About Theta Chi

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Theta Chi Fraternity currently has over 130 active chapters and colonies across the United States and Canada and has initiated over 161,000 members since its founding. Theta Chi is the 9th largest collegiate male fraternity.

The Eta Zeta chapter has been on Edinboro University's campus since 1971. It is one of Edinboro's oldest and most distinguished fraternities. Over 300 Edinboro Alumni have been members.

  • Founded: April 10, 1856 at Norwich University
  • Motto: "Assisting Hand" or "Extend the Helping Hand"
  • Maxim: "Alma Mater First, and Theta Chi for Alma Mater"
  • Colors: Military Red and White
  • Flower: Red Carnation
  • Initiates: 156,352 (as of July 1, 2005)
  • Installed Chapters: 214 chapters installed since 1856
  • Active Chapters: 131 current active chapters

Badge

The original Theta Chi badge was designed by Egbert Phelps, assistant founder of the Fraternity, sometime before the founding date. The records show that the first badges were ordered by Freeman from a Boston jeweler on April 12, two days after the founding ... the members, by vote, decided to wear the badges in public for the first time on June 9, 1856... The original badge was very much like the official badge today, except that it was slightly larger, and lighter and not as beautifully made as our present day badge. At the convention in 1907 a resolution was passed permitting the badge to be reduced sufficiently in size to be mounted on a diamond shaped background. Thus, the diamond shaped badge, familiar to many of the older alumni, came in to use. For a number of years it was optional with a member whether he wore the official badge or the diamond shaped badge ... At the Sixty-Fifth Anniversary Convention in 1921 by convention resolution the diamond shaped badge was made official. At the Seventy-First Anniversary Convention in 1927, a resolution was passed again making the original snake and swords badge official... The Theta Chi badge is considered one of the most unusual and distinctive in the entire fraternity world, and is entirely unlike any other badge in appearance. Excerpts from The Manual of Theta Chi Fraternity, Sixteenth Edition, 1992.

Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms

Sometimes mistakenly called the crest, the Fraternity Coat of Arms is described in heraldic phraseology, as: "Or on a bend gules, a nowed serpent between two swords, points downward, pale wise, all of the first. On an Esquire's helmet the crest an eagle displayed Or". The crest is actually the eagle, a part of the Coat of Arms. Flag At the 64th Anniversary Convention, held in April of 1920 in New York City, the following specifications for a flag were adopted: "Size 6 feet by 9 feet, made of fine wool bunting, doubled and sewed back to back, white field with 8-inch red border; Greek letters OX, coiled rattlesnake and 1856 appliquéd on both sides in fine finish felt."

Pledge PinNew Member Button

New Member/Pledge Button: An insignia worn at appropriate times by men who have pledged Theta Chi Fraternity. Our pledge button is a small metal oval, red in color, with a white edge, and crossed diagonally with white stripes forming an "X".