Birmingham Coat of Arms

Birmingham Coat of Arms,  Spring Hill Library

I’ve been doing a bit more digging into to the history of the Birmingham Coat of Arms.  It looks as though its origins began when the borough of Birmingham was incorporated in 1838 and it adopted the armorial bearings of the de Bermingham family as its seal. 


When Birmingham was given city status in 1889, it gained the right to add supporters.  Two figures were added a man on the left  representing industry holding a hammer, and a woman on the right symbolised art,  dressed in white she holds a brush and an artist's pallet in one hand and a red book in the other. Other alterations included an ermine fess taken from the Calthorpe family arms and a mural crown made of bricks which represented local government.

Birmingham Coat of Arms, Kent House

In 1974, the old Birmingham corporation changed, this time to include the Borough of Sutton Coldfield. The fess was exchanged with a cross and the mural crown in the centre of the shield was replaced with a bishop's mitre.  A Tudor rose was added and the figures moved to opposite sides of the shield.  The man also acquired a cupel (representing the significance of Birmingham jewellery making)  to hold along with the  hammer.

Birmingham coat of arms, Victoria Square