Institute of Actuaries

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INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIES

Official blazon

English

Arms : Chequy sable and Or, a bend wavy argent; on a chief gold, an open book between two hour glasses proper.
Crest : On a wreath Or, gules and argent, A woolpack vert charged with a bend waly argent.
Supporters : On either side a lion argent charged on the shoulder with a Tudor rose, argent on gules, barbed and seeded proper, and grasping in the interior paw a bezant.
Motto: Certum ex incertis

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on March 15, 1956.

In medieval times a chequered cloth was used as an aid to computations with money, by placing coins on the squares. In particular, duties levied on goods were reckoned in this way, and the word 'exchequer' is derived from it. Thus the field of the Institute's arms represents the actuary's calculations and the monetary nature of many of them.

The bend symbolises the Thames river.

The hour glasses in the chief are symbols of the periods of time with which so many actuarial calculations are concerned. The book shows that the Institute, as well as being a professional body concerned with educational activities, is also a learned society.

The woolpack refers to the Institute's long association with Staple Inn (a silver woolpack on a green field can be seen in one of the stained glass windows in Staple Inn Hall), and the wavy-edged bend provides a link with the shield.

The lion supporters with a Tudor Rose are a more definite indication that the Institute originated and has its home in England. They each hold a golden coin as a symbol of the trade.