To represent the Gulf Coast itself, an anchor, representing “hope” which played a large part in the formation of the new diocese, was placed against a background of water which consists of seven wavy bars alternating gold and blue. To raise the Christian symbolism to a more confident degree than merely that of hope, the dove of peace transcends below a bishop’s miter between two St. Andrew’s crosses and directly above the anchor as the “unifying chief” which will continue its reign over the anchor.
With our diocese extending into the lower portion of Alabama and the upper portion of Florida, two St. Andrew’s crosses were used to represent the heritage of Alabama and Florida, both of which have the St. Andrew’s cross as a predominant symbol on their state flags. Also, with the cross of St. Andrew being a Christian symbol, it makes a unique attribute of representing at once the Church and the two states.
Since our diocese was formed from two older areas, the new union was symbolized by placing the two crosses of St. Andrew side by side in a single field, the “chief” of the shield. The shield was designed by Professor James Waring McCardy of the University of the South, Sewanee, who is recognized as a top authority on ecclesiastical heraldry in America.
