From the proximity card in your pocket to the iron of FitzRandolph Gate, Princeton's shield is ubiquitous on campus, a symbol of 260 years of tradition.
But the familiar orange-and-black shield –– created in 1896 when the University changed its name from The College of New Jersey to Princeton –– has changed in the modern era, diversifying into forms appropriate for different uses.
The most common version of the shield has an open Bible with the Latin characters, "VET NOV TESTAMENTUM," signifying the Old and New Testaments. The lower part includes a chevron, "denoting the rafters of a building," according to the minutes of the Feb. 13, 1896 University Board of Trustees meeting.
The seal also contains a ribbon with the University's motto, "dei sub numine viget," meaning "under God she flourishes." The official version, found on the inside cover of the Undergraduate Announcement and on diplomas, is also encircled by the phrase "sigillum universitatis princetoniensis," meaning "the seal of Princeton University."
Today, the shield is often presented without the ribbon or open Bible, causing some alumni to wonder whether the display is meant to hide religious aspects of the University's history, former Princetoniana committee chair Gregg Lange '70 said. "In the past 10 to 15 years, some people seemed to have noticed that, but I don't think that's the intention," he added.
Many departmental web pages, including Facilities, Health Services, Ticketing and Annual Giving, all have logos without the Latin phrases. The shield with the Bible, however, is incorporated into the design on the University homepage and on prox identification cards. "Getting rid of the ribbon gives a streamlined appearance that is aesthetically tempting," Lange said.
Laurel Cantor, the Office of Communications' director of publications, explained that the shields typically used in current University graphic designs are a "modernization of what people have come to recognize as Princeton's symbol."
Cantor said her office uses two main designs. One is the "classic" shield, with the ribbon and Latin motto, and is used "for ceremonial uses, like awards and programs." The "graphic identity" shield lacks the ribbon and the motto and is displayed on business items.
Anyone in the Princeton community can email Cantor's office to request permission to use the shield on a poster or other item. To use the shield on commercially sold items, however, requires approval by the University's trademark licensing office.
Not all vendors who want to use the shield are given approval. Alcohol and tobacco companies, for example, are prohibited from using it, Cantor said. "The University does not wish the logo to appear on these products."
Furthermore, to "make it harder to pirate the trademark," she said the office uses a smaller version of the shield on the Internet. This version contains the Bible, but the words are generally too small to be legible.
History
Every element of the logo is rooted in Princeton's history. A report in Mudd Library by Alexander McLeod '56 said, "The motto 'dei sub numine viget' was an old motto and appears on the first engraving of Nassau Hall in 1760."
In 1945, University Archivist Henry Savage '15 wrote that the Bible reflected the University's Presbyterian founders. "Our own book is unmistakably entitled," he said. "No other institution of comparable rank and antiquity can claim this distinction which marks so fittingly the clearcut faith of our Presbyterian founders."
Today's symbol also embodies orange and black as the University's colors. The orange, Lange said, comes from the heraldic colors of William of Orange, the famed prince of the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688.
The "Nassau" of Nassau Hall comes from William's family, the royal Dutch house of Orange-Nassau. New Jersey governor Jonathan Belcher shared the Enlightenment movement's support of William's ideals and suggested that the University's main building be named after his house when it moved to Princeton from Newark in 1756.
Now the bi-colored shield is found on posters, sports jerseys and playing fields, and is carved in stone and stained glass.
"The shield is being used much more publicly and broadly today than when I was here," Lange said. "It's a different level of exposure."
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