Leeds Coat of Arms
Leeds Coat of Arms
The arms date from the Corporate Seal of 1626, when the Borough of Leeds was first incorporated by Royal Charter of Charles I, when the wealthy Sir John Savile, of Howley Hall near Batley, was elected the first alderman of the Borough. He was also M.P. for Yorkshire. The Corporate Seal bears the inscription: Sigillum Burgi: De Leedes, 1626, and is adorned with an achievement of arms (azure), a fleece (or) supported by two owls (argent) ducally crowned. The fleece represented the staple trade of the town, whilst the supporters were taken from the arms of Sir John Savile, which were a silver shield with a sable bend, and three silver owls on the bend. Sir John Savile had recently become a landowner in Leeds and in 1619 gave the land in Headingley for the building of a church, which became the original church of St Michael's, Headingley.
In 1662, after the Restoration of Charles II, the chief inhabitants of Leeds petitioned for a new charter, this being granted by the King on 2 November of that year. By this charter the chief citizen became a mayor, and the person elected as first Mayor was Thomas Danby, whose arms were: argent, three chevrons braced sable, on a chief sable, three mullets argent. So to the 1626 Leeds arms were added the chief sable three mullets argent (silver stars). It was said by the late Sir W.H. St John Hope "that the townsfolk devised for themselves a pretty and most appropriate shield of arms". But the arms were not settled until 1836, when the Corporation was reconstituted under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, and on the Borough Seal the full insignia of shield, crest, supporters, and the Motto "Pro Rege et Lege" were engraved.
One of the important citizens of Leeds about 1920 was Alderman Sir Charles Wilson, M.P., and a Freeman of Leeds and London. He felt much perturbed regarding the legality of the Leeds coat of arms, which was not registered at the College of Heralds; it was decided to submit the matter to the College, and Sir Charles himself went to London to see the Earl Marshal. The change was a very sensible one when His Majesty's Officers at Arms altered the colour of the owls from silver to proper, that is to the natural colours of owls.
The arms received the sanction of the College by a grant dated 7 November 1921. Above the shield is the closed helmet (steel) as used by Civic Authorities with its crest-wreath and mantling in the principal colours of the arms, in this case, gold and blue. The full coat is now described as Shield: azure, a fleece or, on a chief sable three mullets argent; Crest: on a wreath or and azure, an owl proper; Supporters: an owl proper ducally crowned or; Motto: "Pro Rege et Lege".