The representation of the coat of arms used in the design of the Society's new "house style" takes careful account of advice from the Heralds of the College of Arms. Caroline Reed, curator of the Society's museum, outlines the history of the Society's coat of arms and explains its symbolism
The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded at meeting of prominent London chemists and druggists held at the Crown and Anchor tavern in the Strand on April 15, 1841. The idea of an association of traders professionally engaged in the art and science of pharmacy was not new. Apothecaries had been well organised since the 17th century, but by the early 1800s there was a growing distinction between licensed apothecaries, who were keen to operate as general medical practitioners, and "chemists and druggists" whose skills and business lay in compounding medicines to prescription and in trading in drugs and other chemicals.
In 1802, an informal but effective Association of Chemists and Druggists was formed in London to fight new taxes on medicines. The association survived until after 1815, when it won a further legal battle against the regulation of the druggists' trade by apothecaries, but it was then dissolved. Competitors in trade were not always eager to band together except when they felt under threat.
By the mid 19th century, a new feeling was abroad. Former "tradespeople" envied the social respectability of the recognised professions and many had very serious concerns about both the standard of pharmacy education and the control of dangerous drugs.
These concerns motivated the formation of the new Pharmaceutical Society. It aspired to be the qualifying association and representative professional body for all practising chemists and druggists. Its founders had high ideals and sought to impose and demand high standards of their peers. The Society was the first of the medical corporations to be run on democratic lines, to seek uniformity of education for all and to publish a register of qualified practitioners.
In the early 1840s, the only way for a professional body to obtain legal status was through incorporation by Royal Charter. The then Home Secretary, Sir John Graham, was seeking to reform and regulate all branches of the medical profession and saw the new Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as a useful ally. With his encouragement, the Society petitioned the Queen in Council and was awarded its Charter in 1843. The Royal College of Surgeons was incorporated in the same year, but Graham's hopes foundered with the Royal College of Physicians whose members rejected the restrictions they felt incorporation might place on their freedom to practise.
The 1843 Charter defines the Pharmaceutical Society's objectives as "for the purpose of advancing chemistry and pharmacy, and promoting a uniform system of education of those who should practise the same and also for the protection of those who carry on the business of chemists and druggists."
The 1843 Charter is usually on show in the Society's London headquarters. Supplemental charters were awarded in 1901, 1948, and 1953. The full texts are available from the Society's museum. The Society applied for and was granted permission to use the prefix "Royal" in 1988.
After the Society obtained its Royal Charter in 1843, a logical next step was to apply for a grant of arms for use on a common seal to be appended to its official documents. The right to bear arms, which is controlled for the Crown by the Heralds of the College of Arms, has been granted to corporate bodies since the 15th century, when an award was made to the Worshipful Company of Drapers. Applicants are considered by the Earl Marshal the Duke of Norfolk, acting for the Crown.
Most of the arcane terminology of the herald originates from the period of the Crusades and the identifying symbols used by 12th and 13th century Christian knights and their followers when travelling and in battle in the Middle East.
The term "coat of arms" derives from the sleeveless surcoats worn over armour. These and the wearer's shield were marked with a distinguishing device. What is often loosely described as a "coat of arms" is technically known as the armorial "achievement". This always includes the "shield of arms" and the "crest". Individuals and major corporations may also be granted "supporters". The grant is made and the elements of the achievement are fully described in writing on an official document bearing the seals of the College of Arms. Although this document may carry a pictorial representation of all elements of the achievement and the supporters, it is the detailed verbal description that carries official standing. This verbal description is open to interpretation by such artists as the arms bearer may choose to employ, but artists have to adhere closely to the College of Arms's guidelines on colour and content. The Pharmaceutical Society received its grant of arms (shield of arms, crest and motto) on March 14, 1844. The two supporters were granted on March 27, 1844. Both grant documents carry a full colour pictorial representation of the achievement. |
The coat of arms as it appeared on the grant of arms dated March 27, 1844 |
Or, on a Crofs Gules between a Dove holding in the mouth an Olive Branch in the First Quarter, an Aloe in the Second, a Staff erect entwined by a Serpent in the Third, and an Alembic and Receiver in the Fourth, all proper—a pair of Scales of the First: on a Chief Azure a Stag lodged also of the First.
