College Song, Colours & Crest

The song, colours, crest and motto that S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela shares with the parent school in Mount Lavinia, and those of the Preparatory School it grew from.

Jump to: The College Song · Hymn for Sri Lanka · College colours · College crest · Flags and motto · The Preparatory School

The College Song

Words by Edmund de Livera · Air by Warden Stone

Thomians young and Thomians old,
Thomians staunch and true!
Rally round the College Flag,
The Blue, the Black and Blue
To your Alma Mater sing,
Thomians near and far
Loudly let the echoes ring,
For all we have and are.

Esto Perpetua
Esto Perpetua
Esto Perpetua
The Blue, Black and Blue forever!

Like the serpent keen and wise,
Harmless as the dove,
By the cross we're knit in one
Holy bond of love.
Loyal to our Church and King
Both in peace and war,
To the College we will sing
For all we have and are.

Chorus

In the field of intellect
Many a prize we've won,
And upon the field of sport
Thomians yield to none.
Be it work, or be it play,
We will do and dare.
To the College therefore sing
For all we have and are.

Chorus

We rejoice in victory,
When our foes we beat,
We have learnt, when fortune frowns
How to take defeat,
All unfriendly rivalry
From our lives we bar
To the College therefore sing
For all we have and are.

Chorus

When into the world we go
For our life's career,
As the call of duty sounds,
We will answer clear
Onward to the goal we press,
Guided by our star.
To the College therefore sing
For all we have and are.

Chorus

Hymn for Sri Lanka

Hymn for Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

Jehovah, thou has promised
The isles shall wait for thee
The joyous isles of Ocean
The jewels of the sea
Lo, we this island's watchmen
Would give and take no rest
For thus, hath thou commanded
Till our dear land be blessed.

Then bless her mighty Father
With blessings needed most
In every verdant village
By every palmy coast
On every soaring mountain
O'er every spreading plain
May all her sons and daughters
Thy righteousness attain.

Give peace within her borders
'Twixt man and man goodwill
The love all unsuspicious
The love that works no ill
In loyal lowly service
Let each from other learn
The guardian and the guarded
Till Christ Himself return

To Him our land shall listen
To Him our land shall kneel
All rule be on His shoulders
All wrong beneath His heel
O consummation glorious
Which now by faith we sing
Come, cast we up the highway
That brings us back the King.

Walter Stanley Senior (1876–1938)

Poet of Sri Lanka, Seeker of Souls, Servant of God.

College colours

The college colours are dark blue and black. There is a generally accepted interpretation of them.

Blue is the colour of the sea and the sky: of what is eternal and infinite. It stands for all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy and, most of all, divine. Black is the colour of darkness: ignorance, sin, shame and all that is evil and sad.

The Blue meets the Black, but it does not stop there: it emerges as Blue again. What is positive, optimistic and divine meets what is negative, pessimistic and diabolical, and emerges and triumphs in the end. In other words, we believe that the things of God, virtue and goodness, positive and dynamic, are victorious over all that is sinful and hateful.

Before 1989 the college colours were dark blue, light blue and white.

College crest

The crest of S. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela is the crest of S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. It was first used at Bandarawela in 1989.

It takes the main features of the crest of the Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon, popularly known as the Coat of Arms of the Diocese.

Its elements come from the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in St Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

• The red cross shows that our foundations rest on the doctrines of Christianity.
• The black outer cross shows that all Thomians are bound together through it.
• The Bishop’s mitre, in yellow, above the shield, shows that the college is governed under the Church and guided by the Holy Spirit, our comforter and counsellor.

Flags and motto

House flags

The Preparatory School

The crest used before 1989 was introduced in 1954. It shows a young trumpeting tusker, typical of Ceylon, full of life, joy and freedom.

• Motto: The Lord is my Shepherd (from Psalm 23)
• Colours: dark blue, light blue and white

Prep School Song

Cheer, Cheer, Prep School boys.
For our well-loved Home in the mountains;
Where hill-top winds blow fresh and free
And we bathe in the sparkling fountains.

Cheer, Cheer, Prep School boys
Sing we in cheerful chorus,
We'll cherish the School of our youthful years
Through Life that lies before us

Cheer, Cheer, Prep School boys
For our Flag with its colours flying
Dark blue, light blue and gleaming white
Gaily the breeze defying

Chorus