_Azure, three pelicans argent, vulning themselves proper._--_Pelham_,
_Somerset_, &c.
A pelican's head erased, or otherwise detached from the body, must always
be drawn in the same position and vulning itself. It should always be
separated as low as the upper part of the breast.
It is said naturalists of old, observing that the pelican had a crimson
stain on the tip of its beak, reported that it was accustomed to feed its
young with the blood flowing from its breast, which it tore for the
purpose. In this belief the Early Christians adopted the pelican to figure
Christ, and set forth the redemption through His blood, which was
willingly shed for us His children.
ALPHONSO THE WISE, King of Castile (+ 1252). A pelican in its piety.
Motto: "Pro lege et grege."
WILLIAM OF NASSAU, founder of the Republic of the United Provinces, one of
the noblest characters of modern history. He bore on some of his
standards the pelican, and on others the motto: "Pro lege, grege et rege."
POPE CLEMENT IX. One of his devices was the pelican in its piety. Motto:
"Aliis non sibi clemens" ("Tender-hearted to others, not himself").
[Illustration: The natural Pelican.]
Other mottoes for the pelican:
"Ut vitam habeant" ("That they may have life").
"Immemor ipse sui" ("Unmindful herself of herself").
"Mortuos vivificat" ("Makes the dead live").
"Nec sibi parcit" ("Nor spares herself").