Many United States presidents have borne a coat of arms; largely through inheritance, assumption, or grants from foreign heraldic authorities. One, Dwight Eisenhower, received his upon becoming a Knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark.[1] The president of the United States, as a position, uses the seal of the 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 | Name of president and blazon | |
|---|---|---|
| align=center | Arms of George Washington, 1st president, 1789–1797 Shield: Argent, two bars and in chief three mullets Gules. Crest: from a crest coronet a raven rising wings elevated and addorsed proper. Motto: Exitus Acta Probat (The outcome is the test of the act).[2] See also: Coat of arms of George Washington. | |
| Arms of John Adams, 2nd president, 1797–1801 Shield: Gules six crosses-crosslet fitchy Argent, on a chief Or three pellets, the center one charged with a fleur-de-lis 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 and friendship thou shall preserve, and faith).[3] Connections to other presidents' arms: Same as the 4th (Boylston) quarter of the arms used by his son, John Quincy Adams |
| Arms | Name of president and blazon | |
|---|---|---|
| Arms of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president, 1801–1809 Shield: Azure a fret Argent 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).[4] | ||
| James Madison, 4th president, 1809–1817 No arms known.Motto: Veritas non verba magistri (Truth, not the word of teachers [or master]). | ||
| James Monroe, 5th president, 1817–1825 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of John Quincy Adams, 6th president, 1825–1829 Shield: Quarterly: 1st Argent, on a mount Vert a stag trippant toward a pine tree, in base a codfish naiant on a sea all proper, overall thirteen stars in annulet Azure (for Adams); 2nd Sable, a fess cotised between three martlets Or (for Smith); 3rd Gules, seven mascles conjoined 3, 3, and 1 Or (for Quincy); 4th Gules, six crosses-crosslet fitchy Argent, on a chief Or three pellets, the center one charged with a fleur-de-lis and the outer two with lions passant guardant Argent (for Boylston). Crest: a lion passant holding in his dexter paw a cross-crosslet fitchy Argent, langued and armed Gules. Motto: Fidem Libertatem Amicitiam Retinebis (Faith, freedom and friendship thou shall preserve).[5] Connections to other presidents' arms: 4th (Boylston) quarter of is the arms used by his father, John Adams | ||
| Andrew Jackson, 7th president, 1829–1837 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Martin Van Buren, 8th president, 1837–1841 Shield: per pale Or and Gules, in dexter a greyhound rampant contourny and in sinister two bars embattled-counterembattled, all counterchanged. Crest: a greyhound rampant between two wings, the dexter Gules, the sinister Or.[6] | ||
| Arms of William Henry Harrison, 9th president, 1841 Shield: Or, on a fess Sable three eagles displayed Or, a crescent Sable for difference. Crest: an eagle's head erased Or.[7] Connections to other presidents' arms: Same as the arms used by his grandson, Benjamin Harrison | ||
| John Tyler, 10th president, 1841–1845 No arms known. | ||
| James K. Polk, 11th president, 1845–1849 No arms known. | ||
| Crest of Zachary Taylor, 12th president,1849–1850 Crest: a naked arm embowed holding an arrow proper. Motto: Consequitur Quodcumque Petit (seize whatever follows).[8] | ||
| Millard Fillmore, 13th president, 1850–1853 No arms known. | ||
| Franklin Pierce, 14th president 1853–1857 No arms known. | ||
| James Buchanan, 15th president 1857–1861 No arms known. | ||
| Abraham Lincoln, 16th president, 1861–1865 No arms known. | ||
| Andrew Johnson, 17th president, 1865–1869 No arms known. | ||
| Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president, 1869–1877 No arms known. | ||
| Crest of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president, 1877–1881 Crest: upon an anvil a falcon rising proper. Motto: Recte (Right). Later Additional Motto: Qui Patriae Optime Servit Optime Servit Suis Partibus (He serves his party best who serves his country best).[9] | ||
| Arms of James A. Garfield, 20th president, 1881 Shield: Or, three bars Gules, on a canton Ermine a cross paty Gules. Crest: issuant from a human heart a dexter hand holding a sword proper. Motto: In Cruce Vinco (In the cross I conquer).[10] | ||
| Arms of Chester A. Arthur, 21st president, 1881–1885 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).[11] | ||
| Arms of Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president, 1885–1889 and 1893–1897 Shield:Per chevron Sable and Ermine a chevron engrailed counterchanged. Crest: A demi-old man proper habited Azure, on his head a cap Gules turned up with hair front, holding in his dexter hand a spear, the head Argent, on the top of which is fixed a line proper passing behind him and coiled up in his sinister hand. Motto: Semel Et Semper (Once and always). Alternative Mottoes: Pro Deo Et Patria (For God and country); Vincit Amor Patriae (Love of country conquers). | ||
