哈佛校徽诞生于哈佛学院在1643年9月27日举行的一次会议上。那次会议是由哈佛学院第二任院长亨利?邓斯特主持的。那天的会议草案清楚地记载了盾徽的设计：它以三本书为背景(两上一下）。在上面的两本书上分别印刻有“VE”和“RI”两组字, 而在下面的那本书则印刻有“TAS”一组字母。三本书的背景是一个盾牌图案。可以说这个校徽设计是很有创意的。

Unfortunately, however, the arms fell out of use and were lost to memory thereafter. They waited 200 years before they were rediscovered and returned to use. The reason is that Duster discarded the meeting records among a pile of files after the meeting. Other people also dismissed the matter from their minds. It was not until 200 hundred years later in 1836 that President Josiah Quincy rediscovered those records while preparing for Harvard’s bicentennial celebrations. President Quincy introduced the rediscovered coat of arms to the faculty and students. Everybody cheered for the rediscovery with a ting of emotion or regret It seems to imply that truth will not be forgotten despite temporary neglect.

但可惜的是, 这以后这个盾徽逐渐被废弃、遗忘, 直到200 年后才被人重新发现并启用。原因是邓斯特在主持了那次会议后, 就将那次的会议记录丢置在一堆文件中, 一直无人问津。直到200年后的1836年, 当哈佛校长昆西在准备哈佛200年校庆时才发现这些记录。昆西校长把这份失而复得的校徽图案推介给师生, 大家欢呼之余, 无不感慨万千。它似乎昭示着人们：真理是不会被遗忘的’纵使他一时半会儿可能被人忽视。

This earlier version of the coat of arms, however, contained one difference from the present one. There are still some coats of arms of the old version at Harvard. If you look closely at the books in the old coat of arms, you will see that the top two books are turned facing upward, while the bottom book is overturned. The upward facing books symbolize the truth that is discernible through our fives senses; the overturned book symbolize what can only be known through the illumination of the Holly Spirit.

但这个早期校徽的样式和现在的校徽有一点不同。现在哈佛还有一些旧校徽。如果你仔细看旧校徽里的书, 你会发现上面两本是向上翻开的, 而下面那本是朝下扣着的-面向上的两本书代表了真理可以通过五官辨别, 而面向下的那本则代表了只有通过圣灵启示才能掌握的东西。

By the time when Charles Eliot attained the presidency of Harvard, religion had lost its position at Harvard. Eliot turned all the books facing upwards, denoting the emerging philosophy of humanism. The idea that all truth is attainable through human efforts is consistent with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s teaching on the supremacy of man. As the Concord philosopher once said: “In yourself slumbers the whole of Reason: it is for you to know all, it is

等到艾略特当上哈佛校长的时候, 在哈佛宗教已经失去了地位。艾略特把所有的书都朝上捆开, 象征了新兴的人文主义哲学。所有的真理都可以通过人的努力获得, 这一思想和爱默生关于人的崇高地位的学说是一致的。就像这个康科德的哲学家曾经说的一样：“在你自身沉睡着全部的理念：是你, 要去发现这一切；是你, 要去大胆探索所有领域。”