Three gold crowns on a background of black surmount the Antwerp blue in the shield on which are designed a golden vase of white lilies and a carpenter's square, with three nails in its angle.

The crowns represent those of the Three Kings of the East who came to Bethlehem. As the vessel bearing the relics of the Kings was on its way from the Orient to Cologne, it stopped at the port of St. Botolph's town, England. The citizens of that town later adopted the crowns for their coat of arms. Boston, Massachusetts, was called St. Botolph's town originally, which gave rise to the use of crowns in the device of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston.

Springing from the golden "vase of election"-the religious life-is the sheaf of Saint Joseph's lilies. The carpenter's square of gold represents the trade of St. Joseph; the three nails in the angle of the square, the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Boston CSJ Archives 2003