Every effort is made to emblazon the Coat of Arms of Lawrence School incorporating the motto ‘Never Give In’. Be it at Founder’s Day celebrations, at Parades, Trooping the Colours, at the Flag Pole and even on blazers worn, in my day, by top cricketers: The version of the Coat of Arms displayed is not the original. I set out below left a photograph, taken from the original ‘memorial’ (technical term) dated 16 July 1858 by the official photographer of The College of Arms, London. The ‘Chapter’ of the College of Arms went through a process of approval of Jitu Savani (for which I paid the appropriate fee) before I was permitted to use the design strictly for archival purposes.
In the photographs below, on the left is the original Coat of Arms, approved and recorded at the College of Arms, London. The original was formally registered at The College of Arms on 19 July 1858 and Jitu Savani personally took a photograph. On the right is a photograph of the pennons (flags) on display during Independence Day celebrations on 15 August 2024 (see Post Independence Day 2024 incorporating a video of the event).
As can be seen, the two versions of the Coat of Arms are different. The original on the left has a shield more squarish, the colour is completely different, the sword is adorned differently. The modern shield had arrows pointing upwards. The original shield had hanging black-tipped tails of the stoat! It is therefore farcical to use the modern Coat of Arms in ceremonies but above all, the Coat of Arms is that of the Lawrence family not any institution!
I never ever came across a single person who understood the significance of this symbol. I know it is a legacy left behind by our colonial masters and to those who had it adorning their blazers, it merely made them look smart. It is an unmitigated CHRISTIAN symbol and at the risk of bringing about boredom, let me explain:
Warning: The explanation of the Coat of Arms I have set out below, although technically accurate will be beyond the understanding of most readers. Not even a single Briton, and remember it was Briton Alexander Hutchinson Lawrence, son of Sir Henry who presented a memorial for approval of the Coat of Arms and that too more than a year after Sir Henry died, would understand the significance of the symbols displayed. Do not worry, I ask in my concluding paragraph:
So what is the point of continuing it?‘
Here is a description:
ARMS: Ermine, on a cross raguly gules and eastern crown or; on a chief azure two swords in saltire proper, pommels and hilts gold, between as many leopards’ heads argent.
CREST: Out of an eastern crown or, a cubit arm entwined by a wreath of laurel and holding a dagger all proper.
The words in the description above are meaningless so let me set out the meanings and definitions I have found:
Definitions:
Ermine in heraldry is a “fur”, a type of tincture consisting of a white background with a pattern of black shapes representing the winter coat of the stoat (a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail). The linings of medieval coronation cloaks and some other garments, usually reserved for use by high-ranking peers and royalty, were made by sewing many ermine furs together to produce a luxurious white fur with patterns of hanging black-tipped tails. Due largely to the association of the ermine fur with the linings of coronation cloaks, crowns and peerage caps, the heraldic tincture of ermine was usually reserved to similar applications in heraldry (i.e., the linings of crowns and chapeaux and of the royal canopy).
Raguly: having an edge with oblique notches like a row of sawn-off branches.
Gules: red, as a heraldic tincture.
Azure: the heraldic color blue.
Saltaire proper: a heraldic charge consisting of a cross formed by a bend and a bend sinister crossing in the centre. From Merriam-Webster dictionary: The word ‘Saltire’ by definition means “a diagonal cross as a heraldic ordinary” and is the defining factor of Scottish national flag. … Its white diagonal cross on a blue background represents the crucifixion of the apostle St Andrew – the younger brother of Simon Peter. An apostle is one of 12 chief disciples of Jesus Christ! A saint is a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and regarded in Christian faith as being in heaven after death.
Pommels: 1.a rounded knob on the end of the handle of a sword, dagger, or old-fashioned gun.
2.the upward curving or projecting part of a saddle in front of the rider.
Hilts: the handle of a weapon or tool, especially a sword, dagger, or knife.
