College arms and motto

College Arms and Motto

Chevron – represents the roof of a house and signifies protection, faithful service.
Azure – represents strength, loyalty. It is the colour most associated with Oxford University.
Chief – refers to the bar across the top of the shield and indicates domain, authority, wisdom, achievement in battle.
Base argent – Silver indicating sincerity, peace, the moon.

The College Arms was adopted in 1894 by the first College Council and its design entrusted to Miss Louisa Macdonald and a small committee. The minutes of the College Council meeting of 4 March 1894 describe it as follows:

For the arms, we have a chevron on an azure shield, between an open book (on which is superimposed a pair of dividers), and the Southern Cross in chief, with a galley in base argent.

The book is taken from the arms of Oxford University, and represents knowledge, and, together with the dividers, the twin branches of the Arts and Sciences are implied. Thus the Southern Cross and the book of knowledge express the same sentiments as are embodied in the motto of the University of Sydney.

The galley represents the challenge of working together in harmony.

The motto, ‘Together’, is taken from Tennyson’s Princess. The poem about a hypothetical college for women had become identified symbolically with ‘the cause’ (of women’s emancipation).