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The armiger bears
canting arms: his name “Pille” is a Flemish dialect word, meaning
“arrow”. The three arrows represent the armiger’s three most important
life values: honesty, diligence and eagerness to learn. The chevron
with the three roses symbolise the armiger’s aim in life : to live in
service of God, country and family. The two main tinctures : Azure and
Argent are those of the arms of the town of Wevelgem, the cradle of
the Pille Family.
The crest reflects the armiger’s military career during which he was a
senior officer in the Belgian Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Group.
The lion in the crest refers to the Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of
Belgium and to the Brussels Royal Military Academy, while the grenade
stands for the bomb disposal missions and operations in which he
participated.
The armiger has privately assumed supporters; dexter a Dolphin Or
langued Gules, sinister a Boar Or langued Gules. The supporters refer
to the two Belgian EOD battalions, operating during and after WWII.
The dolphin (dexter) was the unit insignia of the Coast EOD Battalion,
whereas the boar (sinister) was the insignia of the EOD batallion,
operating in the Ardennes. By extension, the dolphin represents the
North of the country (Flanders), the boar the South (the Walloon
region) and the lion in the crest symbolizes the bonding factor
between these two regions of Belgium.
Cdr (Ret’d) Philippe A. A. Pille, MSc Expl Eng, was during his active
military career a senior ammunition technical officer (ATO). He has
been trained as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Improvised
Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) technician in Belgium , the UK (Army
School of Ammunition) and Germany (Bundeskriminalamt and Technische
Truppenschule des Heeres). He has been commanding officer of the
Belgian Bomb Disposal Unit, operating in the World War I battlefield
area, surrounding Ypres. He has also participated in United Nations
missions in the former republic of Yugoslavia and in UNDP de-mining
programmes in Cambodia as a senior technical adviser and UN expert on
mission. He is an Officer in the Order of the Crown and a Knight in
the Order of King Leopold. |
