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Prof. Alberto Bencivenga, MD, PhD in Rome has provided us with a correct, older coat of arms. He writes… “The Bencivenga family descends from the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great and our coat-of-arms looks as is above.
The meaning of the coat of arms is the following:
The T is for the initial of Theodosius.
The fish across is the ancient symbol of Christianity due to the fact that Theodosius the Geat, with his Edict of Thessalonika (380 AD), ordered that Christianity should become the official religion of the Roman Empire an forbade the old pagan cults.
The two heraldic roses symbolize the Eastern and the Western Roman Empires that, for the last time, were united under the rule of one emperor.
The black chevron is a sign of murning because of the massacre of Thessalonika for which Theodosius was excommunicated by Ambrosius of Milan and had to go barefoot and with ashes on his head to him (I would have beaheaded Ambrosius, but he found it politically expedient!)
The laurel on top is the crown of the Roman Emperors The motto “Bonum nobis veniat” (may good come to us), if translated into Italian sounds exactly “ben ci venga”.
Not everybody with this surname is however a descendant of Theodosius, because in ancient times people in service of an aristocratic family used to acquire the name of their masters. A branch of the real Bencivenga Family lives in Cordoba, Argentia.”
~Robert