Badges worn on clothing became popular (especially in England) in the late Middle Ages as a way of showing an association between individuals. Today this tradition has survived perhaps most notably as a badge on school uniforms. While some schools use a Coat of Arms for this purpose, The Gilbertine Academy follows the more traditional para-heraldic practice.

Our badge brings together three visual elements: the arms granted the Gilbertine Priory at Sempringham, a crown composed of the fleur-de-lis, and the circle which presents the design in a visually harmonious way.

The most prominent component of the badge is the historical arms granted the Gilbertine Priory at Sempringham. The blazon reads: Barry of six, argent and gules; over all in bend sinister, a pilgrim’s crutch or. The pilgrim’s crutch is sometimes rendered as a long cross and this is the case here as we are a Catholic School and the cross is our hope and deliverance. St. Gilbert was a medieval Priest and teacher who believed both boys and girls should be educated. He, in 1131, founded the only medieval Religious Order indigenous to the English people when seven of his female students asked him for a Rule, habit, and an enclosure. The communities would grow to include Nuns, Sisters, Brothers and Priests and flourished until the dissolution of the monasteries in England in the mid 1500s.

The Gilbertine shield is topped with a Marian Crown composed of three fleur-de-lis with three circular jewels set in it. The number alludes to the Holy Trinity and the flowers have long been a symbol of Our Lady. The lily was said to have sprung from the tears shed by Eve as she left Eden. Mother Mary, the new Eve, claims the flower as her own through God’s act of redemption and sanctification through her son Jesus, the second Adam. The inclusion of the crown reminds us that we too can share in the crown of salvation by imitating the Queen of Heaven in her co-operation with God and His plan of salvation.

The shield and crown are presented upon a circle — a universal symbol with meanings that include unity, wholeness and eternity. We strive for a kind and generous unity of the student body at the Gilbertine Academy towards an integrated education that we hope will lead to eternal life in the presence of God the Holy and Undivided Trinity.