Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms of the Diocese

The Coat of Arms of the Diocese of San Jose displays symbols showing California roots, the Santa Clara Valley and the City of San Jose; a diagonal band of Latin crosses represents the missionary tradition of the area (21 California Missions) of which Santa Clara de Asis (1777) is one.
Symbols also represent the Archdiocese of San Francisco from which the Diocese of San Jose was founded in 1981; the rose, emblem of Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe); a carpenter’s square represents the diocese’s patron, St. Joseph; and mountains represent the Santa Clara Valley.

Coat of Arms of Bishop DuMaine

This Coat of Arms of Bishop Emeritus Pierre DuMaine reflects both his personal Coat of Arms (right side) and that of the Diocese of San Jose (left), which he adopted as the first bishop of the diocese in 1981. His personal Coat of Arms depicts symbols of his parents’ cultural heritage; the Archdiocese of San Francisco where he was ordained and served; his patron the Apostle Peter who was martyred on an inverted cross; the Pacific Ocean and airwaves (reflecting his work in educational television and communications); and water symbols reminiscent of his youth in Kentucky near the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. His Episcopal motto, “Gaudium et Spes,” reflects the opening words of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World:  “The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well…”

Coat of Arms of Bishop Patrick J. McGrath

This is the original personal Coat of Arms of Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, when he became a bishop. (As second Bishop of San Jose, half of his Coat of Arms now would reflect the Coat of Arms of the Diocese of San Jose as well.) His personal Coat of Arms reflects a design that tells the history and heritage of his life and family – his roots in Ireland, his call to the priesthood and to the episcopacy; his studies in Ireland and Rome; and the French heritage of his mother.
His Episcopal motto, “Together in Christ,” expresses the main theme of the 12th chapter of St. Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians – that all people, regardless of race or ethnic origin, are brothers and sisters in the work of humankind and of salvation.

Coat of Arms of Bishop Thomas A. Daly

His Excellency, Bishop Daly’s arms are drawn on the device of the Archdiocese of San Francisco (silver (white) with an embattled red chief) which His Excellency had the honor to serve for 24 years before being called to receive the fullness of Christ’s most holy Priesthood, as a bishop, and to now serve God’s People gathered in the Diocese of San Jose as their Auxiliary Bishop.

Issuant from the base of the design, in black, is the silhouette of Mount Tamalpais, the iconic image of Marin County in California where Bishop Daly has ministered and served for all his priesthood, most recently as President of Marin Catholic High School. Above the image of the mountain is the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in blue, as it appears on the reverse side of the Miraculous Medal. In the use of this symbol, His Excellency expresses his deep and profound devotion to Mary, our Most Holy Mother, and his appreciation of St. Vincent de Paul, Bishop Daly’s patron saint.

On the embattled red chief is a gold (yellow) diadem. In the use of this charge (symbol), His Excellency Bishop Daly honors the heritage of his parents, Donald and Marian (Early) Daly, for it is as part of the Daly family coat of arms, that their motto expresses “Loyal to God and Crown,” and that under the cross of this design, Bishop Daly expresses his loyalty to God, and in the crown, his loyalty to family.

For his motto, His Excellency Bishop Daly has selected the phrase “INTO YOUR HANDS LORD.” The phrase, which is a paraphrase of Christ’s last words on the cross, sums up Bishop Daly’s deep conviction that it is in surrendering to the Will of God, that man is able to accomplish what is God’s design for him.

The achievement is completed by the external ornamentation which are a gold (yellow) processional cross, that is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and the pontifical hat, called a “galero,” with its six tassels in three rows on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop, by instruction of The Holy See, of March 31, 1969.

The author and designer is Rev. Mr. Paul J. Sullivan, a Deacon of the Diocese of Providence (RI-USA), President of P. SULLIVAN & CO., Narragansett, RI.