Arun

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom

ARUN

Additions : 1974 Arundel, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Chichester RDC (partly) and Worthing RDC (partly)

Official blazon

ARMS: Argent two Bars wavy Azure overall in pale a Key ward uppermost and to the dexter Or on a Chief embattled Vert five Martlets Gold. CREST: On a Wreath Or and Azure within a Saxon Crown Or a round Tower proper; Mantled Azure and Vert doubled Or.

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on ??

The shield is silver, with two wavy bars of blue, representing the sea and Sussex coastline. A gold key, a symbol of authority, is placed vertically surmounting the bars. A partition line, resembling the battlements of a tower or castle, separates the chief, which is green with five gold martlets. Martiets are heraldic swallows - in French 'hirondelle', which alludes, by a happy play on words, to Arundel, the historic town an the River Arun, from which the District Council takes its name.

Martlets also appear on the West Sussex County Council shield. The battlements of the chief in the shield symbolise a castle or its towers- a reference not only to Arundel Castle, a prominent feature in the neighbourhood, but to local government in general.

In Heraldry, a Saxon crown is one of the accepted range of crowns or coronets which appear particularly in crests. This type of crown has been chosen, in Arun's case, to support the history of the area and the county prior to the Conquest.

The crest rests on a helm with blue, green and gold mantling. Again as a symbol of local government, a tower rises from within the Saxon crown, tower and castle together forming a simple, but very distinctive device, which links past and present.

Literature : Image and information provided by Laurence Jones.