<--PREV Doc #850  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #852 Document #851; April 27, 1954 Files, Coat of Arms Corr. To Thorkild R. Knudsen Series: EM, AWF, Microfilm Series: Personal The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part V: Maintaining "a united defense"; April 1954 to August 1954 Chapter 10: Losing the war "they could not win"   Dear Mr. Knudsen:1 I have two suggestions concerning the sketch of a proposed Coat-of-Arms to be sent to Denmark in connection with my membership in "The Order of the Elephant."2 The first one is that I would prefer to use as the motto the words "Peace Through Understanding" rather than the present "Peace Through Education." I realize that the quotation was originally taken from something I said several years ago, but I am inclined at present to feel that "Peace Through Understanding" more exactly approaches my philosophy today. If it were possible to include on the design my SHAPE insignia I think I should like this done. I say this for the reason that the SHAPE organization was designed to promote peace, just as the SHAEF organization was developed to regain the peace. I am sure the first change could be made, but if you find it would be awkward or impossible to make the second, I will withdraw the suggestion. As soon as I hear from you, I shall either return the sketch to you or forward it to the proper address in Denmark.3 With warm regard, Sincerely 1 Knudsen, a native of Denmark and chairman of the board of the Los Angeles-based Knudsen Creamery Company of California, had met with Eisenhower in Palm Springs, California, in February (on Eisenhower's Palm Springs vacation see no. 734). 2 In 1945 Eisenhower had been awarded Denmark's highest ranking order of knighthood, the Order of the Elephant. Believed to have been established in the twelfth century, the exclusive order was now reserved for foreign heads of state and members of royalty. In February, at Palm Springs, Knudsen had spoken to Eisenhower regarding the possibility of presenting the Eisenhower coat of arms and a portrait of the President to Copenhagen's Frederiksborg Castle Church Museum in connection with this honor. Following up on that conversation, Knudsen had written to the President's personal secretary Ann C. Whitman to report that the museum had requested the Eisenhower coat of arms, but not his portrait (Feb. 26, 1954 [not in EM]; Mar. 22, 1954, AWF/M: Pers., Coat of Arms Corr.). Knudsen then offered to have a presidential coat of arms made up because, as he recalled, Eisenhower said he did not have one. Whitman sent Knudsen an artist's sketch that the General had rejected in 1951 (Mar. 26, 1954, ibid.). Knudsen replied that plans were nevertheless underway for an artist in Los Angeles to design "an appropriate Coat-of-Arms for the President" (Mar. 30, 1954, ibid.). Finally, on April 21 Knudsen sent Whitman the artist's rendering: "A careful study was made to see that the proposed Coat-of-Arms was heraldically correct for the President," Knudsen wrote, "and I feel certain that it is entirely appropriate" (ibid.). In addition to an anvil in its center--alluding to the Eisenhower name ("hewer of iron")--four fields designating Eisenhower's achievements appeared on the design: the presidential seal, the Columbia University seal, the SHAEF insignia, and five stars (see Knudsen to Whitman, Mar. 26, 1954, Whitman to Knudsen, Mar. 30, 1954, Knudsen to Whitman, Apr. 21, 1954, and copy of design, all in ibid.). 3 For developments see no. 856. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Files, Coat of Arms Corr. To Thorkild R. Knudsen, 27 April 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 851. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/851.cfm <--PREV Doc #850  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #852

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