Logos & Heralds

1st DAR Herald ~1895 - ~1919

The circular D.A.R. herald used on both locomotive number plates and on steamships is a copy of the British Order of the Garter arms topped with a St. Edwards crown that denotes The Sovereign. Undeniably, the link between the D.A.R. and royalty was further cemented with the naming of 5 of the Prince class of steamships. There are three individuals mentioned in the next paragraph's footnotes under research at this moment that were knighted and may explain the use of the British arms.^[1]

Knighthood of the Order of the Belt and other forms of Knighthood are a rather complicated system of awards that has evolved over the years. Originally an honour bestowed by The Monarch on fellow royalty and gentry and for gallantry, since the creation of the Order of the British Empire by King George V in 1917 it has been bestowed in 5 levels, GBE-Knight Grand Cross, KBE-Knight Commander, CBE-Commander, OBE-Officer and MBE-Member on persons that are awarded for some kind of achievement in science, art or public service. Only a GBE and a KBE can user the title Sir however. In addition, Knight Bachelor may be awarded for gallantry as well, and at the same time as the order of the British Empire which allows the title of Sir to be used for the lower OBE categories that do not allow for the title of Sir.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The circular locomotive number plates seemed to appear in 1894 with the formation of the D.A.R but were only used up to No 43 (observed) and coincidentally after the death of George V. The steamship line circular herald as well seems to have appeared around 1894 with the formation of the D.A.R and to have disappeared with the steamship lines sale of its Yarmouth connections when the C.P.R. leased the line in 1911.^[1]

There was also more than one version of the circular herald as well. The earliest version has two coat of arms, one the Nova Scotia Coat of Arms (1868 - 1929) as shown in the Story of Acadia brochure. This may have been specially designed for this publication as it has not been seen in general use elsewhere. The more common herald that was used widely up to 1919 you can see from the photo below taken on the poop deck of one of the DAR's ships with a single Nova Scotia (1868 - 1929) coat of arms in the centre with the King's version of the St. Edwards crown (1901 and later, Edward VII). Some heralds as well dropped the tip of the belt from the bottom of the circle as seen on the early publications and the hand made flags.

As an interesting side-note concerning the Nova Scotia coat of arms with the three thistles and the salmon, this version came to be at the time of confederation as it had become forgotten that Nova Scotia had it's own coat of arms granted by King Charles I and recorded in Lord Lyon's court on May 28, 1625, 4 years after the province's original charter. It was readopted again in 1929 by a royal warrant from King George V.

Perhaps as more images come to light we will be able to better discern what each version's time period and use was.

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  A D.A.R. Steamship Lines broach estimated to be 1895 - 1912. An almost exact copy of the Order of the Garter.

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  D.A.R. herald on cutlery. The belt is well detailed but the Nova Scotia Coat of Arms is replaced by just the letters D.A.R

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  The Captain and his officers on what could be the fan tail of the SS Prince Rupert.

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  No. 33 brass front number plate in private collection.

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  Letter Head from 1912

2nd DAR (Evangeline) Herald ~1919 - ~1937

Replacing The Order of the Garter coat of arms style in it's advertising, this logo capitalized on the continuation of the railway's successful marketing of Evangeline, but still retained the circular form. A simplified version soon showed up only a few years later on the tenders of locomotives extending the Evangeline imagery to the railway's rolling stock.

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3rd DAR (Evangeline) Herald ~1937 - ~1967

The third Dominion Atlantic herald observed is present in publications, stationary and timetables starting in the mid-nineteen thirties. An obvious progression of the popular tender herald, it became the imagery that defined the Evangeline line to generations of travelers.

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  A ticket for the Kipawo ferry with 1st Evangeline Herald from 1938.

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  Letter Head from 1938

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  Claim sheet with 1st Evangeline Herald thought to be from 1946.

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  Claim sheet with 1st Evangeline Herald thought to be from 1947.

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  The first page of Mrs. Fenwick's Itinerary from 1956 showing the 1st Evangeline Herald.

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  A 1967 Passenger Schedule with 1st Evangeline Herald.

4th DAR (Evangeline) Herald ~1937 - ~1946

The fourth and alternative Dominion Atlantic herald observed only on promotional publications started in the mid-nineteen thirties. It was a more detailed logo that did not seem to find a place, except for a few promotional booklets, on the tenders and stationary of the railway.

A colourized version by this website, taken from the 1936 brochure, is our choice for the DAR DPI site logo. The first version was the original Evangeline portrait reduced to a line drawing but now has been replaced with Evangeline from the 1853 painting by Thomas Faed that inspired all versions of Evangeline wherever it was used.

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Tender and Rolling Stock DAR (Evangeline) Herald ~1927 - 1959

THE DAR was famous for its unique and charming paint scheme that featured a Land of Evangeline herald on most locomotives and some other rolling stock. Interestingly enough, tender and rolling stock heralds were unique to themselves. They used a simplified herald adapted for paint shop stencilling. The heralds were not apparently used on anything else yet their lineage from the second DAR corporate herald is obvious.

First appearing sometime around between 1924 and 1927 (No. 45 (as so far observed) the herald was used through to the end of steam in 1959 on select locomtoive tenders and some rolling stock such as passenger cars and MOW coaches. Some minor variations have been observed throughout the years and as our herald photo collection grows we may be able to better identify what those differences were and what years they spanned. Passenger car use of the Evangeline herald in also covered in more detail in the colours section.

Generally, the Evangeline herald always faced forward. This would mean of course that the outer circle and lettering remained the same but the centre Evangeline would be mirror images of each other from side to side. Only a few locomotives had a backward-facing Evangeline herald and they always appear on the right-hand side. On the approximately 70 DAR locomotives that were painted in the Land of Evangeline livery, these 13 are the only known examples with a backward-facing Evangeline: No. 25, No. 26, No. 32, No. 33, No. 37, No. 45, No. 544, No. 537, No. 557, No. 903, No. 1040, No. 1046 and No. 2526.

Gallery

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  Pontgravé, locomotive No. 25 after 1923.

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  No. 26 "Kent" June 18, 1936 at Kentville

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  Herald used on the business car Nova Scotia in August 1949.

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  Evangeline Herald on the observation car Annapolis Royal at Kentville, March 30, 1946.

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  Inspection car M-107, a 1938 MacLaughlin Buick Limosine, beside the roundhouse in Kentville on July 3, 1954.

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  Tender from No. 2551.

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  Tender herald from No. 1046 on August 27, 1956.

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  Tender of DAR locomotive No. 2526 at the Kentville Machine Shop, with rare "backwards-facing" DAR herald, circa 1953-1957.