Coat of arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich | |
---|---|
Armiger | London Borough of Greenwich |
Adopted | 2012 |
Crest | Upon a helm with a wreath argent and azure on waves barry wavy of four argent and azure a foul anchor or charged with a Tudor rose barbed and seeded proper. |
Blazon | Gules a cannon barrel erect palewise proper surmounted by a lion's face or between two hour glasses or a chief nebuly of one point upwards azure thereon a chief nebuly of one point upwards argent charged with two mullets azure. |
Supporters | On the dexter a representation of Zeus proper vested gules murally crowned and holding in the dexter hand a Hartmann astrolabe or and on the sinister a representation of Neptune proper vested azure crowned with a naval crown & holding in the sinister hand a trident or. |
Motto | We Govern By Serving |
Earlier version(s) | |
Use | The coat of arms used between 1965 and 2012, with the following blazon: Per chevron Argent and Gules in chief an Hour Glass proper between two Estoiles Azure and in base three Cannon Barrels erect palewise proper each surmounted on the breech by a Lion's Face Or. |
The coat of arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich is the official heraldic arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Arms were originally granted to this London borough in 1965 but these were replaced in 2012 with a new grant when the borough gained the epithet of "Royal Borough".
Arms were originally granted to the London Borough by letters patent dated 1 October 1965. [1] The hour glass and stars were taken from the arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and symbolise the position of the borough as the place from which the standard of time is taken. The three cannon barrels, taken from the arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, signify the association of that borough with the Royal Arsenal. [2] These are also the origin of the cannon in the crest of Arsenal F.C. [3]
New arms were granted to replace to borough on 3 January 2012, [4] as it was decided the borough was to become a royal borough that year. [5] Originally, the intention was that the borough would receive the royal epithet on 3 January, but this was postponed by one month to 3 February. [6] [7]
Although much of the 1965 design has been retained, the arms have been altered by the addition of a representation of the Thames. The two six-pointed radiated stars from the old arms were replaced by two five-pointed mullets, one hour glass became two and instead of three cannon barrels with a lion's head on each, there is now only one. In addition a crest and supporters were added to the arms: the crest comprises a Tudor Rose and a fouled anchor for royal and maritime connections. The supporters are two Roman gods: Jupiter (in Greek called Zeus, a name also used in the blazon) and Neptune (in Greek called Poseidon, but here the blazon uses the English cognate of the Latin name). According to the homepage of the borough, the supporters wear a mural crown and a naval crown respectively to represent the borough's historic associations with the British Army and Royal Navy; [8] normally, a mural crown is used in heraldry to represent the civil municipal authority of a town or city and is not connected to the military at all. Jupiter is holding an astrolab of a kind constructed by Georg Hartmann, clearly a symbol for the astronomical studies at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, while Neptune is holding his usual attribute of a trident.
The helmet is facing forwards, something which usually is reserved for royal arms. Special dispensation has been given to the royal borough for this use. The same is true for the Tudor rose in the crest, which also is marking the borough's long association with royalty. [9]
The motto, 'We govern by serving', has been retained from the old arms.
The symbols relate to the Royal Observatory, built in 1675 for the advancement of navigation and nautical astronomy.
The ship and anchor on the crest recall the close association with the Royal Navy since the old royal palace was converted to a seamen's hospital, now the Old Royal Naval College.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and part of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich to the east. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall. The council's offices are also based in Woolwich, the main urban centre in the borough.
The coat of arms of England is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England, and now used to symbolise England generally, but not officially. The arms were adopted c.1200 by the Plantagenet kings and continued to be used by successive English and British monarchs; they are currently quartered with the arms of Scotland and Ireland in the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Historically they were also quartered with the arms of France, representing the English claim to the French throne, and Hanover.
The coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as Azure a harp Or, stringed Argent. These arms have long been Ireland's heraldic emblem. References to them as being the arms of the king of Ireland can be found as early as the 13th century. These arms were adopted by Henry VIII of England when he ended the period of Lordship of Ireland and declared Ireland to be a kingdom again in 1541. When the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in 1603, they were integrated into the unified royal coat of arms of kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The harp was adopted as the emblem of the Irish Free State when it separated from the United Kingdom in 1922. They were registered as the arms of Ireland with the Chief Herald of Ireland on 9 November 1945.
Rhondda was a local government district in the geographical area of the Rhondda Valley, south Wales, from 1877 until 1996, with various statuses through its history.
The London County Council was granted a coat of arms in 1914 and a heraldic badge in 1956. The coat of arms can still be seen on buildings constructed by the council before its abolition in 1965.
The coat of arms of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council was granted on 24 June 1974. This was just a few months after the district of Kirklees was created as part of the new metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. It is rarely used by the Council who, until 2007, preferred to use a logo that is based upon the arms.
The Coat of arms of Leeds City Council derives its design from the seventeenth century. In 1662 the Borough of Leeds received a new charter which created the office of mayor, and the arms seems to date from about this time as they incorporate part of the arms of the first mayor. These arms were recorded at the heraldic visitation of Yorkshire in 1666. By the time that the borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, silver owls had been added both as crest above the shield, and as supporters on either side. These additions were not authorised, however, and in 1920 application was made by Leeds County Borough Council to the College of Arms to have these additions officially granted. In the following year the grant of crest and supporters was made, with the colouring of the owls altered to "proper", or natural colourings. Gold ducal coronets were added to the supporters for further heraldic difference.
The coat of arms of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council was granted in 1976. The council is the local authority for the district of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The coat of arms is based on those of Bradford Corporation, the local authority for the County Borough of Bradford, both of which were abolished in 1974.
The coat of arms of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council was granted by the College of Arms in 1974.
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.
The coat of arms of Colchester City Council is the coat of arms granted to Colchester City Council, which is the local authority for the district of Colchester, Essex, England. The arms were first granted by Henry V in 1413.
Carlisle was, from 1835 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England, coterminate with Carlisle. In 1835, following the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, Carlisle was constituted a municipal borough of Cumberland, but was promoted to county borough status in 1914, within its boundaries taking over the functions of Cumberland County Council. The district was abolished on 31 March 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.
The coat of arms of the City of London Corporation is the official coat of arms granted to the City of London Corporation. The Corporation governs the City of London, one of the 33 administrative areas within Greater London, England.
The coat of arms of Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council was granted on 1 September 1965. The council is the local authority for Barking and Dagenham, Greater London, England.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Barnet is the official coat of arms of the London Borough of Barnet. It was granted on 1 January 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 Croydon is the official heraldic arms of the London Borough of Croydon, granted on 10 December 1965.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was granted to the then London Borough of Hammersmith on 1 March 1965, but the motto changed languages in 1969. The subsequent change of names to Hammersmith and Fulham on 1 January 1980 did not affect the arms.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Haringey was granted on 10 May 1965, after the mergers of the former Municipal Borough of Hornsey, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green and the Municipal Borough of Tottenham. Unlike most other London boroughs, it was decided not to create arms based on the charges in the coats of arms of the former boroughs.
The coat of arms of the Prince of Wales is the official personal heraldic insignia of the Princes of Wales, a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England.