My Badge

I might be forced to admit that there is some similarity between the ideals of Sigma Chi and those of other fraternities, but I will not share the beautiful and symbolic supremacy of the White Cross of Sigma Chi with any other badge in the Greek world.

The badge of my Fraternity is a cross, a sign and a symbol known to all the world, uplifting HIM of whom our badge reminds us. It is not a shield of timid defense, nor a drawn sword of oppressive aggression, nor an arrow swift and sure on its mission of death. It is not a diamond, so rich and so rare as to have no part in the common crowd, nor a crescent pale and incomplete, nor a star shining with a borrowed ray. It is not a lamp whose feeble flame is extinguished by the slightest gust of wind that blows, nor a simple monogram of mysterious Greek letters presuming to reveal some hidden meaning.

But a cross, with its base planted in the common clay of earth, its arms outstretched to all the world, and its head lifted heavenward. It is a White Cross, suggesting purity. As any pure white surface reflects all the rays of light without the absorption of any, so the White Cross of Sigma Chi reflects its ideals unselfishly to all Mankind.

- W. Henry McLean