Anglican Communion News Service

The Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson, has put her faith at the centre of the new coat of arms designed for her. The arms were created and presented in a record 29 days, and include two red crosses from the arms of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Her Excellency, who is the representative of Queen Elizabeth in Canada, is an Anglican, and wanted to ensure her faith was represented in the heraldic device. As well as the crosses, the motto is from an Anglican collect. "Verum solum dicatur, verum solum accipiatur" means "May only the truth be spoken, may only the truth be heard", although it is translated differently in the Book of Common Prayer Collect for the Nativity of St John the Baptist.

Archbishop Michael Peers, who often uses these words before sermons, said he first heard them used by a priest in the 1950s, and has used them since without knowing their origin. He is a friend of the Governor General, and presided at her wedding to John Ralston Saul last summer.

The coat of arms shows two tigers supporting a shield with a phoenix on it. The red crosses are on white plates round the necks of the tigers. The motto runs along the base of the arms. Chief herald, Robert Watt said, "Madame Clarkson wanted some sort of symbol of her faith - we had a number of options and decided on the plates and the motto."

Item from: Anglican Journal