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Royal Society of Medicine: Difference between revisions
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The arms were officially granted on October 7, 1927. | The arms were officially granted on October 7, 1927. | ||
The shield is divided vertically into green and red to indicate physicians and surgeons respectively. | |||
The arms are based on a rod of Aesculapius, the typical symbol for medicine, but described as a Tau cross (for St. Anthony) and a Serpent of Moses. There are two references to Moses and serpents in the Bible - Exodus iv, 1-5 and Numbers xxi, 5-9; the latter mentions a serpent of brass and tells of its protective powers against snake-bite. | |||
The crest consists of three sprigs of the 'all-heal' plant arising from the crest wreath. With each tie, the Society issues a description of | |||
the plant taken from the famous Herbal of Nicholas Culpeper (1616-54) who listed its therapeutic virtues. In the original painting on | |||
the Grant of Arms the herb is depicted with offwhite flowers, but the common variety, ''Prunella vulgaris'', has purplish-blue flowers. In the | |||
Society's arms it seems to be ''Prunella laciniata'', a rare species found only in certain areas of chalky Southem England which did not find its way into the British Flora until 1906. | |||
The supporters are the well known martyrs St Cosmos and St Damian, often considered patron saints of physicians. They feature as | |||
supporters very early in medical heraldry and are depicted in the arms used by the Fellowship of Surgeons of London in 1492. St Cosmos bears a drug jar and St Damian holds a surgeon's knife. | |||
The motto can be translated as 'It is not sufficient in life merely to exist, but rather to flourish'. | |||
{{media}} | {{media}} | ||
[[Literature]] : | [[Literature]] : Bowen, 1972. | ||
[[Category:Institutional heraldry of the United Kingdom]] | [[Category:Institutional heraldry of the United Kingdom]] | ||
[[Category:Granted 1927]] | [[Category:Granted 1927]] | ||