Brother Martin High School Senior Class Ring is a generations-old tradition.
BMHS Senior Class Ring
Tonight, the Class of 2025 formally begins their final year at Brother Martin, as they receive their class rings. The class ring is an important symbol, a statement that the wearer completed what was for a long time, the top level of education for many in the working class. In New Orleans, the “where did you go to school?” culture dominated social circles for generations. The senior class ring became a lodge token, a quickly recognizable answer to the question.
St. Aloysius Crusaders and Cor Jesu Kingsmen took pride in their class rings. After all, many of those men didn’t go on to university. Some went straight into the service, with some not coming back to those senior rings. So, that senior class ring was a Big Deal. Even the men who went on to college often chose not to buy a college ring, preferring to identify with their high school.
New School, New Design
From the book: Brother Mark Thornton, S.C., reviewing the design of the first BMHS senior ring with Neil Bero, Stan Stopa, and Bobby Taylor in 1969. These young men would become part of the Charter Class of BMHS in the following year. Brother Mark became the combined school’s first principal.
When the Institute decided to combine Cor Jesu (CJ) and St. Aloysius (SA) into a new entity, they required a new design for classic symbols. So, L. G. Balfour created a number of concepts for this new addition to the long-standing traditions. The crimson-and-gold of CJ fit a gold ring with a red stone nicely. The “Crusader” and the “Kingsman” bore so many similarities, it wasn’t hard to tap both legacies.
Balfour knew the importance of getting this right from the start. After all, they stood to profit handsomely from the Class of 1970 and future seniors. Here’s their proposal for that first class ring.
L. G. Balfour Company
Symbolism of the Class Ring Design
Design No. 1
Coat of Arms side – in the shield we have taken the seal of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, paying special emphasis to this teaching order. Opposite this we have the fleur-de-lis, which denotes the Diocese of New Orleans. Below we have a scroll, which represents the history of this new school: one end will be the history of today, and the other rolled end, the future. On the face of the scroll we have the school monogram, “BM.” Superimposed over this we have the arms of a crusader, holding aloft a sword; but in this design, the sword is intended to be a cross held aloft by the crusaders. The crest is a crusader’s helmet, and is flanked by the founding date of the school, 1969.
Mascot side – here we have the graduating class date, 1970, and the mascot, the crusader. We have depicted him drawing his sword, in defense of his school, his ideals, and his homeland. On his shield is the stylized lamp of education, with the flame forming the letter “M.” The name “Crusaders” at the bottom of the shank finishes off this design.
Concept Artwork
The Ring
Based on the design description, Balfour created concept art for the ring. These illustrations present the symbolism. The coat of arms didn’t change for the actual rings.
The standing Crusader is quite similar to the Kingsman used by CJ (and adorned the wall of the Conlin Gym for years).
The Stone
Balfour offered two looks for the stone, cut and smooth. These illustrations present the ring in white gold, possibly a non-gold clad. As gold prices soared with the inflation of the 1970s, that clad alternative offered families a less-expensive way to continue the ring tradition.
Note that these concepts say “Brother Martin High” around the stone. “High” became “New Orleans,” as is visible in the side illustrations.
Under-stone shim
Many schools include a “shim” under the ring’s stone. The shim is visible from the inside of the ring. For example, Mount Carmel Academy includes a tiny scapular as a shim in their senior rings. Balfour proposed a number of shim concepts for the Crusader ring. None of them made the final cut.
Encrusting
Balfour suggested a “BrM” monogram encrusted on the red stone. That morphed into a simple, single, “M.”
While the majority of seniors choose the “M” encrusting on the stone, the school included a non-encrusted stone as an option. Of these two proposals, the simple “M” became the production choice. They simplified the font for the school name with, as mentioned earlier, “New Orleans” at the bottom.
The Brother Martin Senior Class Ring
Here’s the finished product. Congratulations fo the Crusaders of the Class of 2025, as they take continue to “make a life,” as Brother Hernandez was fond of saying.
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