School & Education Awards

Lot 2050    Day 2    School & Education Awards

Estimate $150
Bid at live.noble.com.au

(IONA COLLEGE), (Havelock North), badge struck in silver (36x48mm), by McLernon, Napier, pin-back (securing clip missing). Dark toned, very fine.

When this Presbyterian Ladies College was founded in 1912 the committee resolved that as the Havelock church was called St Columba's then the college would be called 'Iona' and its badge would be the Ionic Celtic Cross with the inscription 'Love, Joy, Peace'.^^The Celtic Cross (Ionic Cross) has its roots in a pre-Christian variation of the Solar Cross. Examples of the Celtic Cross date back as far as 5,000 years BCE. The origin of the Celtic Cross is not clear, but it was known to be an early symbol of the Gallic sun god Taranis. After the conversion of the Celtic people to Christianity, the Celtic Cross became an emblem of the Celtic Christian Church. Irish legend holds that the cross was introduced to Ireland by St. Columba, so it is sometimes referred to as Columba's Cross, or the Ionic Cross, after his monastery on the Isle of Iona on the western coast of Scotland.