I had no idea, until somebody told me at lunch yesterday, that Pierre Deligne had been granted a viscounty by the Queen of Belgium; and that, as part of his ennoblement, he had to devise for himself a coat of arms. And here it is:
Why three chickens? Read here.
Quomodocumque 
somebody (Kowalski?) translate it
My French is not great, but I’ll have a go:
When three chickens go to the field,
The first goes in front,
The second follows the first,
The third is the last,
When three chickens go to the field,
The first goes in front.
Thank you.
I wonder what his official title is. If it’s really long, I might have to think of a question to email him just so I can use it.
I had actually already mentioned this in this post… Following the link to the post of A. Valette, one finds another link to an IAS Bulletin where there is a bit more information.
The official title seems to be simply “Vicomte Pierre Deligne”; at least, the only Belgian newspaper article I could find used this, and the official grant of title (that can be found in the “Moniteur Belge”, dated July 20, 2006) only mentions
“concession du titre personnel de Vicomte à M. Pierre Deligne”
(the “personal title” probably means it’s not hereditary?)
Nice. Thanks for sharing!
[…] At least one mathematician is a viscount and has a coat of arms. […]
i wasn’t aware of the chicken rhyme, and it reminds me of mississippi john hurt’s mainly tautological song about the word chicken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEsaB1vzDE
C is the way it begins.
H, the next letter then,
I am the third.
C, what a seasonly bird.
K is to fill him in.
E, I’m near the end.
C-H-I-C-K-E-N,
That’s the way you spell chicken.