King's Lynn

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom

KING'S LYNN

Incorporated into : 1974 King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Official blazon

Azure three Dragon's Heads erased and erect Or in the mouth of each a Cross-crosslet fitchy of the last.

Origin/meaning

The arms were never granted but were recorded at the Visitation of 1563.

The dragon's heads refer to the legend of St. Margaret of Antioch who has been portrayed on the Seals of Lynn since the 13th Century, and to whom the Parish Church is dedicated. She was the Christian daughter of a pagan priest and was imprisoned for her faith. She was devoured by Satan in the form of a dragon, but she wore a cross by whose power she was able to burst the dragon open and emerge unhurt. Her symbol is therefore, a dragon's head pierced by a cross.

The arms were sometimes shown with a pelican for a crest, probably adopted as a Christian emblem, for that bird is a symbol of the Eucharist, because it was said by medieval writers to feed its young with blood drawn from its own breast.

The arms on a Wills's cigarette card, 1906

The arms as used on a Faulkner postcard +/- 1905

Literature : Image from Ja-Ja postcard (+/- 1906), background from Scott-Giles, C. W. : Civic Heraldry of England and Wales