Our Lady of Hope's Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms
Of
Our
Lady of
Hope
Parish
Carle Place, New York
BLAZON:
Azure semee of mullets Or; on a chief Or
between two escallop shells an ancient crown all
Azure. On a scroll below the shield is the
motto, “Spes Non Confundit”.
EXPLANATION: The arms of Our Lady
of Hope parish reflect its patron and its
location. The blue field powdered with five
pointed stars (mullets) alludes to the robe on
the statue of Our Lady of Hope located at the
basilica of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in
Pontmain, France. Our Lady appeared there on
January 17, 1871. The robe on the statue of Mary
is blue with many gold stars on it.
The upper third of the shield or “chief” is a
gold (yellow) background containing a crown
between two shells. All of these are blue. The
crown in the form of a circlet composed of
fleur-de-lis is a further allusion to Mary, the
Queen of Heaven. It is placed between the two
escallop shells that are taken from the coat of
arms of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. In
turn, they appear in that coat of arms as an
allusion to the Native American word for Long
Island which translated as, “Island of Shells”.
The shield is ensigned with a scroll on which
there is the motto, “Spes Non Confundit”. In
Latin this means, “Hope does not disappoint”. It
is taken from the sacred Scriptures: “…and
hope does not disappoint, because the love of
God has been poured out within our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”.
(Romans 5:5)
The arms of Our Lady of Hope Parish were
designed by Fr. Guy Selvester, a priest of the
Diocese of Metuchen, NJ and a noted heraldic
designer. Father Selvester is a Fellow of the
American College of Heraldry and a member of the
Heraldry Committee of the NY Genealogical &
Biographical Society. In 2004 he was named
“Palma Herald” of the Royal Aragonese College of
Arms. For the last 24 years he has designed and
emblazoned arms for many prelates and
institutions in the Church including the late
Bishop James McHugh, third bishop of Rockville
Centre.
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