Pelican in her piety
A pelican wounding her own breast to feed her young with her blood: a traditional Christian sign of Christ, who saves people by his blood.
Meaning
The image comes from a story told in the bestiaries, the books of beasts. In the Aberdeen Bestiary, a book of beasts held by the University of Aberdeen, the young pelicans attack their parents and are killed; after three days the mother pierces her side and lets her blood pour over them, and they come back to life. The bestiary draws the lesson: “In a mystic sense, the pelican signifies Christ”, who saves with his blood those he has redeemed. In Catholic worship the pelican appears in the Eucharistic hymn Adoro te devote, attributed to St Thomas Aquinas, which calls Christ “Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine”, “O loving Pelican! O Jesus, Lord!”. As a sign of self-sacrifice it was also worn by Elizabeth I.
Origin and history
The bestiary opens its chapter with the Psalm, “I am like pelican of the wilderness” (Psalm 102:6), and places the bird in Egypt by the Nile. Its painter told the story in three scenes: the young attacking the parent, the parents killing the young, and the mother piercing her side to bring them back. The University of Aberdeen’s commentary suggests the idea of a mother pouring food over her young may come from the way the birds regurgitate food for them. The pelican’s blood then gives the bestiary its reading: it revives its young after three days, “as Christ saves us, whom he has redeemed with his own blood”.
In the hymn of the Eucharist
The Liturgy Office of the bishops of England and Wales prints Adoro te devote among its Corpus Christi hymns and describes it as originally a private devotion of St Thomas Aquinas. Its sixth verse addresses Christ as the pelican: “Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine, me immundum munda tuo sanguine”, “Unclean I am, but cleanse me in thy blood; of which a single drop, for sinners spilt, is ransom for a world’s entire guilt.” The hymn is a prayer to Christ in the host, and the pelican belongs with the other Eucharistic signs, the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) and the Chalice and host.
Elizabeth I’s pelican
A portrait of Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hilliard is known as the “Pelican” portrait from the pelican jewel on her breast. The Textile Research Centre in Leiden explains the jewel both ways: the pelican is “a traditional Christian symbol of Christ’s sacrifice”, and here it alludes to Elizabeth as mother of her nation.
Where you’ll see it today
whatdoesthissymbolmean.comFlag of LouisianaLouisiana’s flag is blue with a white pelican tearing at her breast to feed her young in the nest, over a white ribbon with the state motto in blue. The flag law requires three drops of blood on her breast; 64 Parishes, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ encyclopedia, calls the image the Pelican in her Piety, a Catholic symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for his flock.Read next
- Next in Catholic symbolsCrucifixA cross bearing the figure of the crucified Christ. Catholics and Lutherans use it in worship, the Orthodox avoid carved figures, and Reformed churches keep to the bare cross.
- The same shape in Norse gods and their symbolsNjordNjord was the Norse god of the sea, ships and wealth, the god Snorri says men should call on for voyages and hunting. He lives at Nóatún, the “ship-enclosure”, he is the father of Freyr and Freyja, and the giantess Skadi chose him for her husband by his feet.
See also
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Keys of St Peter, Papal tiara, Rosary, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Miraculous Medal.
Sources
- The Aberdeen Bestiary, folio 34v, The Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library MS 24), folio 34v, translation, University of Aberdeen, Folio 34v, translation
- The Aberdeen Bestiary, folio 35r, The Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library MS 24), folio 35r, translation, University of Aberdeen, Folio 35r, translation and commentary
- Corpus Christi Hymns, Liturgy Office of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, “Corpus Christi Hymns” (Adoremus), Liturgy Office, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Introduction; Adoro te devote
- Queen Elizabeth I of England, by Nicholas Hilliard, Textile Research Centre, Leiden, TRC Needles visual archive, “Queen Elizabeth I of England, by Nicholas Hilliard”, Textile Research Centre, Leiden, Queen Elizabeth I of England, by Nicholas Hilliard
The same shape elsewhere
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Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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