Editing Sigma Pi (section)

==Symbols and traditions==
The fraternity's primary colors are lavender and white, with gold as an auxiliary color.<ref name="Bairds19902">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=''[[Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities]]'' |date=1990 |publisher=Baird's Manual Foundation |isbn=0-9637159-0-9 |editor1-last=Anson |editor1-first=Jack |edition=20th |pages=133–134 |chapter=III NIC Member Fraternities |editor2-last=Marchesani |editor2-first=Robert F. Jr.}}.</ref> Its symbol is the owl. Its flower is the lavender orchid, with the white rose and lilacs as alternates and goldenrod as an auxiliary.<ref name="Bairds19902" /> Its jewel is the emerald. The fraternity's publication is ''The Emerald''.

===Sigma Pi Motto===
[[File:Robert Browning, by Pen (1882) 51161.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robert Browning]], a key influence of the founders]]

The mother of the first two initiates, Samuel and Maurice Bayard, chose the fraternity's motto from [[Robert Browning]]'s poem "A Death in the Desert":<ref name="HISTORY">{{cite web |title=The History of Sigma Pi Fraternity |url=http://www.sigmapi.org/AboutSigmaPi/hist.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212100333/http://sigmapi.org/AboutSigmaPi/hist.cfm |archive-date=2008-12-12 |access-date=2009-04-23}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|<poem>
Progress, man's distinctive mark alone,
Not God's, and not the beasts';
God is, they are.
Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.
</poem>}}

===Five ideals===
Sigma Pi Fraternity promotes five basic ideals or pillars:<ref name="IDEALS">{{cite web |title=The Ideals of Sigma Pi Fraternity |url=http://www.sigmapi.org/AboutSigmaPi/ideals.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621140435/http://www.sigmapi.org/AboutSigmaPi/ideals.cfm |archive-date=2008-06-21 |access-date=2008-07-22}}</ref>

# To establish a [[:wikt:brotherhood|brotherhood]]. 
# To establish and maintain an [[aristocracy]] of learning.
# To raise the standards of [[morality]] and develop character.
# To diffuse culture and encourage [[chivalry]].
# To promote the spirit of civic [[righteousness]] and quicken the national conscience.

===Creed===
The Sigma Pi Creed expresses the fraternity's ideals:

{{blockquote|<poem>
I Believe in Sigma Pi,
a Fellowship of kindred minds,
united in Brotherhood
to advance Truth and Justice,
to promote Scholarship,
to encourage Chivalry,
to diffuse Culture,
and to develop Character,
in the Service of God and Man,
and I will strive to make real the Fraternity's ideals in my own daily life.<ref name="CREED">{{cite web |url=http://sigmapi.org/about-sigma-pi/our-creed-explained/ |title=The Creed of Sigma Pi Fraternity |access-date=2015-02-22}}</ref>
</poem>}}

=== Publications ===
Sigma Pi has several publications:<ref name="IBelieve" />

* '''''The Emerald of Sigma Pi,''''' commonly referred to as ''The Emerald'', is published three times a year. Louis L. Moore (''Kappa'', [[Temple University]]) edited the first issue, published July 15, 1911.<ref name="Bairds1990" /> Due to financial constraints, regular publication began in 1914 under Luther C. Weeks (''Eta'', [[Purdue University]]).<ref name="IBelieve" />
* '''''The Keryx''''' (first published in July 1931) is the esoteric publication of Sigma Pi.<ref name="Bairds1990" /><ref name="IBelieve" />
* '''''The Manual of Ceremonies''''' contains the rituals of Sigma Pi.<ref name="IBelieve" />
* '''''I Believe''''' is the Sigma Pi pledge manual, first published in 1940.<ref name="Bairds1990" /><ref name="IBelieve" />
* '''''Who's Who in Sigma Pi''''' is a directory of every member, published at least once a decade.<ref name="Bairds1990" /><ref name="IBelieve" />
* '''''Songs of Sigma Pi''''' was published in 1922, later superseded by '''''Sigma Pi Sings''''' in 1968.<ref name="Bairds1990" /><ref name="IBelieve" />