The Bascom Coat of Arms

The arms were registered in America some time after 1842 by George Jonathan Bascom of New York, son of Jonathan Bascom III.  The image below is a photo scan of a page from the Matthews American Armoury and Blue Book.  The official heraldic description, "gules, a chevron between three bats displayed sable", means a red shield with a chevron between three bats with wings spread, in black.  In heraldry terms, gules = red, sable = black, and argent = silver.  George J. Bascom registered these arms, although no proof of genealogy or heraldic claim was given.  The same arms are used by the Battiscombe family of England, and a few other English surnames, commonly with a background of argent (silver) rather than gules (red.)

The motto "Non omnis moriar" is also used by the Battiscombe family, and is a quotation from the Roman poet Horace.  In full, "Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei vitabit Libitinam" is translated, "I shall never die, but the greater (or better) part of me will always live hereafter."  This is either a claim to immortality, or a claim that the family will never die out.

 

The version below on the left of the coat of arms was drawn up in the 1980s by myself to use on Bascom Reunion Association cookbooks and letterhead.  It was designed for black ink only.  The version on the right, as used on the Bascom message board on Yahoo Groups, is a good color example.