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Our Fraternity Insignia

The Badge of Phi Delta Theta
Badge
The Phi Delta Theta badge was first made in 1849. It consisted of a flat gold shield with a scroll in the lower part bearing the Greek letters ΦΔΘ, and an eye in the upper portion. Beginning in 1866, a sword attached to the shield was commonly worn, but the attachment was not officially a part of the badge until it was formally adopted by the Convention of 1871. The badge, except as to size and ornamentation, has not been changed since then. The badge is made of gold or platinum, and consists of a shield, with a scroll bearing the letters of Phi Delta Theta over the fesse and nonbril points, an eye over the honor point, and a sword attached by a chain from the sinister chief point to the hilt. The badge may be jeweled, and the scroll may be enameled in white and the eye in black. The sword shall always be worn with the shield, and both may be made in one piece. Every member shall wear the badge at all times appropriate. The proper place for it is over the heart rather than on the coat lapel. The code provides that only initiated members of the Fraternity, their mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, or fiancees should wear the badge.

 

 

The Coat of Arms
COA
The present coat of arms was adopted in 1898. The shield is blue with a diagonal silver bar bearing a gold sword and three silver stars above and below the bar; a gold helmet with closed visor; mantling of blue and silver; the crest; a right arm, armored, hurling a javelin; the open motto on a ribbon below the shield.

 

 

The Phikeia Button
Phikeia
The first Phikeia button was adopted in 1894 and was the first pledge button to be used by any fraternity. The present badge pin was designed in 1900. It is a square with rounded corners with a white diagonal bar across it bearing the Greek word Phikeia. Above and below the bars are two blue fields with three gold stars in each field.

 

 

The Open Motto
The open motto, written in Greek beneath the Coat of Arms (pronounced "Eis aner oudeis aner"), was adopted in 1880 and means literally, “One man is no man,” or more freely interpreted, “We enjoy life by the help and society of others.”

 

 

Colors
The Fraternity colors, azure and argent (heraldic terms for blue and white), were chosen in 1871.

 

 

The Fraternity Flag
Flag
The flag was first used in 1889 and consisted of three white stars on a blue field. Its present form was adopted in 1896. It consists of three vertical bards of equal width; each of the outer bars is charged with three white five-pointed stars; the middle bar is charged with the letters of ΦΔΘ in blue, reading downward; the width of the flag is two-thirds the length.

 

 

Fraternity and Chapter Banners
Banner
The Fraternity banner was first printed on the cover of The Scroll in 1884. The form now in use, adopted in 1896, is triangular, and bears across the body of the word “Miami” over the figures “1848,” with a Φ in the upper left, Δ in the lower corner, and a Θ in the upper right. The body is blue; the lettering is gold. The standard bar, cord, and tassels are silvered. The chapter banner is of the same design as the Fraternity banner except that “Miami” and “1848” are substituted with the name or initials of the college or university where the chapter was established and the year in which the chapter was chartered.

 

 

Fraternity Seal
Seal
Adopted in 1898, the seal consists of the escutcheon of the coat of arms with the legend: “Great Seal of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity,” and the figures “1848” in a circle around it.

 

 

The Fraternity Flower
Carnation
The white carnation was adopted as the Fraternity flower in 1891.

 

 

Pallas and Her Owl
Pallas
Pallas Athena, the Ancient Greek’s goddess of wisdom, is the tutelary goddess of Phi Delta Theta. The owl, which the Greeks regarded as sacred to her, is a symbol of the Fraternity.