This article is about the coat of arms of the City of London. For the coat of arms of the former London County Council, see Coat of arms of London County Council.
Coat of arms of the City of London
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Stylised version, used as a logo by the City of London
The coat of arms of the City of London is the official coat of arms of the City of London, England, which is one of a number of cities and boroughs in Greater London.
The Corporation of the City of London has a full achievement of armorial bearings consisting of a shield on which the arms are displayed, a crest displayed on a helmet above the shield, supporters on either side and a motto displayed on a scroll beneath the arms.[1][2][3]
Arms:Argent a cross gules, in the first quarter a sword in pale point upwards of the last.
Crest:On a wreath argent and gules a dragon's sinister wing argent charged on the underside with a cross throughout gules.
Supporters:On either side a dragon argent charged on the undersides of the wings with a cross throughout gules.
The Latin motto of the City is Domine dirige nos, which translates as "Lord, direct (guide) us". It appears to have been adopted in the 17th century, as the earliest record of it is in 1633.[3][4]
Arms above the southern entrance to Guildhall, by George Dance (1788), surmounted by a "Muscovy hat" rather than a helm and crest
The coat of arms is "anciently recorded" at the College of Arms. It was in use in 1381, forming part of the design of a new mayoral seal brought into use on 17 April of that year. The arms consist of a silver shield bearing a red cross with a red upright sword in the first quarter. They combine the emblems of the patron saints of England and London: the Cross of St George with the symbol of the martyrdom of Saint Paul. The 1381 arms replaced an earlier shield, found on an early 13th-century seal, and on two embroidered seal-bags of 1319, that depicted St Paul holding a sword.[2][3] It is sometimes said that the sword in the 1381 arms represents the dagger used by Lord Mayor of LondonWilliam Walworth to kill Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants' Revolt, on 15 June 1381. This tradition dates at least as far back as the first edition of Holinshed's Chronicles, published in 1577, but cannot be correct, as the arms were in use some months before Tyler's death.[5][2][6][4][7]
The crest and supporters came into use in the 17th century, but were used without authority until 30 April 1957, when they were confirmed and granted by letters patent from the College of Arms.[1][2][3]
The crest is a dragon's wing bearing the cross of St George, borne upon a peer's helmet. A primitive form of the crest first appeared in 1539 on the reverse of a new common seal. This showed a fan-like object bearing a cross. Over time this evolved into a dragon's wing, and was shown as such in 1633 when it appeared above the city's coat of arms in the frontispiece to the fourth edition of John Stow's Survey of London. The wing is specified as a dragon's "sinister" wing, i.e. its proper left wing. It has been speculated that the use of a peer's helmet (rather than that of a gentleman, as appears in other civic arms) relates to the use of the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" by the Lord Mayor.[4] The helm was confirmed in 1957.[1] Earlier representations sometimes show the arms surmounted by a "Muscovy hat", as worn by the City Swordbearer during the Stuart and Georgian periods: a notable example is seen carved above the main southern entrance to Guildhall.
On the seal of 1381 two lions were shown supporting the arms. However, by 1609 the present supporters, two silver dragons bearing red crosses upon their wings, had been adopted.[3][4] The dragons were probably suggested by the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.[2][6]
1 2 3 4 Briggs, Geoffrey (1971). Civic and Corporate Heraldry: A Dictionary of Impersonal Arms of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. London: Heraldry Today. p.240. ISBN0-900455-21-7.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Beningfield, Thomas James (1964). London, 1900–1964: Armorial bearings and regalia of the London County Council, the Corporation of London and the Metropolitan Boroughs. Cheltenham and London: J Burrow & Co Ltd. pp.21–23.
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement. The achievement, or armorial bearings usually includes a coat of arms on a shield, helmet and crest, together with any accompanying devices, such as supporters, badges, heraldic banners and mottoes.
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The coat of arms of Victoria is the official heraldic symbol of the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria was the second state of Australia to gain arms, granted on 6 June 1910 by royal warrant of King George V. The state had been named in 1851 after his grandmother, who reigned at the time. The current version of the arms was granted 28 March 1978 in the royal warrant issued by Queen Elizabeth II.
Portuguese heraldry encompasses the modern and historic traditions of heraldry in Portugal and the Portuguese Empire. Portuguese heraldry is part of the larger Iberian tradition of heraldry, one of the major schools of heraldic tradition, and grants coats of arms to individuals, cities, Portuguese colonies, and other institutions. Heraldry has been practiced in Portugal at least since the 12th century, however it only became standardized and popularized in the 16th century, during the reign of King Manuel I of Portugal, who created the first heraldic ordinances in the country. Like in other Iberian heraldic traditions, the use of quartering and augmentations of honor is highly representative of Portuguese heraldry, but unlike in any other Iberian traditions, the use of heraldic crests is highly popular.
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The coat of arms of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council was granted by the College of Arms in 1974.
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In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb to blazon means to create such a description. The visual depiction of a coat of arms or flag has traditionally had considerable latitude in design, but a verbal blazon specifies the essentially distinctive elements. A coat of arms or flag is therefore primarily defined not by a picture but rather by the wording of its blazon. Blazon is also the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, the act of writing such a description. Blazonry is the art, craft or practice of creating a blazon. The language employed in blazonry has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax, which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms.
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German heraldry is the tradition and style of heraldic achievements in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions. German heraldic style is one of the four major broad traditions within European heraldry and stands in contrast to Gallo-British, Latin and Eastern heraldry, and strongly influenced the styles and customs of heraldry in the Nordic countries, which developed comparatively late. Together, German and Nordic heraldry are often referred to as German-Nordic heraldry.
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Coat of arms of the London Borough of Bexley is the official coat of arms of the London Borough of Bexley, granted on 20 May 1965.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden were granted on 10 September 1965. The borough was formed by the merger of three former boroughs, namely the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras, from whose arms elements were utilised in the arms of the new borough.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Ealing is the official heraldic arms of the London Borough of Ealing, England, granted on 1 September 1965.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hackney is the official heraldic arms of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The coat of arms were granted on 25 July 1969.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hillingdon is the official symbol of the London Borough of Hillingdon. They use elements from the coats of arms of the four previous districts. It is described as:
Arms: Per pale Gules and Vert an Eagle displayed per pale Or and Argent in the dexter claw a Fleur-de-lis Or and in the sinister claw a Cog-Wheel Argent on a Chief Or four Civic Crowns Vert.
Crest: On a Wreath of the Colours issuant from a Circlet of Brushwood Sable a demi-Lion Gules with wings Argent the underside of each wing charged with a Cross Gules and holding between the paws a Bezant thereon a Mullet Azure.
Supporters: On the dexter side an Heraldic Tiger Or gorged with an Astral Crown Azure and charged on the shoulder with a Rose Gules charged with another Argent barbed and seeded proper and on the sinister side a Stag proper attired and gorged with a Circlet of Brushwood and charged on the shoulder with two Ears of Rye slipped in saltire Or.
Motto: Forward.
The coat of arms of Castile was the heraldic emblem of its monarchs. Historian Michel Pastoureau says that the original purpose of heraldic emblems and seals was to facilitate the exercise of power and the identification of the ruler, due to what they offered for achieving these aims. These symbols were associated with the kingdom, and eventually also represented the intangible nature of the national sentiment or sense of belonging to a territory.
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