RPS Museum
Made around 1888, this stained glass panel features the coat of arms of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. It was originally displayed in the examination hall of the Society’s first headquarters in Bloomsbury Square.
This year, 2019, marks the 175th anniversary of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society being granted its coat of arms. It features a number of pharmaceutical objects and symbols, including a snake-entwined staff, an aloe plant, and distillation equipment.
The crest is a mortar and pestle, and the two supporters are the Persian scholar Ibn Sina (left) and Galen (right), the physician to several Roman emperors including Marcus Aurelius. Both wrote texts on medicines that were influential for centuries.
The design as a whole represents both the historical and international roots of the profession.
