Bishop John E. Keehner

Impalement of Arms
In the United States, it is customary for bishops to combine their personal coats of arms with the arms of the diocese to which they are newly appointed. 

The most common method-- “impalement”-- consists of placing the arms of the diocese on the left of the shield and the personal arms of the bishop on the viewer's right.  This can be seen as alluding to the “marriage” of the bishop and his diocese, just as couples and families have combined their
coats of arms since the inception of heraldry, in medieval times.
 
Diocese of Sioux City arms, or “blazon":
The arms are composed of a gold field which displays three red snakes. Each snake has its tail in its mouth, encircling a red cross with each arm ending in what looks like a lily. These snakes form the arms of the diocese because the Sioux, which means “little snakes,” was applied to the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota nations by the Chippewa tribe to distinguish them from the Iroquois, the “big snakes.” Each of the snakes is arranged in a circle, an ancient Native American symbol for eternity, acknowledging that all aspects of life are part of one Circle of Life. 

The snakes encircle a cross, the symbol of the Christian Faith. By the joint use of these symbols, we are reminded of the words of St. Augustine, “To prefigure Christs’ Cross, Moses, by the merciful command of God, raised aloft on a pole the image of a serpent in the desert, that the likeness of sinful flesh, which must be crucified in Christ, might be prefigured.” 

The upper third of the diocesan arms, known as a “chief,” is red and has placed on it three gold crowns to signify the Magi. These three men from the East had the identity of Christ manifested to them and are celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany each year. By the use of these crowns, the three kings are acknowledged as the patrons of Sioux City’s Cathedral of the Epiphany.

Personal arms
The shield is blue, complementing the wavy silver lines, both of which allude to the bishop's birthplace on the Mahoning River, his service to parishes on the shores of Lake Erie and the location of his see city on the banks of the Missouri River in Iowa. The gold scallop shell is a symbol of St. John the Baptist, his patron saint, while the golden dove is associated with St. Edward the Confessor, his second patron saint. A dove is also associated with St. Columba, patron of the Diocese of Youngstown, as well as an important part of his family history. The small silver shield is the badge of a pilgrim who has completed the Camino de Santiago.
 
The bishop's motto recalls the words of St. John the Baptist referring to Jesus: “He must increase, I must decrease.”

- Heraldic artist David Burkart