The society was granted Arms by
William Camden (
Clarenceux) on 12 December 1617, less than a week after receiving its royal charter; the efficiency possibly indicating some planning of the break from the Grocers' Company. The society was not as speedy in settling its bill from the
College of Arms however, as payment for the grant was not directed by the court until April 1620. Described in the blazon of the society's grant of arms of 1617 as "the inventor of physic" (i.e. medicine),
Apollo is depicted in the
coat of arms with his head radiant, overcoming pestilence which is represented pictorially by a
wyvern (a "serpent" in the blazon). Apollo was the father of
Asclepius and therefore grandfather of
Hygeia (goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation),
Panacea (goddess of universal health),
Iaso (goddess of recuperation from illness),
Aceso (goddess of the healing process) and
Aglaea (the goddess of beauty, splendor, glory, magnificence and adornment). His usual attributes are a bow and arrow. The society motto – which, unusually, is specified in the blazon of the Grant of Arms and is therefore immutable – is
Opiferque Per Orbem Dicor, a
Latin part-quotation from Ovid referring to the
Greek deity Apollo, meaning: "and throughout the world [I am] called [the bringer of] help". The full quotation, from the first book of
Metamorphoses (Daphne and Apollo), which describes what Apollo says when he and Daphne are struck by
Cupid's arrows but Daphne flees from him (Cupid – whose power had been doubted by Apollo – shot a golden arrow at Apollo but a leaden one at Daphne). This puts the motto in context and makes it particularly relevant to apothecaries: The society's supporters are golden unicorns, and its
crest is a rhinoceros. The unicorns may have been a compliment to James I, and the horns of unicorns and of the rhinoceros are reputed to be of medical use. The illustration of the crest in the Grant is based on
Dürer's 1515 depiction of a rhinoceros, an animal which he had never seen but which he drew from a description, the dorsal horn may have been intended to be on the dorsum of its nose, rather than on the animal's back. The illustration in the original grant of arms accords the society the
helmet of a
peer (noble), and the text specifies the red/white
mantling usually associated with a peer. This is specific and unusual, although it is not unique (peers' helmets are also borne with some apparent authority by the
Fishmongers',
Goldsmiths' and
Clockmakers' companies). The use of the term
society rather than the usual
company is purely traditional, though – the charter and grant themselves use both terms, as do grants to other City companies (including the
Bowyers,
Framework Knitters and
Fanmakers). ==Apothecaries' Hall==