Coat of Arms of Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Daly
The Coat of Arms of The Most Reverend Thomas Anthony Daly, M.Ed., D.D.
Titular Bishop of Tabalta and Auxiliary Bishop of San Jose
Blazon:
Argent, issuant from base the profile of Mount Tamalpais (in California) Sable, below the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary Azure; upon a chief embattled Gules a diadem Or.
Significance:
The episcopal heraldic achievement, or bishop’s coat of arms, is composed of a shield, which is the central and most important part of the design, a scroll with a motto, and the external ornamentation. The design is described (blazoned) as if the description was being given by the bearer (from behind) with the shield being worn on the left arm. Thus, it must be remembered, where it applies, as the device is viewed from the front, that the terms sinister and dexter are reversed.
As a bishop without canonical jurisdiction (an auxiliary bishop), Bishop Daly’s personal arms occupy the entire shield of the design.
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.
Click here to download a jpeg of Bishop Daly's Coat of Arms.
By: Deacon Paul J. Sullivan
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.