The coat of arms of Imperial College London is an

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

emblem used by

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

granted the college the arms on the 6 June 1908 by royal warrant. It is

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

ed: The open book with ' inscribed was later adopted by the then-new

New South Wales University of Technology The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

in 1952. The historic constituent colleges, and their surviving constituent unions use their own emblems, with only the

City and Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

's emblem being a coat of arms. Many of the historic medical schools which merged to form

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

also had their own coat of arms, although these are no longer used. On 5 June 2020, the college decided to remove the motto from the official rendition of the coat of arms, to address issues of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

. This was part of a wider effort to address racial inequality in college provisions following the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

and the ensuing focus on the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement. The motto, "", which is translated as "''Scientific knowledge, the crowning glory and the safeguard of the empire''", had always traditionally been shown with the crest, being depicted as such by Fox-Davies as early as 1915. Unusually for an English university motto, it was granted with the coat of arms, which prevented it being updated instead of simply not shown.

Gallery

File:Imperial College Arms from The Book of Public Arms.png, As depicted in ''The Book of Public Arms'' File:Imperial College Crest Relief on the plaque under Beit Quad Arch.jpg, On a plaque to

Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was a Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university edu ...

under Beit Arch File:Imperial College London Coat of Arms Wooden.jpg, Wooden rendition in the Huxley Building File:Beit_Hall.jpg, Visible on the façade of

Beit Hall Beit Hall, forming part of Beit Quadrangle, is a hall of residence and one of Imperial College London's oldest and most historic buildings. Beit Hall is named after Alfred Beit and is located on Prince Consort Road, next to the Royal Albert ...

File:Royal Warrant for the Regius Professor of Engineering, Imperial College London.jpg, Royal warrant for the Regius Professor of Engineering Image:Arms of Imperial College London.svg, Traditional rendition with the college motto

References

History of Imperial College London

Culture of Imperial College London {{ImperialCollege-stub

Gallery

See also

References