List of personal coats of arms of vice presidents of the United States
Several United States vice presidents have borne a coat of arms; largely through inheritance, assumption, or grants from foreign heraldic authorities. The vice president of the United States, as a position, uses the Seal of the Vice President of the United States as a coat of arms, but this is a coat of arms of office, not a personal coat of arms.
Arms of the vice presidents[]
Arms | Name of vice president and blazon |
---|---|
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Arms of John Adams, 1st vice president, 1789–1797:
Shield: Gules six crosses-crosslet fitchy Argent, on a chief Or three pellets, the center one charged with a fleur-de-lys and the other two with lions passant guardant Argent. Crest: A Lion passant holding in his dexter paw a cross-crosslet fitchy Argent. Motto: Libertatem amicitiam retinebis et fidem (Freedom, friendship and fidelity).[1] |
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Arms of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd vice president, 1797–1801:
Shield: Azure a fret and on a chief Gules three leopards' faces Argent Crest: A lion's head erased Or. Motto: Ab eo libertas a quo spiritus (The one who gives life gives liberty).[1] |
N/A | Aaron Burr, 3rd vice president, 1801–1805:
No arms known |
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Arms of George Clinton, 4th vice president, 1805–1812:
Shield: Argent, six cross crosslets fitchy Sable on a chief Azure two mullets Or pierced Gules Crest: Out of a ducal coronet Gules a plume of five ostrich feathers Argent banded by a ribbon Azure Motto: Cara patria, carior libertas (Dear fatherland, dearer freedom) |
N/A | Elbridge Gerry, 5th vice president, 1813–1814:
No arms known |
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Arms of Daniel D. Tompkins, 6th vice president, 1817–1825:
Shield: Azure, on a chevron between three cock-pheasants close Or three cross-crosslets Sable Crest: A unicorn's head, erased, per fess, Argent and Or, armed and maned, counterchanged, gorged with a chaplet of laurel, Vert. |
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Arms of John C. Calhoun, 7th vice president, 1825–1832:
Shield: Argent, a saltire engrailed Sable Crest: A hart's head couped Gules attired Argent Supporters: Two ratch-hounds Argent, collared Sable Motto: Si je puis (If I may) |
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Arms of Martin van Buren, 8th vice president, 1833–1837:
Shield: Per pale, Or a greyhound rampant contourny Gules, and Gules two bars embattled-counterembattled Or Crest: A greyhound rampant between the wings of a vol Gules and Or.[2] |
N/A | Richard Mentor Johnson, 9th vice president, 1837–1841:
No arms known |
N/A | John Tyler, 10th vice president, 1841:
No arms known |
N/A | George M. Dallas, 11th vice president, 1845–1849:
No arms known |
N/A | Millard Fillmore, 12th vice president, 1849–1850:
No arms known |
N/A | William R. King, 13th vice president, 1853:
No arms known |
N/A | John C. Breckinridge, 14th vice president, 1857–1861:
No arms known |
N/A | Hannibal Hamlin, 15th vice president, 1861–1865:
No arms known |
N/A | Andrew Johnson, 16th vice president, 1865:
No arms known |
N/A | Schuyler Colfax, 17th vice president, 1869–1873:
No arms known |
N/A | Henry Wilson, 18th vice president, 1873–1875:
No arms known |
N/A | William A. Wheeler, 19th vice president, 1877–1881:
No arms known |
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Arms of Chester A. Arthur, 20th vice president, 1881:
Shield: Gules a chevron Argent between three rests (clarions) Or. Crest: A falcon rising proper belled and jessed Or. Motto: Impelle obstantia (Thrust aside obstacles).[3] |
N/A | Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st vice president, 1885:
No Arms known |
N/A | Levi P. Morton, 22nd vice president, 1889–1893:
No arms known |
N/A | Adlai Stevenson I, 23rd vice president, 1893–1897
No arms known |
N/A | Garret Hobart, 24th vice president, 1897–1899:
No arms known |
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Arms of Theodore Roosevelt, 25th vice president, 1901:
Shield: Argent upon a grassy mound a rose bush proper bearing three roses Gules barbed and seeded proper Crest: From a wreath Argent and Gules three ostrich plumes each per pale Gules and Argent Motto: Qui plantavit curabit (He who planted will preserve).[4] |
N/A | Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th vice president, 1905–1909:
No known arms |
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Arms of James S. Sherman, 27th vice president, 1909–1912:
Shield: Or, a Lion rampant Sable between three oak leaves Vert Crest: A sea lion, sejant Sable charged on the shoulder with three bezants, two and one |
N/A | Thomas R. Marshall, 28th vice president, 1913–1921:
No arms known |
