A collection of 600 different, some award-winning ornamental monograms, initials, and seals. Originally, a monogram referred to a single letter. Over time, the term came to denote artistically designed letters that were combined into a symbol. The most commonly used type of monogram is the interconnected design of the initial letters of the first and last names as a name sign. A symbol that incorporates all the letters of a name in the style of a monogram is called a calogram in English. Since Charlemagne, these graphic symbols have been used on documents from the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period; on papal documents, the greeting Bene valete ("Farewell") has been represented as a monogram since Leo IX. A special monogram is the student circle. In the 19th and early.