University Seal

The University Seal

The present seal of the Ateneo de Manila was adopted by the American Jesuits in 1928. Its circular shape is framed by two semi-circular ribbons bear the University name and motto, Lux in Domino, "Light in the Lord." The Jesuits' monogram, IHS, the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek, is contained in a circular sun emitting rays in every direction. Under this sun is a shield divided vertically into two parts, depicting the coat of arms of the Spanish house of Loyola to which the Society's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, belonged. On the left side is a bendy of fifteen pieces alternating bands of red and gold. On the right side is a white field upon which are the wolves and pot (lobos y olla) of Loyola.

The Shield Of Loyola

This is the shield of the House of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is the shield of the Ateneo, for the Ateneo stands for all the honorable things for which stood the House of Loyola.

The Shield is divided vertically into two. On the right side as one looks is the panel belonging to the family of Loyola, the maternal line of St. Ignatius. It consists of an "olla" or pot/kettle, suspended from black pot-hooks, and two gray "lobos" or wolves holding the kettle and pot-hooks. The "lobo" and "olla" were joined as "lobos y olla," finally contracting into Loyola. The wolf was a device of the "ricos homines" or the nobility, and the whole design was taken to represent the generosity of the House of Loyola: 

"For the country people, still full of remembrance of Ignatius and his ancestry, relate, that this great name was given in those feudal times when great lords made war on one another with a band of followers, whom they were bound to maintain; and this the family of the Loyola use to to do with such liberality, that the wolves always found something in the kettle to feast on, after the soldiers were supplied."

On the left pannel of the spectator is the division belonging to the house of Onaz, the family on the paternal side of St. Ignatius. In the division are seven red bars on a field of gold. This was a mark of great honor, as it was granted to the House of Onaz by King Alfonso the Just in 1332 to wear this seven bands on their shields as a mark of bravery of seven heroes of the family who so distinguished themselves in the famous battle of the Beotibar in 1321 where Spaniards defeated seventy thousand French, Navarrese, and Gascons.

Of such a noble lineage was St. Ignatius. And the Atenean shares in this nobility. It is his heritage to be generous, it is also his heritage to be brave, as were the knights of the House of Onaz. And these are nothing but things that are and should be the proud distinction of the Catholic Gentleman.