Achievement
Formal Description
Blazon
Sanguine on a Fess Or a Closet compony Argent and Sable in chief four Fusils in fess Or.
Crest
From a Torse Or and Sanguine on a Grassy Mound Vert in front of six Arrows interlaced in saltire points upwards a coiled Rattlesnake about to strike all proper.
Mantling
Sanguine doubled Or.
Motto
Incepto Ne Desistam (May I not Shrink from my Purpose).
Colors
Sanguine - HEX #6D0C0D / RGB (109, 12, 13)
USC Gold - HEX #FFCC00 / RGB (255, 204, 0)
Origin of Crest
The rattlesnake is a family symbol but the form and display actually came from George Wither's Emblem Book (1635), Page 220, Vis Nescia Vinci.
Motto
"Incepto Ne Desistam" (May I not shrink from my purpose!)
These words, found in Aeneid, Book 1, are used by Juno, queen of heaven who hated the Trojans led by Aeneas. When she saw the fleet of Aeneas on its way to Italy, after the sack of Troy by the Greeks, she planned to scatter it by means of strong winds. In her determination to accomplish her task she cried out "Incepto Ne Desistam!"
Rationale
The crest was inspired by a symbol in an emblem book because my last name, McAtee, means son of a "wise one" and snakes are emblematic of wisdom or cunning. The colors on the shield are one of my favorite color combinations. The four lozenges on the shield represent four years I spent living in Mexico. I work in information technology, so the black and white band in the center, represent a line of code (software). The motto is a quote from the Aeneid, one of my favorite classics.