Arms of Bishopric of Ottawa
Arms of Bishopric of Ottawa
Blazon
Argent a cross Gules, in the first quarter a pastoral staff and a key wards upwards in saltire proper, on a chief Azure an oak tree penetrated transversely by a frame saw proper and issuant from a ducal coronet Or;
Symbolism
The Canadian Heraldic Authority does not have confirmed symbolism for this emblem. The following comments are hypotheses only. The oak tree, the saw and the ducal coronet are the crest of the chief of the clan Hamilton and recall that the first bishop of Ottawa was the Right Reverend Charles Hamilton. The pastoral staff and key are symbols of episcopal authority. The red cross on a white field, the cross of St. George, is the main symbol of the Diocese of Ontario, from which the Diocese (Bishopric) of Ottawa was created in 1896.
