Seal of the American College of Surgeons, 2015

Founded in 1913 the American College of Surgeons rapidly positioned itself as the main organization for the promotion of research and the practice of surgery in America, thanks to its annual conventions, some of which were held in Montréal. Today, the institution has members all around the globe. Its seal, created by Chicago artist Paul Frederick Volland in 1915, represents Asclepius, the Greco-Roman god of medicine, and a “medicine man,” an indigenous person representing the shamanic traditions. Both are sitting under Yggdrasil, the tree of knowledge. The Latin phrase Omnibus per artem, fidemque, prodesse means: “to serve all with skill and fidelity.”