HistoryThe coat of arms of the University of Notre Dame was commissioned in early 1931 by university president Charles L O’Donnell, C.S.C.[3] In the 1930s, neo-gothic architecture and heraldic achievements were a distinctive sign of prestigious academic institutions (like Princeton or Yale) that Notre Dame aspired to be part of.[4] O'Donnell wanted to decorate the new Rockne Hall with elegant heraldic achievements, and the building was sculpted with the coat of arms of the United States, France (in homage to Notre Dame's origins), and Norway (to commemorate Knute Rockne). The president also wanted to decorate it with the coat of arms of Indiana, but was informed by the architects that neither the state of Indiana nor its Supreme Court had coat of arms.[4]

O'Donnel authorized the university architects, Maginnis and Walsh, to commission to University's coat of arms to Pierre de Chaignon la Rose, one of America's most prominent heraldists and designer of the coat of arms of Harvard University's Graduate Schools and the University of Chicago among others.[4][5][6][7][1][8][9] He sent his proposed design of armorial bearings in February 1931, and it was immediately accepted and assumed.[10][1][4] The coat of arms, inserted into a circular device with written Sigillum Universitatis Dominae Nostrae a Lacu became the university seal.[11] The coat of arms was carved into the Rockne Memorial building and thereafter in many locations on campus.

Another reason behind the creation of the coat of arms was institutional. Notre Dame had been founded in 1842 by Edward Sorin, member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the institution, interest, and activities of the Congregation and those of the University overlapped. With the recent creation of the lay board of trustees and president James A. Burns' fund drive, the two institutions were more consciously separated and were made quasi independent.[12] Up until then, the coat of arms of the University that was used was almost identical to that of the Congregation, hence the new coat of arms commissioned in 1931 also served as a symbol of the new more independent relationship between the two institutions.[12]

Since 2003, the university relies on a two-colored academic mark consisting of a modified version of the coat of arms, with only two colors, and the official wordmark of the university.[13][14