Argent: the tincture of silver
Cubit: a hand and arm couped at the elbow (couped: cut off or truncated in a straight line).
Wreath of laurel: The laurel wreath was used by the Ancient Greeks. The laurel wreath was a symbol of Apollo and the leaf itself was believed to have spiritual and physical cleansing abilities. Ancient Greeks awarded laurel wreaths to victors in the Olympics and poetic competitions. Laurel wreaths were worn on either the head or neck. Laurel wreaths were originally made from the bay laurel limbs and leaves. Later wreaths were made from butcher’s brooms, cherry laurel, and olive trees. In Rome the laurel wreath was used to crown a successful commander.
Even after the explanation above, the terms set out would be meaningless to most Englishmen/women in Great Britain, let alone the people of India! So what is the point of continuing it? What on Earth is such a symbol doing in a secular school in India? Apostle St Andrew? S A I N T Andrew In Secular India?
Right from the outset the Coat of Arms was nonsensical; it is more nonsensical now!
Please view my Page Mottos and Emblems
Link to short video of adaption of new ensign
Decolonisation in progress in rest of India.
Isn’t it time for Lawrence School to do away with this Coat of Arms ?
The Farce of the Coat of Arms and Crest – Part 2
Original Coat of Arms
You will see below the Coat of Arms and Crest adopted by the three existing Lawrence Schools as well as Lawrence School, Mt Abu which shut down. All four have distorted the original which is registered at the College of Arms in London. I personally inspected the original. I will leave it to readers to view the differences but would point to just one significant difference: In the original, there are black images hanging in the four sections in the middle. THESE ARE NOT ARROWS. THEY ARE THE TAILS OF STOATS. ERMINE WHICH IS WHAT THE WHITE SECTIONS CONTAINING THE TAILS IS MADE UP OF IS THE FUR OF STOATS AND IS USED AS A MATTER OF PRESTIGE BY EUROPEAN ROYALTY AND HIGH RANKING NOBILITY! I FINISH THIS POST WITH A PAINTING OF KING GEORGE 5 THE MONARCH WHO GRANTED MILITARY SCHOOL STATUS TO SANAWAR AND LOVEDALE AND WHOSE CAPE CAN BE SEEN WITH STOATS’ TAILS ON HIS ERMINE CAPE. THE PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM A VIDEO PRODUCED BY SANAWAR.
Coat of Arms Lawrence School Lovedale
In the photograph below you will see the lovely Isabel Lawrence kneeling on the right holding the pennon (flag) incorporating the Coat of Arms. The design is at variance with that adopted by her ancestor Alexander Hutchinson Lawrence
Below: Coat of Arms Lawrence School Sanawar
Below: Coat of Arms of Lawrence School Mt. Abu (Shut Down)
Below: Coat of Arms Lawrence College Ghora Galli Pakistan
Below: Painting of King George 5 with Ermine and Stoat’s tails in his cape.
THE ORIGIN OF THE MOTTO NEVER GIVE IN
In the 11 years that I was in Lovedale, nobody, but nobody had any idea about the origin of the motto of the School, Never Give In. Most were under the impression that these were the dying words of Sir Henry Lawrence. Others were under the impression that Sir Henry made this the motto of the schools he founded. Both of these impressions can be discarded as Sir Henry did not found any schools; he founded asylums, defined as a safe or inviolable place of refuge especially as offered by the CHRISTIAN Church. As Sir Henry and his wife Lady Honoria were Protestant fundamentalists, rather than Never Give In, the biblical quote along the lines of ‘Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge… (Psalm 16)’ would have been recited.
There is no evidence of the motto existing during Sir Henry’s lifetime.
