Sheffield's Coat of Arms

The arms were granted to the Sheffield Borough Council on 16 July 1875, and subsequently to the present City Council on 1 September 1977.

The lion is taken from the Arms of the Dukes of Norfolk, lords of the manor of Sheffield; it appeared also in the Arms of the Talbot family, their predecessors in the lordship.

The sheaf of arrows was the main motif in the seals of the Burgery of Sheffield and the Twelve Capital Burgesses, the 2 bodies which bore the brunt of local government in Sheffield before the creation of the Borough.

The 3 wheatsheaves on a green field were probably chosen at the College of Arms as a play upon the name Sheffield which means “the open space by the River Sheaf”.

The 2 supporters, Vulcan and Thor, were chosen for their aptness to represent a place whose prosperity is almost entirely founded on the working of metal. Thor on the left, the smith of the Scandinavian gods has his hand resting on a hammer, and Vulcan on the right, the smith of the Greek and Roman gods, is standing in front of an anvil and is holding a pair of pincers.

The motto (Deo Adjuvante Labor Proficit) may roughly be translated as “With God’s help our labour is successful”.