The word ‘orthopaedia’ was devised by a Parisian paediatrician, Nicholas Andry, who was Professor of Medicine at the University of Paris and also Senior Dean of the Faculty of Physick. In 1741 he published a book entitled ‘Orthopaedia: or, The Art of Correcting and Preventing Deformities in Children. By such means that may be easily put into Correcting and Preventing Deformities in Children. By such means that may easily be put into practice by parents themselves and all such as are employed in Educating Children’. In the preface he stated: “As to the title, I have formed it of two Greek words viz Ỏρθος, straight and Πάίδον, a child. Out of the two words I have compounded that of Orthopaedia to express in one term the design I propose which is to teach the different methods of preventing and correcting the deformities of children”. His method for correcting excessive curvature of a child’s leg was “to apply as soon as possible a small plate of iron on the hollow side of the leg and fasten it about the leg with a linen roller. In a word, the same method must be used in this case, for recovering the shape of the leg, as is used for making straight the crooked trunk of a young tree.”

The concept of a crooked sapling attached by strong rope to an upright stake has been adopted worldwide as the symbol for orthopaedics. Many designs of the tree are in use. One version is used in the BOA Coat of Arms. The tree features on the Presidential medals of the Orthopaedic Associations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the USA (illustration); the medals were presented to the Presidents by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on the occasion of the 2nd Combined Meeting in 1952. The minimalist version shown on the home page of this website is taken from a sculpture given by the Queen Mother, by then BOA Patron, on the occasion of the 6th Combined Meeting of the English-Speaking Orthopaedic Associations, held in London in September 1976. Identical copies were presented to the other Presidents. The sculpture serves as a table centrepiece for every Meeting of the BOA Council.