Here is the History of how the Coat of Arms and the Motto Never Give In came into being:
There is little doubt that Sir Henry Lawrence’s part in the so called Mutiny was, in military terms, a disaster. A sickly, weak man aged 51 riddled with Arrakan Fever (malaria) whose last front line combat experience was when Lawrence was still a teenager and that too without any meritorious performance to his credit, led a group of dehydrated, hungry men into battle against hardened soldiers, at the zenith of a hot sunny day and that too on a horse drawn buggy. Disaster followed and Sir Henry died on 4 July 1857. He was a civilian. A civilian generally does not bear a Coat of Arms.
However a civilian granted the dignity of a baronetcy signifies such a grant by a Coat of Arms that has to be approved by the College of Arms located in London. There is no benefit granted to a baronet other than the use of the honorific ‘Sir’.
On 16 July 1858, more than a year after Sir Henry Lawrence had died, Queen Victoria decided to grant the dignity of a baronetcy to Alexander Hutchinson Lawrence, eldest son of Sir Henry Lawrence. This was a way of honouring the memory of Sir Henry Lawrence. The honorific ‘Sir’ can only be passed on to descendants through the male line. The manner in which the monarch grants the dignity of a baronetcy is by issuing ‘letters patent’ and the manner in which the issuance of ‘letters patent’ is communicated is through publication in the Gazette which is regarded, legally, as a communication to the world. Below is Queen Victoria’s notice in the Gazette:
Following the granting of the dignity, the baronet has to follow procedure and send a memorial to the College of Arms in accordance with protocol which includes the design of the Coat of Arms and this is what Sir Alexander Hutchinson Lawrence did. The elaborate procedure followed, which included the approval of the Coat of Arms is set out below in the written records, written on 19 July 1858 and personally inspected by Jitu Savani. A baronetcy, which becomes hereditary requires the ‘Grant of Arms’ and a record thereof to be made. The Grant of Arms was made to Sir Henry’s son Alexander Hutchinson Lawrence (to descend according to the Laws of Arms to his own descendants and those of his grandfather Alexander Lawrence). This is on record at the College of Arms in London with reference Coll. Arms MS Grants 52/376 and is dated 19 July 1858. What is also on record in Grants 52/376 is the formal petition (the Memorial), the Earl Marshal’s Warrant, and Letters Patent conferring the grant. The agent was Albert Woods, Lancaster Herald, who later became Garter King of Arms.
I made a personal visit to the College of Arms in London to make enquiries and this is what I discovered: Note: I have typed the exact words in the set of the 4 pages below, underneath them so don’t worry if some of the writing is not decipherable to you; the writing, which was the norm 167 years ago is not the norm now.
The above pages, numbered 374, 375, 376 and 377 have the original ink writing. Below are the words typed by Jitu Savani.
Below left is an enlarged photo of the the Coat of Arms of the Lawrence Family which came into being more than a year after Sir Henry’s death. On the right is the Coat of Arms of the East India Company, the only Coat of Arms that Sir Henry Lawrence would have displayed as an employee. The East India Company motto Auspicio Regis Et Senatus Angliae means By command of the King and Parliament of England.
The motto ‘Never Give In’ was chosen by the surviving Lawrence family but no reason is stated. However, the following History may be relevant:
Contrary to popular belief, Lawrence was not an Englishman; he was an Ulsterman (Ulster is the name given to Northern Ireland). His father, Lt Col. Alexander Lawrence was born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland in 1764. The Lawrences were Protestants who then (as now) had an abiding hatred for the Catholics. Commencing on 18 April 1689, the Catholics lay siege to the town of Derry, a mere 30 miles from Coleraine. The town held on for 105 days until relief came. Some 4000 of its population of 8000 died during the siege. To this day marches are held and a popular song commemorates the siege. The chorus goes:
We’ll fight and don’t surrender
But come when duty calls
With heart and hand and sword and shield
We’ll guard old Derry’s walls.
Both, Derry and Lucknow were subject to a siege. In the case of Derry, the siege lasted 105 days, in the case of Lucknow, the siege lasted 148 days. It would seem that the sentiments of the Derry siege were carried forward such that it was incorporated in the Lawrence family motto.