Volume-4, Issue-1, January-2020: 24-36 International Journal of Recent Innovations in Academic Research P-ISSN: 2659-1561 E-ISSN: 2635-3040 www.ijriar.com 24 Research Article Identifying Emblems from Augustinian and Franciscan Churches in the Philippines: Arts and Linguistics of Sacred Symbolic Archaeology Rico Paulo G. Tolentino, Ph.D. 1 and Marinelle S. Domingo 2 1 Department of Education; 2 Bulacan Agricultural State College Received: Jan 14, 2020 Accepted: Jan 21, 2020 Published: Jan 25, 2020 Abstract: Augustinian and Franciscan orders in the Philippines brought spiritual cultures among Filipinos. One of these was the influence of their arts and practices which have been visible to their enormous churches built and established during the early 16 th to 19 th century. Part of the arts used by the two religious orders is the iconic symbols and emblems drawn, etched, affixed, molded or stamped on most of their liturgical objects which they have been using and transferred through space and time, from generation to generation. Many of their sacred symbols can also be found in other institutions, organizations, sacred and non-sacred societies. The focus of this paper is on the identification of sacred symbols common to the two religious orders. This paper gives comparison on the iconic emblems as arts, designs and adornments and understand its depicted characteristics. This paper also gives initial findings on the interpretations of common sacred symbols used by the Augustinian and Franciscan orders. Keywords: Augustinians, Franciscans, Linguistics, Symbolic Archaeology, Semiotics. Introduction A society needs architecture not only as symbolic edifice to realize its practical needs, but also to communicate its institutions’ aspirations. As explained in Encyclopedia Britannica (2018), the differences in expression might be distinguish from the forms of architectural types (e.g. the house from the church, etc.). For instance, the kinds of use in the Catholic is different from the Protestant church, as well as the customs and traditions of the congregation. In the same manner, religious orders vary in such practices. When architectural forms become the vehicles of content – in plan, elevation, and decoration for instance–they are symbolic. Symbols could be defined as objects, acts, relationship or linguistic formations with an explicit expression that stand for a multiplicity of meaning of what is behind the veil of direct perception (Nabofa, 1994; Otite, 1982). Among all creation, only humans possess the creative powers in mental and psychological forms, which lead to his experience being reflected and expressed with symbols. Moreover, art, like other manifestation of symbols (e.g. science, myths, dreams and rituals) represents memory, imagination and religious experience (Uyovwirume, 2013). For anthropology, symbolism encompasses a vast expanse of human life, from the body to the meaning of colors, to the adoration of idols and religious symbols; its characteristic is that they represent something different from their intrinsic property (Keesing, 1998). For example, in a number of societies the color red is associated with danger (Klinger, Burton, & Pitts, 2000). In contrast however, it can also be perceived as the color of luck or marriage for Chinese and Indian cultures (Roland, 2018). For Catholics, bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and in sharing the elements, the believer commemorates Christ’s sacrificial death. Religious art symbols could help achieve greater mystical exercise and spiritual development, such as divination, medicine and