Seal of the Senate of Virginia - History of the Seal

James D. Hagood

Inception

The project to devise a seal for the Senate of Virginia was initiated in the early 1970s by Senator James D. Hagood of Clover, Virginia, when he was President pro tempore. Senator Hagood was concerned with the misuse of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth and wanted a seal designed for the Senate which could be appropriately restricted to the use of the Senate.

Resolution

A resolution was introduced to authorize the design of the seal and Senator J. Harry Michael, Jr. of Charlottesville, was selected to head the project.

After a number of proposals were considered and rejected, Senator Michael discussed the project with Mr. Frederick John Pollock Chitty who attended Eton College in Windsor, England, with Sir Anthony Wagner the then “Garter of Arms”. Mr. Chitty volunteered to write Sir Anthony to see if his services could be enlisted for the devisal of arms. He agreed to undertake the project.

J. Harry Michael, Jr.

Arms of the London Company

College of Arms

The College of Arms creates, maintains, and registers the official coats of arms for the United Kingdom. It is headed by three Kings of Arms - the Garter Principle King of Arms, the Clarenceaux King of Arms and the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms. Serving with them as members of the College of Arms are various Heralds, which include the York Herald and Richmond Herald.

There was some hesitation due to the fact that one of the Heralds of the College of Arms, the Richmond Herald, was then engaged in devising arms for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Sir Anthony was concerned that there might be some conflict between the the work of the Richmond Herald and the work for the Senate. This was resolved and the project was assigned to Dr. Conrad Swan, The York Herald of Arms. It was concluded that both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Senate of Virginia sets of arms should be drawn from the devisal of arms by Clarenceaux King of Arms done in 1619 for the London Company, with all appropriate differentiation to make the various arms clearly distinctive. The York Herald and Richmond Herald took infinite care to assure there were sufficient differences between the two sets of arms to permit proper registration of both devisals of arms with the College of Heralds. Close inspection of the two shows clearly their common ancestry.

Design

After the approval from Sir Anthony, lengthy correspondence was exchanged with the York Herald. Before a final design was selected, prototypes, denominated “cartoons” in the College of Arms, were sent back and forth concerning what particular elements would best suit the Senate of Virginia. These communications were undertaken at the direction of the Committee on Rules, and substantial contributions to the design were made by committee members and by other members of the Senate. It was first suggested that the crest of arms be a foxhound standing on a sort of pedestal surrounded by a wreath of dogwood flowers. This did not meet with the approval of the Senate generally nor with the Committee on Rules. After further correspondence, it was concluded that a “female figure couped below the shoulders” should be placed on the crest. This was approved by the Committee and it was finally agreed that the coat of arms would contain this crowning feature.

In addition to the process of devising the arms themselves, it was also necessary to consider what is known as the “bordure” which is the decorative scrolling surrounding the coat of arms itself. It was in this bordure that the foxhound ultimately appeared, along with other symbols which represent Virginia.

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