Fixing Bad Heraldry in University Logos
By: Edward Teather
Tags: Heraldry, University, Graphic Design, Logo Design, United Kingdom

In a previous article I have criticised some of the heraldic logos used by British universities for not being heraldically correct. I identified a number of universities using logos which are incorrect representations of their coats of arms. Being the public spirited soul that I am, I have taken it upon myself to demonstrate where these universities’ graphic design departments have gone wrong, and prove that they have needlessly changed their coat of arms and that correct heraldry can come hand-in-hand with aesthetically pleasing logo design.

The University of Chichester

Chichester took the strange decision to mash the elements of their entire armorial bearings into a falsely quartered shield (top). It speaks of someone who has seen the UK royal arms and assumes that all heraldry ought to look like that. There is nothing wrong with their actual arms (right), however, and they can be easily incorporated into the same style as the logo. The elements of the design are very nicely rendered and fit well together, the colour scheme too still works. I decided to keep the centre split so as to preserve the feeling of the logo, and for the central book to fold away from. My redesign (bottom) demonstrates that the style of the University of Chichester’s current logo can easily be made heraldically correct.

2. The University of Buckingham

The University of Buckingham’s arms, as they appear in their current logo (top) are very strange. They are heraldically correct in themselves and are a good piece of heraldic design on their own. What they aren’t is the same as their actual armorial bearings, seen on the right. I have done two redesigns (each beneath the original logo) to show how the style could be applied to accurately represent the university’s arms. The former keeps the shield proportions but makes the elements correct; the latter brings in the nicely rendered swan from the original logo. Either would be heraldically correct and either could work well as a logo.

3. Newman University

All round a strange set of decisions for Newman University, especially flipping the wolf unnecessarily. Almost without noticeable change to the logo it can be made to fit their coat of arms easily. While technically the chief (top section) should be in white and the crosses in dark red, as the shield is a metal (gold and silver; yellow and white) and the crosses a tincture (colour), it’s not too bad and works as a logo. Compared to other heraldic mistakes in this and others its really negligible.

4. The University of East London

The University of East London’s logo suffers from the same ailment as the University of Buckingham’s, in that the crest seems to have got lost and ended up on the shield, not above it where it ought to be. Now this is a shame as the whole design is really well done, it just doesn’t really represent the university’s (pretty cool) coat of arms. As with Buckingham, I did two versions, one which keeps the shield and corrects it, but a second which looks better as it keeps the very nice art-deco-y phoenix design as a crest, while the shield bears the correct devices. My rendition isn’t perfect and I had to make more of the arms from scratch instead of moving around existing pieces so it’s not as good as it could be if done by the university’s graphic designers, but it demonstrates that they could have gone with a more accurate representation of their arms. Or, if they were dead set on the phoenix being pride of place, just used the crest.

5. The University of Central Lancashire

When I first saw that I would have to redesign the University of Central Lancashire’s heraldic logo, I didn’t think much of it. When I saw their actual arms, I admit I became a little worried. Had they played around for hours with various different Angus Dei designs, trying to get one that worked and found it impossible? Was a rose and some generic type of a date the result of days of stressing over the position of a holy lamb holding a flag? As it turned out, probably not. While my version could perhaps benefit from some simplification, the Angus Dei fits well into the present logo, I would go as far as to say that it genuinely makes it a better logo, heraldry or no. I toyed with the crest but decided to cop-out, as they had.

6. Nottingham Trent University

When I first saw Nottingham Trent University’s heraldic logo, a pink shield with the letters “NTU” written inside in an uninspiring font, I assumed that they didn’t have a coat of arms. When I discovered that they in fact had a very fine one, complete with supporters and everything, I was surprised to say the least. I rendered their coat of arms as simply as I could and on the same shaped shield as their original logo, then broke it down into a single colour. I think it works really well, and I just can’t understand why they didn’t do something like this in the first place.

7. The University of Bradford

You could argue that I’m being unnecessary to go after the University of Bradford’s logo on these grounds. After all, their logo is clearly a logo, not a coat of arms. However it does contain heraldic elements, so I gave it a go. I kept the curves and the aspect ratio of the original logo, while making it into a somewhat Iberian shield shape, and rearranged the signallers horns and the book, then dropped in a flower in a vaguely similar style. I changed the motto, too, to the one on their coat of arms, because it’s just as mysterious as their current one. All in all, it worked fairly well but would probably need a lot more cleaning up to make it work as a heraldic logo.

8. Harper Adams University

With a heavy sigh I turn to the logo of Harper Adams University, the university which gets the award for least understanding of the art of heraldry. Or art, for that matter. A vectorised shield shape, okay. A diagonal line, not on their arms but sure. And then… a corner of the mantling (the most subjectively drawn part of heraldry), and the letter H… It’s a disaster for both heraldry and graphic design. I did my best to salvage it, using the shield shape from the original logo. I decided I had to go up to two colours to make it work properly, and it ended up looking… okay. It now at least looks like an okay rendition of a coat of arms, not a mess.

9. The University of Keele

Keele University have tried to get a lot of colours into their logo, and have sort of kept the feeling of their arms. All the charges are at least there, which is a start. I played around with the shapes for a while before deciding this was probably the best compromise. The geometric shapes and angles are still present, the charges are still all as they were, the colours used are from the original. Maybe it doesn’t have the same vibe as the original, but it is heraldically correct, and that’s what matters.

10. The Open University

I’m cheating here, I’ll warrant that. The Open University is technically using its crest as its logo, or part of its crest at least. This is fine, and their logo is now so iconic that they are unlikely to change it to be more heraldically correct. However they do still have a coat of arms, and I thought it would be fun to try and make a logo for it. I used the same shield shape, and the rest was made of stock heraldic elements. It looks okay but I see why they use their current one, and there’s nothing wrong with them doing as it isn’t heraldically incorrect.

11. Bishop Grosseteste University

The emblazoning of their actual coat of arms on the right is really nice, but unfortunately they use the top logo. Two lions, not in a position which appears on their arms at all. The use of the mitre shape for the shield is clever though, and I tried to keep that. I probably should have dropped their lion entirely and found a better one for the centre of the cross, but I felt I ought to keep some of their graphic design in trying to correct their logo. It would be possible to do well, however, and it’s a shame that Bishop Grosseteste University have chosen to go with a completely different coat of arms instead of their actual one, however complicated it appears.

12. City University London

I admit this is probably the worst of my redesigns, but to be fair they didn’t give me much to work with. The cross seems to be trying to represent both the St. George’s cross on the coat of arms of the City of London, and its sword, in the chief, which sort of works, but then didn’t when I put the flame for the beacon at the bottom. City University could certainly have done better than this and it’s a shame they went with an incorrect coat of arms for their logo.

Well that’s all I’ve got. It’s been a fun ride through the .svg files of many academic institutions and most of what I’ve found is that a heraldically correct redesign of most incorrect university logos isn’t very difficult, and that it’s a shame they don’t choose to make their logos work.