The original "shield" of the Salesians carries,
without heraldic pretensions, a number of symbolic
representations of what was dearest to the early Salesians: 
the theological virtues of
faith (star), hope (anchor), and charity (heart); the
figure of Saint Francis de Sales, the gentle bishop of Geneva who
was chosen by Don Bosco himself as the Society's patron: and also
the hint of a forest right below the tip of the anchor:
"bosco" in Italian means "wood," and that
cluster of trees is meant to represent the founder, Don Bosco himself.
The Latin words on the scroll are from the Vulgate version of the Bible: "Da mihi animas, coetera tolle" literally, "Give me souls, take away the rest." Don Bosco loved that expression, for it said in a nutshell exactly what he felt was the purpose of all his efforts, namely to save the souls of his boys. The quotation is from Genesis 14:21, where the king of Sodom says to Abram:
Faith, hope, charity, --- plus the gentle, guiding messages of our patron and of our founder --have guided the Salesians through their first century of service to the young in these United States. --LL
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