Religious Heraldry in Maine

Arms of the Minor Basilica of
Saints Peter and Paul

I've been distracted by life in general, but also some other heraldry projects including International Heraldry Day and a Facebook page dedicated to American Heraldry. I haven't forgotten about this small side project, though. For the sake of posting something, here are a couple examples of arms of religious institutions in Maine.

From the Basilica's website:

This ancient papal insignia shows the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the pilgrim's canopy - theombrellino. For the new Lewiston Basilica, green was selected to represent both Saint Peter and the State of Maine. On this field appears the crook of a crozier ( a pastoral staff; a processional staff with the head in the form of a shepherd's crook) representing Saint Peter, The first Bishop of Rome. 

Arms of the Diocese of Portland

 The blue field on the right is in honor of Saint Paul - Apostle to the Gentiles and inspired writer and teacher. The deep blue represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the Diocese of Portland under her title of the Immaculate Conception. Blue is also a symbol of the truth of the Gospel that Saint Paul taught in his Letters. The book represents the Latin version of the Bible opened to Saint Paul's letter to the Romans which begins with the words: Ad Romanos Caput Primum (" To the Romans, First Chapter.") At the base is a smaller gold field. Gold is a symbol of wisdom and truth. On it appears the Fleur-de-Lys - the oldest image for Mary, Mother of the Church. Known as the Lily of Mary, It was selected for two other reasons: the great French Canadian heritage of the people who built the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and, when depicted half silver and half black, is also one of the most important emblems of the Order of the Preachers of Saint Dominic.

Gentlemen of the Road Tour

This past Saturday British folk rock band, Mumford and Sons held their "Gentlemen of the Road" stopover music festival in Portland. With 16,000 people in attendance, it was one of the largest concerts Maine has seen. It might have been the biggest one in Portland ever, as I don't think they have any larger venues than Eastern Prom.

At any rate, the stopover tour branding features 19th and early 20th century themes, with the primary logo being a mustached man in a top hat above two pistols in saltire. Hung around the park were several shield style logos, including the one on the left for the Portland stopover. On the Gentlemen of the Road website, they have a shield-style logo for every city they're stopping at.

It's obviously not the best heraldry - if heraldry at all. But they are attractive logos and it was an amazing show worthy of note.

Also to their credit, there was one shield that I neglected to get a photo of which was simply Gules, two pistols in saltire Or. Below is photo of a banner that was draped behind the band, but above that and out of the picture was the shield featuring the same arms.