Saints & Medals

Devotional Medals: Saints, Angels & Marian Titles

A medal is the most specific form devotional jewelry takes. Where a cross states a faith, a medal names a particular figure within it, and the imagery on the face is a code that tells you which. This collection — Santos y Medallas — gathers medals and medal-form pendants, along with rings and earrings carrying the same imagery, and the notes below explain how to read one and what the established designs mean.

Reading a Medal: Attributes, Established Designs & Engraving

The sections below cover what a medal is as a form, how the imagery identifies its subject, what the tradition attaches to particular figures, the two designs that come up most often, and what fits on the back.

A medal names a devotion; other forms do not

The functional difference is specificity. A medal carries an image of a named figure, and frequently a particular title of that figure, so it declares something narrower than other devotional forms do. That has practical consequences when buying for someone else: a medal that names the wrong devotion is not neutral, it is simply the wrong one, whereas a less specific piece cannot be wrong in that way. It also means a medal carries information — the giver who knows the recipient's patron is saying so.

Attributes, and reading a saint from the imagery

Attributes are the conventional objects shown with a figure so that the figure can be identified without a caption. Some are near-universal: a lily for purity in Marian and Josephine imagery, a book for a teacher or founder, a staff for a traveller, keys for Peter, an animal companion for Francis. Others are specific to one figure and appear nowhere else. On a struck medal the attribute is usually the most emphasised element after the face, because it is what makes the piece legible at a glance.

Patrons, as the tradition assigns them

The tradition assigns particular saints to particular occupations, places, conditions and circumstances, and those assignments are the usual reason a person wears one medal rather than another. They arise historically — from an episode in a life, a place of ministry, or long local custom — and they are not uniform: the same figure is claimed by different trades in different countries. A person's own patron is most often the saint of their given name, their confirmation name, their profession or their family's town.

The Miraculous Medal, and the design on its reverse

The Miraculous Medal is an oval design that dates to nineteenth-century France, and it is unusual in that both faces are prescribed. The front shows a standing figure with arms lowered and open, encircled by a Latin inscription. The reverse is the part people recognise: a letter M surmounted by a cross, two hearts beneath — one wreathed in thorns, one pierced — and a border of twelve stars. Because the reverse is part of the design, engraving it is not conventional on this particular medal.

The scapular medal, and what it stands in for

A scapular is a cloth garment, two small panels joined by cords and worn over the shoulders under clothing, associated with the Carmelite tradition. Cloth wears out, and in the early twentieth century a metal medal was permitted as a substitute for those who found the garment impractical. The medal conventionally carries a Marian image on one face and an image of the Sacred Heart on the other, and it is worn in the same way the cloth would have been.

Engraving the back of a medal

Most medals have a plain reverse, which makes them one of the better surfaces for engraving: flat, slightly curved, and framed by a rim. What fits depends on diameter. A small oval takes a date, or initials and a date; a larger disc takes a name above a date. Block lettering holds up better than script on a curved back, and shallow engraving on a piece worn constantly will soften over years of contact with skin and fabric. Established designs with a prescribed reverse are the exception.

Understanding Devotional Medals

What is a devotional medal?

It is a small struck disc or oval bearing the image of a named figure — a saint, an angel, or a particular Marian title — worn as an expression of devotion to that figure.

The form descends from a long practice of wearing struck images, and the conventions governing what appears on the face have been stable for centuries.

What distinguishes it from other devotional jewelry is that it names something specific rather than making a general statement.

How can I tell which saint a medal shows?

By the attributes — the objects, animals or details of dress conventionally shown with a figure. The system exists so that images can be read without a caption.

A book, a staff, a set of keys, a flowering branch or an animal companion each point to a particular figure, and the associations are consistent enough that they carry across centuries of art.

Many medals also carry the name struck around the rim or beneath the figure, which settles it directly.

What is the Miraculous Medal?

An oval medal originating in nineteenth-century France, with both faces prescribed as part of the design rather than left to the maker.

The front shows a standing figure with arms lowered and open, surrounded by a Latin inscription. The reverse carries a letter M beneath a cross, two hearts, and a border of twelve stars.

It is among the most widely reproduced devotional designs, and it is recognisable from the reverse alone.

What does a scapular medal stand in for?

A cloth scapular: two small fabric panels joined by cords, worn over the shoulders under clothing, associated with the Carmelite tradition.

Cloth wears and needs replacing, and in the early twentieth century a metal medal was permitted as a substitute for those who found the garment impractical to wear.

The medal conventionally shows a Marian image on one face and the Sacred Heart on the other, and is worn in place of the cloth.

Why is the Saint Benedict medal covered in letters?

The letters are initials standing for Latin phrases associated with Benedict and the Benedictine tradition, arranged around a cross on the reverse and around the rim.

The arrangement is prescribed rather than decorative, which is why versions of the medal made by different jewellers carry the same letters in the same positions.

The front shows Benedict himself, conventionally holding a book and a cross, with the word PAX or a monogram frequently appearing on the reverse.

Who is San Judas, and how is he shown?

San Judas Tadeo — Jude Thaddeus — is one of the apostles, and devotion to him is particularly strong in Mexico and across Latin America.

He is conventionally shown holding a staff or club, with a small image of Christ on a medallion at his chest, and a flame above his head referring to Pentecost. The green cloak is a common colour convention in painted versions.

The tradition associates him with difficult and seemingly hopeless situations, which is the reason most often given for the strength of the devotion.

What appears on a guardian angel medal?

A winged figure shown with one or more children, typically standing or walking beside them, sometimes with a hand extended over them.

Unlike a saint's medal it does not portray a named individual, so it does not require the giver to know which particular devotion a family keeps.

That generality is why it is a common choice at a baptism or as a gift for a child, and it appears as pendants, small medals and studs.

Is a Marian medal counted as a saint's medal?

In everyday use, yes — they are bought and worn in the same way and sit together in the same part of a jeweller's range.

The distinction that matters more in practice is between titles. A Marian medal names a particular title or apparition, and someone devoted to one title does not necessarily wear another.

Where the specific title is unknown, a more general Marian design is the safer of the available choices.

What can be engraved on the reverse of a medal?

On a plain reverse: a date, initials with a date, or a short name above a date on a larger disc. The rim frames the text and sets the working area.

Block lettering survives better than script on a curved back, and shallow cuts on a piece worn continuously will soften over years of contact.

Established designs whose reverse is part of the design itself are normally left alone, since engraving would cut across the prescribed imagery.

Do medals come in forms other than pendants?

Yes. The same imagery appears on ring faces, on earrings, and as stations set into a necklace chain rather than hung from it.

A ring carries the image engraved or applied rather than deeply struck, because a raised figure on a ring face meets constant contact.

Pendant and medal formats remain the most common, since a flat oval hanging from a bail is the shape the imagery was designed around.