Blog: Crestfallen at reader's coat of arms query

These are the bits of artwork by which we identify each other's allegiances.

And while some of these can engender in us love and longing, others can signal menace or military might.

As far as love and longing go, for instance, the friendly little logos of Matchbox toys, Corgi cars and Dinky models, along with the unmistakable trademark of Cadbury's chocolate, certainly do it for me.

They trigger thoughts of comfort and childhood joy. At the other end of the scale are the flags by which armies have, for centuries, identified friends and foes. Such symbols would have had the power to strike terror into the hearts of opposing forces.

Although historic coats of arms may, in times gone by, have fallen distinctly into this second category, today, here in the less barbarous England of the 21st century, they tend to be seen as rather quaint.

They speak of heritage rather than of warfare.

By the way, it has always been my opinion that if nations adopted utterly ridiculous flags to represent them, such as flags depicting a bright yellow plastic duck, for instance, there would be much less chance of war ever breaking out.

Who in their right mind would go into battle beneath the banner of a bright yellow plastic duck? Surely both armies would just look up and smile. Especially if the opposing troops boasted a flag depicting characters from The Magic Roundabout.

Both armies would just have a good laugh and go and resolve their differences down the pub.

No bloodshed. Brilliant!

Anyway. Where is all this leading us?

Well, to the coat of arms of our fair town, of course.

And it was precisely this subject which prompted Michael Holmes, an Honorary Fellow of the Heraldry Society, and citizen of Shrewsbury, to write this week.

"I was delighted to see that you have added a coat of arms to your newspaper title," writes Mr Holmes, in admiration of our front page masthead.

And then he goes on: "Unfortunately, it is the wrong one."

Oh.

Mr Holmes explains that the arms used are those of Shropshire, the county, not Shrewsbury, the town.

Of course, both coats of arms feature the three gold lions' faces against a blue background and are therefore strikingly similar. He writes: "I would have liked to have drawn these coats of arms for you but sadly old age (94) and arthritis prevent my hands from doing so.

"The history of these arms is this: The original Shrewsbury Arms date back to before 1425 when the king granted these Arms to the borough (a handy way of raising some cash for himself) and the original charter is now in the town's archives.

Any citizen of the borough is entitled to display these, provided, of course, that he does not claim them as his own personal Arms.

"When Queen Victoria, towards the end of her reign, created Shropshire (or Salop) County Council, she granted them a new shield of arms based on the town Arms and this is the one the Shrewsbury Chronicle is using on its front page.

"With the creation of the unitary council, they have themselves adopted the mono-colour device which you can see on their notepaper and elsewhere. It is beautifully designed for use in a variety of two-dimensional settings.

"The next change came with the arrival of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council (SABC). The council applied to the College of Arms for new arms and was given the rather clumsy arms with a depiction of Atcham Bridge."

Mr Holmes reminds us that the arms of the now-defunct SABC had the familiar three gold lions' faces against a blue background, but then had a gold Atcham Bridge over-arching the three faces. "But we're not done yet!" continues Mr Holmes.

"The borough council then, rightly, issued an order that these arms were only to be used by the council itself as a body. Those who ignored this were prosecuted – Shrewsbury Rugby Club one of the first.

"The College of Arms proposed, and designed, a badge in black and white to be used by any citizen of Shrewsbury. In heraldry, a 'badge' is an emblem worn by your supporters. This was not used as much as it could have been. (The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital League of Friends use it.) And it is now, I suppose, obsolete."

"So after all that, could you consider changing your title to show the town arms, perhaps in blue and yellow?"

Well, Mr Holmes, after all that, it is surely something that we need to consider. And thank you so much for taking the time to explain the history of the two coats of arms.

So . . . anyone out there in favour of Shrewsbury adopting a bright yellow plastic duck as its emblem?

No? Thought not.

Note from Editor: Thank you, Mr Holmes, for pointing out the differences in the coats of arms. We tried to find a crest that represented Shrewsbury, but the information available was rather vague. As Shrewsbury is the county town, we considered it acceptable to use the one you now see on our front page.

But in light of your information, we're all feeling rather 'crestfallen'!