Topic summary
Scallop Shell
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Scallop.
Symbolism
The scallop shell symbol found its way into heraldry as a badge of those who had been on the pilgrimage to Compostela, although later, it became a symbol of pilgrimage in general. Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Diana's family, the Spencer familycoat of arms includes a scallop, as well as both of Diana's sons Prince William and Prince Harry's personal coats of arms; also Pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms includes a scallop; another example is the surname Wilmot and also John Wesley's (which as a result the scallop shell is used as an emblem of Methodism). However, charges in heraldry do not always have an unvarying symbolic meaning, and there are cases of arms in which no family member went on a pilgrimage, and the occurrence of the scallop is simply a pun on the name of the armiger (as in the case of Jacques Coeur), or for other reasons. In 1988, the State of New York in the US chose the bay scallop (Argopecten irradians) as its state shell.