ad U.S. Heraldic Registry � Registrations/Memphis, Roman Catholic Diocese of, Tennessee?

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Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee


Registration number 20061022B


This certifies that the heraldic arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee are registered and described by the blazon below

Arms: Gules, a pyramid ensigned by a cross argent, issuing from the base a mountain of six coupeaux, one two, and three of the last, on a chief of the same two barrulets wavy azure.


Source

Diocese website: http://cdom.org/areas/bishop/bishopoffice.htm

Design Rationale

The colors of the diocesan arms, a red field with white and blue accents, are taken from the State Flag of Tennessee; in heraldry, however, white is always shown as metallic silver. The principal charge, a silver pyramid crowned with the Christian cross, recalls the ancient city of Memphis, the capital of Egypt in the pharaonic age, from which the city takes its name. The cross, the sign of faith, is indicative of the Christianity of modern Memphis. The blue wavy bars on the upper division of the shield symbolize the two rivers that constitute the boundaries of the diocese, the Tennessee and the Mississippi. The small mountain - “montini” in Italian - are a play on the family name of Pope Paul VI, who established the diocese in 1971; they are also reminiscent of the mountains of Tennessee.

Registered by

Michael Swanson

Categories

Roman Catholic Diocese, US, M

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