Symbol Quiz

Returning to the Civic Centre at lunchtime, the sun came out. The flag was flapping around on the flagpole, and so I thought I would take a picture. Not as easy as I thought - why don't flags just flap in a straight fashion.

A colleague came out of the Civic and suggested she hold my sandwich. That made life easier.

But I found myself puzzled. Salford's flag bears no relationship to the coat of arms I blipped yesterday. So I have been forced to do some research. And the answer is ....

The coat of arms I blipped yesterday is that of the old Swinton and Pendlebury Council. The Civic Centre was Swinton Town Hall before 1974. The post 1974 coat of arms is superficially similar, but quite different.

The motto is the same - the new City of Salford adopted Swinton's. But much else is changed, including the shield at the centre of the modern coat of arms, the symbols of which are used in the flag. 

The blue background with gold are the heraldic colours of the Earls of Chester, from whom Salford gained its first Charter in the year 1230. The ship is part of Eccles coat of arms - the town sits beside the Ship Canal (prior to that the Irwell), waterways are important in the area. All the rest is from the old Royal Borough of Salford - five bees representing the five industrious communities forming Salford, the shuttlecock representing the textile industry, and the two black millrinds (the iron centres of millstones) representing engineering. 

Well - I've learnt something today !