Carl von Linné

Carl von Linné, 1707-1778.

“Carl von Linné – as he was called after being raised to the nobility – had himself made a draft for his arms. In a letter to the Swedish grand master of arms, Baron Tilas, he wrote that he wanted to have his own ‘little Linnaea on the helmet but on the shield three fields: sable, vert and gules, the three kingdoms of nature, and upon that an egg, divided in two to represent that nature, which is continued and perpetuated in ovo’. Baron Tilas, however, prepared a different design, basing it on that of Linnaeus, but with three crowns: one with pearls, symbolising the animal kingdom, one with golden leaves, representing the vegetable, and one with five precious stones for the mineral kingdom. At first Linnaeus did not at all like the Baron’s ‘absurdities”, as he called them, but when he finally got the beautifully illuminated patent, he found that it was ‘rather honourable and more beautiful than I have deserved’.
In the blazon the pairle is called a ‘Philosophical or a so-called Pythagorean Golden cross’. The crest is a plant with two flowers of Linnaea borealis between two aloe leaves. From the wreath is a creeper of Linnaea climbing down the mantling, which is here of that mantle-like shape so often seen in 18th century Swedish heraldry. At the end of each runner sits a small insect, a Tinea linnella (Chrysoclista), which is also named after Linnaeus. Under the shield is his motto and the Order of the Polar Star, of which he was created a knight as early as 1752. Parts of these arms are included in the coat of the Linnean Society in London, founded in 1788…” The arms of the Society can be found here, it includes the three fields and the “Linnean egg” as well as the flower in the crest.

Arms of von Linné with the Order of the Polar Star beneath the shield.

Text from The Arms of Carl Linnaeus by Bengt Olof Kälde published in The Coat of Arms, vol. 4 no. 31 July 1957.
Autograph from: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Linne_autograph.png

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