Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) is the biggest private university in the Dominican Republic. PUCMM is organized in the Faculties of Social and Administrative Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Sciences and Humanities, and Health Sciences. PUCMM has two main campuses in Santiago (designed by the architect Francisco Camarena; inaugurated on 27 January 1967) and Santo Domingo (Santo Tomás de Aquino campus, inaugurated in 1981), and a secondary seat in Puerto Plata (established in 1971 in an historical building of the downtown). Ivan Suche, 16 December 2014
Universidad Madre y Maestra was established on 9 September 1962, shortly after the end of Trujillo's rule, by the Conference of the Bishops of the Dominican Republic. The university is named for the "Mater et Magistra" (Mother and Teacher) encyclical released on 15 May 1961 by Pope John XXIII. Classes started on 15 November 1962: 60 students were taught by 15 professors enrolled in the Faculties of Law, Education, and Philosophy.
The university was officially recognized by State Law No. 6,150 of 31 December 1962, with "the same rights as those granted to Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD)."
PUCMM was canonically recognized as a Pontifical and Catholic university by Decree No. 1,504/86/26, adopted on 9 September 1987 by the Congregation for Catholic Education, the body of the Holy See supervizing Catholic educational institutes worldwide. Ivan Suche, 16 December 2014
The most famous ex-alumnus of PUCMM is the civil engineer Manuel Estrella, who founded in 1983 the Ingeniería Estrella group, involved in the building of civli megastructures in the Dominican Republic (airports, railways, steel and cement factories). In 2014, Forbes ranked Estrella as the owner of the 7th largest fortune in the country. Ivan Suche, 16 December 2014
The symbols of PUCMM are described in Chapter V of the university's Statutes, adopted on 20 July 1987 by the Conference of the Bishops of the Dominican Republic, taking into account the recommendations of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and last revized in 2000. The flag is described in Article 38 as "rectangular, or (yellow), with the university's seal in the middle."
The description of the flag appears in § 1.4.1, quoted from the Statutes, with a companion colour drawing, The yellow colour is prescribed as Pantone 012 C / CMYK (%) 0-4-100-0. The dimensions of the flag are prescribed in § 1.4.2 as matching those prescribed for the national flag:
6 ft x 4 ft, with a 2 ft x 2 ft seal;
10 ft x 6 ft, with a 3 ft x 3 ft seal;
2.5 m x 1.25 m.
The rules of use of the flag are listed in § 1.4.3.
The flag of the university shall be preferentially hoisted on a mast, at the left of the national flag, at the entrances of the campus of the university, as well as on the stand during academic events, in meeting rooms of the Rectorate and in other instances that require its formal use.
In accordance to the order issued by the Rectorate for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the university, the flag of the Holy See shall be incorporated to the set of flags, placed at the extreme right of the national flag.
In accordance to Law No. 4,133 of 18 May 1955, the national flag shall always be hoisted higher than the flag of the university.
The national flag, as well as the flags of the Holy See and of the university, shall not touch the ground and shall not be used as a table or stand ornament.
The national flag, when hoisted together with the flags of public or private institutions, shall always be placed in a salient, distinctive position, at the extreme right of the display.
The flag of the university, when used as the flag of the inviting institution together with the flag of other institutions, shall always be placed at the honour position, at the extreme right of the flag set. The flags of the other institutions shall be displayed according to a logical order: hierarchical, historical or alphabetical order, among other considerations.
In graduation ceremonies, the flag of the university shall be paraded, together with the national flag, all along the route from the entrance gate to the place of the ceremony.
In academic and other institutional parades, the flag of the university shall be placed in the middle and shall preside the cortege. When used together with other flags, it should be placed at their right, except of the national flag and of the flag of an institution of higher hierarchical order.
The seal is described in Article 37 as follows:
"The official seal of PUCMM shall be a shield divided per pale. The first quarter [dexter] shall be made of two equal pallets, the one or (yellow) and the other argent (white), all over the Cross of the Order of St. James gules (red). The second quarter [sinister] shall be divided per fess azure (blue) and gules (red) with a fimbriation argent (white) in the middle. The shield shall be surmounted with the motto 'VERITIA Y SCIENTIA" (Truth and Science]; beneath the shield shall appear the year "1962". The emblem shall be surrounded by a steel-gray orle inscribed with "PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA MADRE Y MAESTRA, SANTIAGO, R.D." in black letters.
On the seal in current use, the shield has a chief gules charged with a tiara or and two keys, the one argent and the other yellow, crossed per saltire, representing the Pope. The chief was, beyond reasonable doubt, added to the shield after the erection of PUCMM as a Pontifical and Catholic university, while the description of the seal in the Statutes was not updated. The front page of the Statutes, however, is correctly illustrated with the updated seal.
The meaning of the seal is quite straightforward. Yellow and white are the colours of the Holy See, while the Cross of St. James (Santiago) recalls the home town of PUCMM. The sinister part recalls the flag of the Dominican Republic.
The description of the seal - still without the chief - is repeated in § 1.2.1 of the Manual of Graphical and Symbolical Identity of PUCMM. The colours are specified in § 1.2.2 as follows:
- Red Pantone 1795 C CMYK (%) 0-94-100-0
- Blue Pantone 266 C CMYK (%) 100-66-0-2
- Yellow Pantone 012 C CMYK (%) 0-4-100-0
- Cool Gray Pantone 4 C CMYK (%) 0-0-0-24
- Black Pantone 100% (K)CMYK (%) 0-0-0-100.
The font used for the writing is Helvetica Bold.
