Hugh Hefner Inspired by Fifteenth-Century Prayer Book

Okay, probably not, but while we’re discussing the intersection of religion and Playboy bunnies here at First Things , I thought I’d share this curious artifact :

The heraldic image above actually comes from the  Hastings Hours  (a private devotional book) in the  British Library . Evidently, the Hastings’ family coat of arms is comprised of  argent a maunch sable  (or, black sleeve on a silver background). So the negative space between the sleeve that looks like the Playboy Bunny is just pure negative space. And that oddly shaped black thing is a sleeve, like the ones on a shirt but imagine a long, swooping medieval sleeve.

The golden writing around the blue belt (actually the symbol of the  Order of the Garter ) says  Honi soit qui mal y pense : Shame be to him who thinks evil.