Like most heraldic coats of arms, Beloit’s is loaded with symbolism, including a turtle, a dove representing divine guidance or inspiration, an open book, and a wheel, a city symbol designed by late professor of classics Theodore Lyman Wright, which refers to industries that historically flourished in Beloit. (Photo by Madelaine Maney'15)

To those who know Beloit as an informal place where students often refer to professors by their first names, this may come as a surprise: We have a coat of arms.

The original wooden piece was made in 1930 in Germany for an exhibit in the posh University Club of Chicago’s Cathedral Hall dining room. The club decorated the room with college crests of some of its members at the time, and Beloit’s is still there. A plaster copy was also made and kept on campus, where it was displayed for many years in the second-floor foyer of Middle College. Since 1998, it had been relegated to the Middle College attic where it was re-discovered in its 82nd year, showing signs of its age.

Professor of Art George Williams put out the call to art majors who might be interested in restoring the luster to this faded piece of Beloit’s history. Studio art major Madeline Horwath’13 (below) of Fairfax, Va., accepted the challenge. This spring, she spent hours cleaning the coat of arms, repairing its cracks, and repainting the entire piece, staying true to its original colors. The coat of arms is  on display in the President’s Office inside Middle College.