St. James' Coat of Arms

Blazon of St. James' Coat of Arms

"Chequy or and azure on a chief ermine, a cross gules charged with an escallop of the first."

Blazon-- To describe a coat of arms; to give an accurate description.

Chequy-- A field divided into small squares, of different tinctures (the name given to the colors, metals and furs used in heraldry), resembling a chessboard.

Or-- The color gold.

Azure-- The color bright blue, used especially in describing the escutcheons (shields) of gentlemen beneath the degree of baron.

Chief-- The head or upper part of the shield, containing a third of the field, and is divided off by one line, either straight or crenellé (indented).

Ermine-- One of the furs used in blazoning, representing the skin of the little animal of that name. A field of ermine is white with black spots of a particular shape.

Cross Gules-- A plain red cross on a white field.

Charged-- To place upon an escutcheon.

Escutcheon-- The shield, on which all lines are drawn and charges delineated; the background on which coat armor is represented; known in blazon as the field. It originally represented the war shield of a knight, upon which his arms were displayed.

Of the First-- On top.

Symbolism of the St. James' Coat of Arms

The Town of Leesburg was named in honor of the Lee family. The chequy of gold and blue, taken from the fess (a strip or band placed horizontally across the shield, occupying one-third of the field) in the Lee coat of arms, refers to the Town of Leesburg and the parish area served by St. James' Episcopal Church. The ermine background of the chief comes from the coat of arms of Lord Shelburne, Prime Minister of England, for whom Shelburne Parish was named in 1769. The overall background of the Parish Arms, therefore, symbolizes the background of the founding and service of St. James' Episcopal Church.

The red cross of St. George, alluding to the arms of the Episcopal Church, holds a position of high honor within the coat of arms.

Sustained by that cross is an escallop shell… gold for truth and enlightenment, a symbol of Saint James. The escallop was also the ancient symbol of the medieval pilgrim, thus signifying the hope and spirit of obligation of Christian dedication as manifested by the followers of Christ.