Eagle Staff
An Eagle Staff is an important element of the Indigenous relationship to Earth and those that have protected it. It reflects the wisdom, strength and honour of those that carry it in representing different Nations across Turtle Island. By welcoming the Eagle Staff, the University acknowledges the responsibility to recognize, accept, and incorporate Indigenous perspectives in the ways we teach, govern and behave as an institution. The Eagle Staff will be present at future Waterloo ceremonies and celebrations and will have a prominent place in convocation ceremonies.
The Eagle Staff honours the University’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit community members, as well as their traditions, cultures and strengths. It is a sacred item that holds a spirit within itself that is cared for by the Indigenous campus community, and that care is reciprocated by the Eagle Staff.
“The Staff will serve as an important symbol and reminder of the commitment we made to reconciliation and serve as inspiration for our university community today and for future generations.” - Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor
Waterloo Region is situated on territory traditionally shared by Anishinaabeg, Neutral (or Attawandaron), and Haudenosaunee Nations. Though many nations, including the Anishinaabeg, involve an Eagle Staff in their traditions and practices, we respectfully acknowledge that this is not the practice of all nations. With gratitude, we honour and celebrate the unique traditions of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, and look forward to reflecting this diversity in spirit and custom as we move forward on this path of decolonization, Indigenization, and reconciliation.
University mace
This solid silver and ebony wand was given to the University in 1965 by the family of the late Stanley F. Leavine and was designed by Toronto artist Eric Aldwinckle and crafted by silversmith Harold Stacey to symbolize the University as it was at that time. It displays lions, chevrons and the shield of the province of Ontario, from which the University holds its charter to grant degrees.
The symbolic theme of the mace is unity amid diversity, and tension in the creative intellectual process that strives to bring forth a new individual. The design of the mace interprets this theme in the idiom of the life process: from the seeds at the base of the stave, the mace grows in unity and strength until it differentiates by a four-fold separation into diverse elements.
The four-fold diversity is significant because of the four faculties existing at the time the mace was presented to the University and as well of the four church-related colleges federated and affiliated with the University. These diverse elements together form a crown, and the points of the crown, while tending toward a union do not quite touch. They remain as individuals suspended in tension and yet engaged in a deep harmony. This creative process is focused not on the traditional spherical orb of static perfection but rather on an elliptical silver ovum — the egg-shaped symbol of creativity — the marvelous potential of a new individual life.
University arms and motto
The lions and chevrons also appear on the shield that is the University’s coat of arms and that is imprinted on the graduates’ diplomas. Derived from traditional heraldry, it has been used since 1961 and was registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon in 1987. The shield uses the official colours of gold, black and white, and its symbols refer to the University’s base in the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. The unusual double chevrons were borrowed from the coat of arms of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, and the red lions are like those on the coat of arms of the Duke of Wellington, victor at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. The lions also reflect the tough and innovative spirit of the University’s founders and builders, and the black and white in the chevron are the colours of Prussia, reflecting the Germanic background of many Waterloo County settlers. Beneath the shield appears the University’s motto, “concordia cum veritate,” — meaning, in harmony with truth.
Academic regalia - degree hoods
The academic regalia chosen for the University of Waterloo is patterned after that of the University of Oxford (except where noted).
