The Luther Rose
Prince John Frederick, who was the protector of Martin Luther,
commissioned a seal for Luther which he would wear as a ring. Luther wrote this letter to
Lazarus Spengler of Nuremburg, who was designing the ring.
Grace and peace in Christ, Honored and Dear Lord and Friend,
Since you wish to know whether they have designed my seal the way I wanted it, I will tell
you how I originally planned my
coat-of-arms as a symbol of my theology.
The first thing should be a cross, black, on a heart retaining the natural red color, to
remind me that it is faith in the Crucified One that saves us. A person can only become
righteous when he believes with his whole heart. And though this is a black cross,
mortifying the flesh and purposely inflicting pain, it does not change the color of the
heart or destroy its nature. It does not kill, but instead it preserves life: for the just
shall live by faith, that is, faith in the Crucified One.
This heart should be set in the middle of a white rose, to show that this faith yields
joy, peace, and comfort such as the world cannot give. This rose is white instead of red,
because white is the color of spirits and angels.
This white rose is placed on a field of heavenly blue, because such spiritual joy and
faith are a beginning of heavenly joys to
come, which even now are possessed by faith and understood in hope, although they cannot
yet be seen by the human eye.
Encircling this field is a ring of gold, to signify that the bliss of heaven endures
forever and is more precious than all earthly
pleasures and possessions, even as gold is the most precious of metals.
May Christ our dear Lord be with your spirit until it is safe in Heaven.
Amen