A wonderful hand carved wooden shield for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The words "painted by T Cahill Oct 1911" are written in pencil on the back.
Each element of the shield has significance. The Latin phrase labor omnia vincit (labor conquers all) is the union's motto, taken from Virgil's Georgics, Book I, line 145–6; the ruler represents the union's commitment to live by the Golden Rule; the compass represents its commitment to the social, moral and intellectual well-being of its members; the jack plane is a tool of the trade.
The shield's colors also have significance. The light blue background represents the union's ideas as pure and clean and as lofty as the skies, while the dark red symbolizes the blood that flows through the veins of those whose labor is honorable. It measures 24 1/2" wide and 30 1/2" high.