And for the Crest, On a Wreath of the Colours, A Mortar therein a Pestle Or, as the same are in the Margin hereof more plainly depicted together with the Motto, Habenda Ratio Valetudinis, to be borne and used for ever hereafter by The President, The Vice-President, Treasurer and Council of the said Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and their successors, on Seals, Shields, Banners or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms.
— Grant of arms, March 14, 1844
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Unhappily, no accounts appear to survive of the discussion that must have attended the selection of motifs for inclusion on the arms. Some of the symbolism remains obscure, but in general the choice of devices and supporters reflects the 1840s chemists and druggists' keen regard for the historical and international roots of their profession.
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The newest version of the Society's coat of arms |
The crest - gold The heraldic crest originates from the crest worn on a knight's helmet and that of his followers. As on the diploma, the Society chose the mortar and pestle as a well recognised symbol of pharmacy and of the pharmacist's specialist skills.
The mantling - gold and red The mantling (or "lambrequin") derives from a cloth suspended from the helmet to protect the wearer from the sun (as noted above, much of the imagery of heraldry derives from the Crusades, when English knights needed protection from the Middle Eastern climate). The cloth is usually depicted with stylised rents, as if tattered in battle. The main colour of the mantling (gold) is thus broken with a few flashes of the reverse (red).
Wreath - gold and red The wreath represents the twisted silk cord used to secure the crest to the helmet.
Helmet - silver Grant of arms confers an automatic entitlement to the use of a helmet as part of the achievement. As such it is not verbally described as part of the grant and it can be left out of representations of the achievement. If used, however, the colour and position of the helmet are determined by rank.
The helmet appropriate to the Society's "gentleman" status is silver, visor closed, and shown in profile.
Shield with devices - gold, with azure "chief" and red cross, devices "proper" The shield may be of any shape. The Society's shield is divided into five major sections, the chief, at the top, and then four quarters, divided by a cross.
The chief - azure The upper part is the "chief". Its colour, "azure", is specified by the College of Heralds as "blue in the tonal range between royal and navy". The "device" on the chief is a "lodged" stag, ie, lying down, facing to the viewer's left. The animal is usually shown with one front leg bent. Like the other devices on the shield, the stag is to be depicted "proper", ie, in natural colours. It is usually shown as white.
The reasons for the choice of a stag to represent the 1840s Society are not clear, but it might have been intended to signify the animal content of many 19th century and earlier medicines. Hartshorn was used as a source for calcium phosphates and ammonium carbonate and believed to have tonic and other medicinal properties. Burnt, it was used as an ingredient of dentifrice.
The quarters - first: top left The device here is a dove with an olive twig in its beak, now a widely used symbol for peace. The source for the symbolism is the biblical account of Noah and the flood that covered the world. Hoping for a sign that the waters were receding, Noah sent a raven and then two doves out from the ark. The second dove returned with an olive twig. The symbol would seem to have no especially pharmaceutical significance. As is usual in heraldic representations, the dove appears with a small, tiara-like crest. It is usually depicted as white.
Second: top right The device here is an aloe plant. Clearly chosen to represent the use of plants in medicine, the aloe had a long history of use as a cathartic in the treatment of a variety of conditions. It is usually shown in green.
Third: bottom left Here the device is a snake wound around a staff. Together these represent the staff of Asclepius, the classical Greek deity most commonly adopted to represent the treatment of illness by drugs. The snake itself has a long symbolic association in many cultures with vitality, renewal, wisdom and hence with medicine. The staff is brown. The snake is usually green.
Fourth: bottom right The device here is an alembic and receiver, a very early apparatus for distillation and clearly representative of the pharmacist's chemical expertise. It is shown in white or grey.
Cross - red At the centre of the cross is depicted a pair of scales, fundamental to the accurate dispensing and compounding of medicine. It is shown in gold.
On the dexter Side a Figure intended to represent Avicenna, habited in a dark red robe, with a white under Vest his Shoes red, around his Waist a Shawl also red, fringed gold, and upon his head a white Turban; in his right hand a Staff gold, entwined with a Serpent proper. And upon the Sinister a Figure intended to represent Galen, habited in a long white Vest and loose Robe, his Sandals red, and holding in his right hand a Steelyard Or.
