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| Delta Tau Delta Symbols |
The Badge The Delt Badge is designed with classic simplicity and symbolic meaning. It is the insignia of an initiated Delt and historically referred to as the Square Badge. It is not a pin, it is a Badge, and it is worn like a Badge: with pride. The Badge is worn when a brother is appropriately dressed in a collared shirt or sweater. It is always worn over the heart on a shirt or vest. Wearing the Delt Badge is symbolic of pride in Delta Tau Delta.
The Pledge Badge The Pledge Badge is the insignia of a pledged member of Delta Tau Delta. The same rules of dignity and good taste apply to the wearing of the Pledge Badge.
The Colony Badge The Colony Badge is worn by members of the colony expansion chapters.
The Seal Our official seal attests the action of the Arch Chapter and the Fraternity. It is kept at the Central Office and is used on all official documents, such as charter and membership certificates, and awards.
Arch Chapter Jewel The Arch Chapter Jewel worn with formal dress is a reproduction of the Coat of Arms. The Jewel worn by a Division President is enameled in color only as it regards his particular Division and is suspended from a ribbon of the corresponding color. The Jewel worn by other members of the Arch Chapter is enameled in full color and suspended from a purple ribbon. Small white-and-gold enameled bars, between the Jewel and the ribbon, designate the office or offices held by the wearer. The Greek word for this emblem is Kadinkas. The literal translation of the word means trinket. The offices indicted from top to bottom in the illustration are: President, Director of Academic Affairs, Treasurer, and Secretary.
The Flag The Delt Flag is rectangular in shape in the proportion of three to two. The field is pruple, the center is gold, bearing the Greek letters Delta Tau Delta in white with a purple border. Special Delt flags are awarded each year to chapters winning the Hugh Shields Award for Chapter Excellence, which is symbolic of being judged one of the best 10 chapters in Delta Tau Delta.
The Flower The Fraternity's official flower is the purple Iris. It incorporates the Fraternity's colors.
The Coat of Arms The Delta Tau Delta Coat of Arms was designed in accordance with strict rules of heraldry which descended from the knights of the Middle Ages. It symbolically protrays the Fraternity's ideals explained in detail as part of the initiation. Use of the Coat of Arms is restricted to initiated members of Delta Tau Delta, because the privilege and honor of using it must be reserved to those who have made a commitment to membership. The first Delt Coat of Arms was designed by E.D. Curtis, Mu 1870. His design was far more elaborate than the one used today. Frank Rogers, Beth Rho 1899, copyrighted the Arms in 1909 and published it in The Rainbow that year. Prior to 1870, most chapters designed their own Coat of Arms.
The Fraternity Colors The colors of Delta Tau Delta are purple, white, and gold. These colors are displayed in our flag, our flower, our publications, and in items of clothing for casual and athletic use. The colors were adopted over a 20-year period, beginning in 1863 with the chapter at Ohio University where royal purple was first adopted. Later, silver-gray was added as a second color. By 1887, the gray had been changed to gold, and white was added to complete the trio. The Fraternity colors were important, as they were worn on clothing as sashes and caps instead of badges becuse official badges were expensive and not every member had one. The practice continues today in many chapters at initiations and other formal occasions.