Penhold Crossing has its own coat of arms

PENHOLD - Penhold Crossing Secondary School now has its very own coat of arms.

The school was granted its own coat of arms in the spring of 2016 and received a framed copy last September.

"You can't have a coat of arms without going through (Canadian) Heraldry to research it, make sure it's all approved and properly carried out," said Mark Crawford, principal at Penhold Crossing Secondary School, who noted it's rare for a school in Alberta to have its own coat of arms. "I think the whole process was about a year and a half."

A coat of arms is granted through the Canadian Heraldic Authority, a federal authority responsible for the creation and granting of new coats of arms (armorial bearings), flags and badges for Canadian citizens and corporate bodies in Canada.

The authority is located at Rideau Hall in Ottawa and as the monarch's representative in Canada, the Governor General is the highest authority in Canadian heraldry. Below that position is the herald chancellor.

The granting of the coat of arms is considered prestigious, noted Crawford, and an honour from the monarch, via the Governor General of Canada. Stephen Wallace, the herald chancellor, Bruce Patterson, deputy chief herald of Canada and Emmanuelle Sajous, deputy herald chancellor, signed Penhold Crossing's new coat of arms.

Crawford noted several steps that must be followed when creating a coat of arms.

"You don't draw your own (coat of arms) and submit it. They do all of the artwork based on their rules and procedures. You send in your list of images that make sense for your area or for your organization and they put together a draft piece (of artwork)," he said. "Then it comes back to you for suggestions and changes. It's very much an interactive process."

Penhold Crossing's new coat of arms includes elements that are important to the school, said Crawford.

"The crossing piece we wanted represented in the shield and it is," said Crawford. "Historically there was a river crossing (the Red Deer River) close to here, the Canadian Pacific Railway crossed through Penhold and Highway 2A crosses right through town. The early settlers and First Nations travelled through this area," he added.

The school mascot, a sky hawk, is also included in the coat of arms.

"There are three or four types of hawks that are indigenous to the area. Also with the hawk, it spoke to that aviation history of the area," he said, noting Sky Wings Aviation Academy, the Red Deer Airport and the Royal Canadian Air Force base from 1939 to 1995.

"At the top of the coat of arms is the sky hawk."

Stewart Ford, local retired businessman, also played a big role in the school's new coat of arms.

"Steward Ford is very much connected to heraldry and has his own family coat of arms," said Crawford. "He's helped the Town of Penhold with their coat of arms and he thought it would be a nice legacy piece for us to have our own coat of arms as well."

The coat of arms was officially unveiled to the school in September. It is now used on the school's letterhead and a full-scale rendition of the coat of arms is displayed in the front office.

"I was quite excited to have the final product. It represents us so well and it has meaning inherent in it," said Crawford. "The process helped us to brand the school as well. We're trying to create an identity for ourselves here."

The motto in Latin, meaning "knowledge is power" is displayed at the bottom of the coat of arms and was chosen by school staff, said Crawford.

"It's exciting, it's unique to our school and it's very prestigious," he added. "It's something for the students to be proud of."