms granted in connection with the Cathedral and this reflection of the one by the other has been intended in order to emphasize the close relationship of a diocese with its episcopal seat.

The ward of the key on the left has a fleur-de-lys in silhouette to recall the dedication of the Diocese to Our Lady Immaculate, while the other key has a silhouette of a Trefoil, or Shamrock, in allusion to St. Patrick, the second heavenly patron of our Diocese.

The colours are Sable (black) and Or (gold), symbolizing the twofold concern the Diocese must have with both matter and form, the body and the spirit. While it is an essentially spiritual entity, nevertheless it works through human channels and has as its basic purpose the guiding and assisting of human beings (who are a composite of the material and the spiritual) to the feet of Our Saviour, the Son of God who became flesh for our sake.

The border is composed of a gold and black bricklike pattern to symbolise the fact that we must build our lives with both spiritual and material elements; neither is to be despised but each ordered and properly related the one to the other.