The Seal of the University of San Diego

In 1997, a University of San Diego Silver Anniversary Seal was prepared to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the merger of the San Diego College for Women with the University of San Diego College for Men and School of Law. This seal is now the official seal of the University of San Diego.

The Silver Anniversary Seal is the culmination of an long-term effort to recognize and acknowledge the rich heritage of the University of San Diego, and to combine important aspects of the university’s history and mission into one graphic element. The Silver Anniversary Seal honors the combined contributions of the many entities that contributed to the formation and growth of the University of San Diego.

The University of San Diego seal draws elements from several earlier seals, many of which are still seen on campus. The Seal of the San Diego College for Women, an institution founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, is mounted above Camino Hall and Founders Hall. The seal of the Diocese of San Diego, which founded the College for Men and School of Law, is mounted above the Hughes Administration Center. The first University of San Diego Seal can be seen on the floor of the main entrance to Maher Hall, where it is etched into the marble. These different seals represent important parts of USD’s history, and will continue to hold the places and honor they now enjoy.

History

The first University of San Diego Seal was originally developed to represent the San Diego College for Men and the School of Law. After that institution merged with the San Diego College for Women in 1972, forming the University of San Diego, this seal continued to be the official university seal — but it contains no elements representing the College for Women.

Over time, the USD Board of Trustees became concerned that the seal did not properly represent the University of San Diego’s founding entities. The San Diego College for Women, which was not represented on the seal, was in fact the first organization to offer courses on campus. In 1986, the USD Associated Students initiated a research project to study university traditions and crests, and worked with history Professor Ray Brandes to gather data. The president at that time, Author E. Hughes, then asked art Professor Terry Whitcomb to propose a new version of the seal that would incorporate symbols of the College for Women in the university seal, and would be designed to visualize the history and mission statement of the university. University Librarian Edward Starkey conducted research on academic heraldry to help review the proposed seal, and the Board of Trustees approved the concept of a new seal in 1993. When Alice B. Hayes became president of the university, in 1995, the new seal was already in the design stage.

Physical Design

At first glance, the Silver Anniversary Seal may appear to be only slightly different from the original USD seal, but closer examination reveals that it combines features from each of the three seals — that of the Diocese of San Diego, that of the College for Women, and that of the College for Men and School of Law — and thus represents the full history of the university.

A seal is a symbolic device that proclaims an institution’s heritage, tells its story, and challenges its community to fulfillment. The USD seal features a coat of arms in the shape of a shield, to remind the members of our community that these elements protect the university’s identity and support them in their efforts to carry forward the USD mission, even in the face of adversity. The shield is surrounded by an outer circle showing the name of the university and the date of its founding, and is placed upon three linked golden circles.

The shield is divided into two fields. The top section shows a white dove on a field of blue; it is separated from the lower section by a horizontal bar, or fesse, in the form of a rope. The lower section is quartered by a Celtic cross. There are four symbols on a field of red: the lamp of learning; a laurel wreath; a cauldron; and three nails.

Historical Symbols

Each feature of the University of San Diego seal symbolizes an aspect of history, mission or community.

Some of the symbols represent the history of the institution. The rope represents the belt worn in the religious garb or habit of the Franciscans, because San Diego, the person, was a Franciscan lay brother. The city of San Diego was named for San Diego by the explorer Sebastían Vizcaíno in 1602. In addition, the Franciscan priest Junípero Serra later established a mission named San Diego de Alcalá. When the University of San Diego was founded, Bishop Charles Francis Buddy of the Diocese of San Diego, who was born on the feast of St. Francis, named the university for the city and its patron. San Diego, who was noted for his service to the poor, lived and worked in the city of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, where he is now buried. Thus the University of San Diego campus was named Alcalá Park, and its Spanish Renaissance buildings reflect those at the University of Alcalá.

The three golden rings are part of the seal of the San Diego College for Women. They represent several different sets of three, each of which shows a different goal of the university’s educational programs. First is reverence for God in the Holy Trinity, with the three rings representing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three rings also stand for education of the whole person — mind, body, and soul — which challenges the university’s leaders to produce a learning environment that supports the complete development of our students.

The three nails represent Christ on the cross, and they are a symbol of the Diocese of San Diego. They were on the seal of Bishop Buddy, our founder; and they appear on the diocesan seal and in the original university seal. They express the Christian character of the university.

These three symbols — the rope, the rings, and the nails — together recall the founders of the university.

Symbols of Mission

The remaining elements of the seal are symbols of USD’s mission. The top section of the shield features a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, the source of truth and wisdom. The USD motto is Emitte Spiritum Tuum, Send Forth Thy Spirit. This Latin motto is taken from the 103rd Psalm, Verse 30, which reads: “Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.”

The escutcheon in the lower section is a Celtic Cross. It expresses the University of San Diego’s Catholic identity and the boundless love and infinite mercy of Christ. The Celtic Cross is essentially a Latin cross with a central ring symbolizing eternity, or the immortality of truth. This version of the cross, which can be seen in and on buildings around Alcalá Park, is frequently used by academic institutions, because learning was kept alive in the dark ages by Celtic monks, who preserved and transmitted faith and knowledge of the past. This cross therefore symbolizes both love of God and love of learning. The stylized ornamentation of the ends of the arms were featured in the seal of the San Diego College for Women, and represent fleur-de-lis, in honor of the founding of the Religious of the Sacred Heart by Madeleine Sophie Barat in France.

The lamp in the right quadrant comes from the older university seal, and expresses the role of the scholar bringing light in the darkness of ignorance.

In the upper left quadrant, there is a laurel wreath, which was part of the seal of the San Diego College for Women. The laurel wreath challenges us to excellence. It was conferred as a mark of honor and glory in ancient times on poets, heroes and victors in athletic contests. The person who received the laurel was not only recognized for excellence, but also for honor, justice and truth. The laurel crowns the person who is the very best. It is not a symbol of good intention, noble goals or fine thoughts, rather it is the mark of achievement.

The lower left quadrant features a cauldron, the Spanish olla, an earthenware pot, which was widely used in Spanish heraldry to symbolize serving and feeding the hungry. In iconography, it is the usual symbol of San Diego. It also appears on the seals of Dominican universities, because it was part of the family coat-of-arms of the Guzmán family, to which St. Dominic belonged; and it is on the seals of Jesuit universities because it was part of the family coat-of-arms of the Loyola family, to which St. Ignatius belonged. It reminds us that knowledge should be used to serve humanity. The challenge to the university in this symbol is to build community and to provide service to our community.

The university seal is the University of San Diego’s emblem of excellence. It recalls the university’s patron, San Diego, and the founding of the University of San Diego by the Diocese of San Diego and the Religious of the Sacred Heart. It challenges all of us to academic and personal distinction, to serve and build community, and to be a light of learning for the future.