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Arms of Calvin Coolidge, 29th vice president, 1921–1923: Attributed by Henry Bond, no evidence Calvin Coolidge ever bore these arms.[5]
Shield: Vert a griffin segreant Or. Crest: A demi-griffin segreant Or. Motto: Virtute et fide (By valor and faith) |
N/A | Charles G. Dawes, 30th vice president, 1925–1929:
No arms known |
N/A | Charles Curtis, 31st vice president, 1929–1933:
No arms known |
N/A | John Nance Garner, 32nd vice president, 1933–1941:
No arms known |
N/A | Henry A. Wallace, 33rd vice president, 1941–1945:
No arms known |
N/A | Harry S. Truman, 34th vice president, 1945:
No arms known |
N/A | Alben W. Barkley, 35th vice president, 1949–1953
No arms known |
N/A | Arms of Richard Nixon, 36th vice president, 1953–1961:
No known arms |
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Arms of Lyndon Johnson, 37th vice president, 1961–1963:
Shield: Azure on a saltire Gules fimbriated Argent between four eagles displayed a mullet Or. Crest: On a wreath of the colors an armed hand Argent supporting an eagle rising Or. Motto: Nobilitatis virtus non stemma character (Virtue, not lineage, is the mark of nobility) |
N/A | Hubert Humphrey, 38th vice president, 1965–1969:
No arms known |
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Arms of Spiro Agnew, 39th vice president, 1969–1973:
Shield: Azure, on a cross between four horses' heads couped Argent, a cross botonny Gules Crest: A hand couped proper holding a sceptre of office Supporters: Dexter a Greek statesman and sinister a Greek warrior both proper. Motto: Do all good |
N/A | Gerald Ford, 40th vice president, 1973–1974:
No arms known |
N/A | Nelson Rockefeller, 41st vice president, 1974–1977:
No arms known |
N/A | Walter Mondale, 42nd vice president, 1977–1981:
No arms known |
N/A | George H.W. Bush, 43rd vice president, 1981–1989:
No arms known |
N/A | Dan Quayle, 44th vice president, 1989–1993:
No arms known |
N/A | Al Gore, 45th vice president, 1993–2001:
No arms known |
N/A | Dick Cheney, 46th vice president, 2001–2009:
No arms known |
N/A | Joe Biden, 47th vice president, 2009–2017:
No arms known |
N/A | Mike Pence, 48th vice president, 2017–2021:
No arms known |
N/A | Kamala Harris, 49th vice president, 2021–present:
No arms known |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Signers of the Declaration of Independence Archived 2014-01-02 at the Wayback Machine American Heraldry Society's Website
- ^ The Arms of Martin Van Buren Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine American Heraldry Society's Website
- ^ The Arms Used by Chester A. Arthur Archived 2015-02-18 at the Wayback Machine American Heraldry Society's Website
- ^ The Arms of Theodore Roosevelt Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine American Heraldry Society's Website
- ^ "John Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States | Presidents of the United States | Arms of Famous Americans | Heraldry in the USA | American Heraldry Society". www.americanheraldry.org. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
Further reading[]
- Bailey, Banks & Biddle Company (Philadelphia, Pa.). Alphabetical List of Coat Armour As Borne by Americans of the Colonial Period, and by Late Settlers in the United States and the Dominion of Canada, of Authenticated Armiger Ancestry: The Arms on Display, and Catalogued Herein, Represent Those so Far Completed in a Collection Which, We Anticipate, Will Eventually Total in Excess of Five Thousand Coats of Arms. Philadelphia: Bailey, Banks & Biddle Co, 1910.
- Crozier, William Armstrong. Crozier's General Armory; A Registry of American Families Entitled to Coat Armor. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co, 1966.
- Matthews, John. Matthews' American Armoury and Blue Book. New York: Crest Pub. Co, 1962.
- Neff, Elizabeth Clifford. Heraldry. Cleveland, Ohio: Korner & Wood Co, 1910.
- Valcourt-Vermont, E. de. America Heraldica: A Compilation of Coats of Arms, Crests and Mottoes of Prominent American Families Settled in This Country Before 1800. New York, N.Y.: Heraldic Pub. Co, 1965.
- Zieber, Eugene. Rules for the Proper Usage of Heraldry in the United States. Philadelphia: Department of heraldry of the Bailey, Banks & Biddle company, 1890.
- Zieber, Eugene. Heraldry in America. Philadelphia : Department of Heraldry of the Bailey, Banks & Biddle Co., 1895. Reprint: Zieber, Eugene. Heraldry in America: A Guide with 1000 Illustrations. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2006.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coats of arms of US Vice Presidents. |
- American Heraldry Society
- The Institute of Heraldry, Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army
- Armorials of the United States
- Armorials of presidents
- Vice presidency of the United States-related lists