— Grant of supporters, March 27, 1844
On the arms, as on the diploma certificate, the Society's choice of supporters shows a desire to acknowledge and trace the pharmacist's professional lineage back to the classical origins of Western medicine (through Galen on the viewer's right) and to Arab-Islamic medieval scholarship (through Avicenna on the viewer's left). Neither of these sages made a specialism of pharmacy - their approach to medicine was much more general - but both had a profound impact on the Western medical tradition. Their figures are shown in "proper", that is, generally naturalistic, colours, but the colours of their clothes are specified.
The various artists commissioned by the Society since 1844 to interpret its achievement of arms have shown a certain licence in their depiction of the pair. Hair, beards, and notably the length of Galen's undergarment have all been subject to the whim of fashion. From his origins as a rather romantic figure, with a knee-length tunic and sweeping cloak, he has since become soberly Roman, beardless, short haired and clad in a long toga.
Galen Of well-to-do Greek stock, Galen was born in Pergamum (Bergama, now in Turkey) in 129 and lived to c 216AD. He studied medicine in Alexandria, travelled widely in Egypt and learnt much of the pharmacology of India and Africa. He started his professional career as doctor to the gladiators in Pergamum, later moving to Rome and eventually serving in the Roman Imperial Service. He had wide interests and strong opinions. His prolific writings on philosophy as well as virtually every aspect of medicine earned him his place as a dominant figure in the Western medical tradition. His texts and recipes were used by practitioners until well into the 17th century and he continues to be revered as a "father of medicine".
Galen is shown with a gold, hand-held steelyard, a weighing device widely used in the Roman period.
Avicenna Arab dominance of the Middle East, North Africa and eventually Spain in the centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire fostered the growth of a strong Arab-Islamic tradition of medical scholarship which was to have a major impact on post-medieval Western Europe. Avicenna (more properly transliterated "Ibn Sina") lived in Persia from 980–1037. His extensive writings included a "Canon of Medicine" which fused much of Galen's earlier thinking into a definitive medical discipline. Translated into Latin as early as the 12th century, Avicenna's "Canon" was published in Venice in 1527 and subsequently translated into Hebrew and a variety of European languages. Its influence on medical thinking in Renaissance Europe was immense.
Incongruously, on the Society's achievement Avicenna has been given the Greek god Asclepius's staff. He points it at the shield.
The comportment of an achievement has no special significance. It should usually consist of scrollwork featuring the main colours of the arms, in the Society's case, gold, red and blue.
Although the Society's motto is quoted in the Grant of Arms it does not form a part of it.
The motto is taken from Cicero's "De senectute", a dissertation on old age: Habenda ratio valetudinis; utendum exercitationibus modicis; tantum cibi et potionis adhibenum ut reficiantur vires non opprimantur.
A standard translation of this, almost certainly familiar to 19th and early 20th century schoolchildren, is: "We must pay attention to our health; we must exercise in moderation; we must take just enough food and drink to maintain our health and not to overwhelm it."
For many years the translation of the motto most commonly adopted by the Society has been "We must pay attention to our health". The use of "we must" in this context is not a literal translation. The verbs in the original Latin are used in the gerund form and the motto might be more properly translated as "Having a means [or method] of health", or "Taking account of health". An alternative literal translation has been offered as "A means of good health is requiring to be had"! A more useful form might be "There must be a method of good health" or "Account must be taken of health".
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In the centre is a shield, on which is engraved the certificate of membership. Round the shield is a border, which is intended to contain an appropriate Latin or Greek motto. The shield is supported on the left by an imaginary portrait of Avicenna, who represents pharmacy in Arabia in the earliest ages of antiquity. He holds in his hand the staff of Esculepius [sic], emblematic of the healing art, with which he points to a wreath of medical plants, which indicate botany and materia medica. Among the plants may be recognised the poppy, digitalis, belladonna, hyoscyamus, taraxacum, roses, rhubarb, senna, scammony, jalap, acacia, Laurus camphora, the pine and a few others. On the right of the shield is an imaginary portrait of Galen, holding in his hand an antique balance, emblematical of "prescriptions accurately prepared".
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An information sheet giving further references and the full text of the grants of arms is available from the Society's Museum.