Arms impaled. Dexter: Azure, issuant from a border wavy two inverted piles, each surmounted by trefoil below a star All Argent; on a chief Or, an anchor cabled of the first. Sinister: Vert, a bar chequy Or and Sable; in chief a star Argent between two wings of the second and in base a boat at sail of the second, equipped of the fourth, the sail charged with a cross Gules.

The Episcopal heraldic achievement, or as it is more commonly know, the Bishop’s coat of arms, is composed of a shield, with its charges, a motto scroll and the external ornaments. The shield, which is the central and most important feature of any heraldic device, is described (blazoned) in twelfth century terms that are archaic to our modern language. Additionally, the shield is blazoned as if being done by the bearer, with the shield being worn on the arm and viewed from the rear. Thus, it must be remembered that the terms “dexter” and “sinister” are reversed as the device is seen from the front.

By heraldic tradition, the arms of the local Bishop, called the “Ordinary,” are joined to the arms of his jurisdiction, in this case the Diocese of El Paso.

These arms are composed of two main sections. The first and major portion of the design is blue and silver (white) to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in her title of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States. The blue field is enclosed within a silver (white) wavy border to give the illusion of an island reflecting the fact that the first mission established at what is now El Paso was called “Ysleta,” which is Spanish for “little Island.” The wavy border is also used to represent the river, Rio Grande, at which El Paso is a border city.

Issuant from the base of the design are two silver (white) inverted piles (triangles with their points upward) to signify the two hills that form “the pass,” “el paso,” for which the city is named. This play on the name is completed by the Texas Lone Star, the North Star, because the See City was formerly known as “El Paso del Norte.” Each of the piles is ornamented by a trefoil (a three-petal flower or shamrock) to honor the titular of the Cathedral in El Paso, St. Patrick.

The upper third of the design, known as a “chief,” is gold (yellow) and is charged with an anchor equipped with a rope, called “cabled.” This representation is taken from the arms of His Holiness, Pope St. Pius X, who established the Diocese of El Paso in 1914.

For his personal arms, His Excellency Bishop Ochoa has retained the design that was adopted at the time of his selection to be Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles and that reflects his Hispanic heritage and his calling to the service of The Church.

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