On assuming the Office of the metropolitan See of New Orleans, Archbishop Hughes' personal Coat of Arms incorporated the design and charges (symbols) in the Archdiocesan Coat of Arms.

Archbishop Hughes' personal arms is composed of a red field which has a silver fleuretty cross issuing from three hills at the base of the design. The three hills represent the three hills on which the City of Boston is built and where Archbishop Hughes was incardinated as a priest. The cross is used to show respect for the cathedral where, in 1981, Archbishop Hughes was ordained a bishop. In the center is a variation of the griffin's head that is part of the traditional Hughes family design. Here it has been changed to a gold eagle's head to honor St. John the Evangelist, patron of St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, where he served as a professor and spiritual director and where he was rector at the time he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston. Archbishop Hughes' motto is "For You God's Own Love," and is based on St. Paul's expression of apostolic charity in 1 Corinthians 16:24, "My love is with you all in Christ Jesus."

The dexter (left) side of the shield includes the charges of the Archdiocese. It contains a pelican, magnolias, and fleurs de lys. The pelican, heraldically described as "in her piety," is the state bird of Louisiana as well as a Christian symbol of redemption and the Eucharist. The magnolia is also an emblem of the Pelican State and is indicative of her deep South heritage. In stylized heraldic art these flowers appear as triangles which suggest the Holy Trinity (as does their being three in number) and the Crescent City's location at the Mississippi Delta. The basic color of the field is blue for the Blessed Mother who is the "dawn of our salvation." The red heraldic "chief" represents the constancy of the martyrs and is "charged" with three French lilies significant of the Most Blessed Trinity and recalling the French heritage of Louisiana.