Coat of arms of George Vance Murry

By heraldic tradition, the arms of the bishop of a diocese are joined with the arms of his diocese that are seen on the left side of the design. The coat of arms of the Diocese of Youngstown are composed of a green field on which is displayed a silver wavy bar (called a fess) to represent the Mahoning River that flows through the See City. Upon the wavy fess are two green arrowheads to honor the Native American peoples that first inhabited the area that is now Youngstown and a cross pommetté. The green cross pommetté is taken from the arms of the Diocese of Cleveland from which the Diocese of Youngstown was carved in 1943. This separation on the new diocese is further symbolized by the golden dove placed in the arms above the wavy fess. The word dove in Latin is "columba," and is taken from the arms of Pope Pius XII, who created the new diocese. It additionally honors the titular of the cathedral church in the See City. Below the wavy fess is a golden anvil to honor, represent and acknowledge the industrial landscape that is northeastern Ohio.

For his personal arms, seen in the right side of the shield, Bishop Murry has retained the arms that he adopted at the time of his selection to receive the fullness of Christ's most holy priesthood, as a bishop, when he became an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and which he retained during his tenure as Bishop of Saint Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands.

The Bishop's personal arms are composed of three sections. The upper portion is a blue field on which is seen the monogram of The Holy Name (IHS). This is a central feature of the arms of the Bishop's religious community, the Society of Jesus, and it is by this symbol that Bishop Murry acknowledges the integral part of his life that is "as a Jesuit." In the central portion of the design, on a golden field, is a red phoenix with gold fleur-de-lis on each wingtip. This is a symbol taken from the arms of the Archdiocese of Chicago where His Excellency had the honor to serve as an Auxiliary Bishop. In the base portion, on a white field is a red cross. This configuration is known as a Cross of Saint George and by its use Bishop Murry honors his baptismal patron.

For his motto Bishop Murry continues to use the phrase CHRIST MY LIGHT. By the use of this phrase, he expresses that for the Christian to find his way, one needs a light to follow or a light to find the path on which to go. In either case, that light is Christ, to show the way and to be the goal at the end of the journey.

The achievement in completed by the external ornamentation which are a gold processional cross, and the pontifical hat, called a gallero, 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.

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