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Arms of Male Religious
Coats of arms of individual members of religious communities are rare, but when used fall into two categories: ordained priest and professed religious. A male religious who has been ordained a priest uses the ornaments proper to a priest. A male religious who is not a priest encircles his arms with a rosary like a female religious does.
Abbots and superiors of old major religious communities, such as the Dominicans or Benedictans, use a black galero with twelve black fiocchi, six on each side. All other superiors use a black galero with four black fiocchi.
Arms of Female Religious
It is rare for women religious to use coats of arms, but when used they are simple, reflecting the vow of poverty these women take. Being outside the hierarchy of the Church, women religious do not use the galero and tassels. Instead, they encircle their arms with a rosary. And as with all coats of arms belonging to women, the arms are displayed on a lozenge, a diamond or oval shaped shield.
Abbesses, being the equal in stature to abbots, display a veiled crozier as abbots do. They may also marshall their personal arms with the arms of their order, although most female religious orders do not have coats of arms.
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