| Arms of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president 1889–1893 Shield: Or, on a fess Sable three eagles displayed Or, a crescent Sable for difference. Crest: an eagle's head erased Or.[12] Connections to other presidents' arms: Same as the arms used by his paternal grandfather, William Henry Harrison | ||
| William McKinley, 25th president, 1897–1901 No arms known. |
| Arms | Name of president and blazon | |
|---|---|---|
| Arms of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president, 1901–1909 Shield: Argent, upon a grassy mound a rose bush proper bearing three roses Gules barbed and seeded proper. Crest: three ostrich plumes each per pale Gules and Argent. Motto: Qui Plantavit Curabit (He who planted will preserve).[13] Symbolism: The Roosevelt arms feature a rose bush in reference to the name: "Roosevelt", which is archaic Dutch for "rose field", making these an example of canting arms. Connections to other presidents' arms: Similar to the arms used by his distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the primary difference being the presence of a grassy mound in Theodore's arms. | ||
| William Howard Taft, 27th president 1909–1913 No arms known. | ||
| Woodrow Wilson, 28th president, 1913–1921 No arms known. | ||
| Warren G. Harding, 29th president, 1921–1923 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Calvin Coolidge, 30th president 1923–1929. Attributed by Henry Bond, no evidence Calvin Coolidge ever bore these arms.[14] Shield: Vert a griffin segreant Or. Crest: a demi-griffin segreant Or. Motto: Virtute Et Fide (By valor and faith).[15] | ||
| Herbert Hoover, 31st president 1929–1933 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president, 1933–1945 Shield: Argent, three roses one in pale and two in saltire Gules barbed, seeded, slipped, and leaved proper. Crest: three ostrich plumes each per pale Gules and Argent. Motto: Qui Plantavit Curabit (He who planted will preserve). Symbolism: The Roosevelt arms feature a rose bush in reference to the name: "Roosevelt", which is Dutch for "rose field", making these an example of canting arms. Connections to other presidents' arms: Similar to the arms used by his distant cousin Theodore Roosevelt, the primary difference being the presence of a grassy mound in Theodore's arms. | ||
| Harry S. Truman, 33rd president, 1945–1953 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president, 1953–1961, adopted following his admittance to the Order of the Elephant in 1950. Shield: Or, an anvil Azure. Crest: five stars of five points conjoined as on the points of a pentagram Argent. Motto: Peace Through Understanding.[16] Foreign Orders: collar of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (appointed 1945); Symbolism: The anvil alludes to ("cants on", in heraldic jargon) the German origin of his name: Eisenhauer, meaning "iron hewer". | ||
| Arms of John F. Kennedy, 35th president, 1961–1963, granted by the Chief Herald of Ireland. Shield: Sable, three helmets in profile Or within a bordure per saltire Gules and Ermine. Crest: between two olive branches a cubit sinister arm in armor erect, the hand holding a sheaf of four arrows, points upward, all proper.[17] | ||
| Arms of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president, 1963–1969 Shield: Azure, on a saltire Gules fimbriated Argent between four eagles displayed a mullet Or. Crest: an armed hand Argent supporting an eagle rising Or. Motto: Nobilitatis virtus non stemma character (Virtue, not lineage, is the mark of nobility).[18] | ||
| Richard Nixon, 37th president, 1969–1974 No arms known. | ||
| Gerald Ford, 38th president, 1974–1977 No arms known. | ||
| Jimmy Carter, 39th president, 1977–1981. No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Ronald Reagan, 40th president, 1981–1989. Shield: Or, a Bear rampant Sable armed and langued Gules holding between its forepaws a star Argent, on a chief Sable standing upon a ducal coronet Or a falcon wings displayed and inverted Argent armed Or and langued Gules. Crest: a demi-horse forcené Sable unguled Or and charged on the shoulder with an actor's mask Or. Motto: Facta non verba (Deeds, not words).[19] Foreign Orders: collar of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (appointed 1989). | ||
| George H. W. Bush, 41st president 1989–1993 No arms known. | ||
| Arms of Bill Clinton, 42nd president 1993–2001. Granted by the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1995. Shield: Or, a lion rampant Gules charged with three bars Argent holding in the dexter paw a branch of olive proper between in the dexter chief and sinister base a cross crosslet fitchy Sable and in the sinister chief and dexter base a shamrock slipped Vert. Crest: an Anchor erect Azure, on the stock the letters SPES Argent. Motto: An leon do bheir an chraobh (The lion carries away the branch).[20] |
| Arms | Name of president and blazon | |
|---|---|---|
| George W. Bush, 43rd president, 2001–2009 No arms known. | ||
| Barack Obama, 44th president, 2009–2017 No arms known. | ||
| Donald Trump, 45th president, 2017–2021. No arms known. | ||
| Joe Biden, 46th president, 2021–present No arms known. |