Falkirk

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  • Overseas possessions
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FALKIRK

Burgh

Incorporated into: 1975 Falkirk District Council of the Central Region (1996 Falkirk Area council)

Arms (crest) of Falkirk

Official blazon

Sable, on a bend bretessed, accompanied by six billets Or, three in chief and three in base, the Church of Falkirk, between two swords and two Highland claymores both in saltire, the former surmounted of a shield of 1298, the latter of a target of 1746, all Proper.

On a Compartment below the Shield with the Motto "Better Meddle wi' the Deil than the Bairns o' Fa'kirk", is placed behind the Shield for Supporter a lion rampant affrontee Gules, armed and langued Azure, crowned with a mural crown Argent masoned Sable, and in an Escrol over the same this Motto "Touch ane Touch A'".

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on April 20, 1906.

Falkirk was created a Burgh of Barony in 1600 in favour of Alexander, 7th Lord Livingstone, later Earl of Linlithgow, Lord Livingston and Callendar, and in 1646 was raised to a Burgh of Regality for his kinsman, James, 1st Earl of Callendar.

The arms with their black field and gold billets closely resemble those of Callendar. The bend has been made embattled to denote the Roman Wall of Antonine which passed close to the town and on it is a representation of the parish church-"the Fa' Kirk"-which may mean "the speckled church" or the "church by the wall".

On either side of it are swords and shields to commemorate the two Battles of Falkirk: one in 1298 when King Edward I of England defeated the Scots patriot, Sir William Wallace, and the second in 1746 when the retreating Jacobite army ofPrince Charles had a pyrrhic victory over the Hanoverian troops of General Hawley.

The idea of having a bearer, instead of supporters, comes from the carving on the Cross Well of the Burgh, which shows a lion wearing a kind of mural crown and holding a shield with the arms of Alexander, 2nd Earl of Callendar.

The two mottoes are well­ known local sayings. Up to 1906, the Burgh used a seal with a device showing a Highland warrior but the Town Council decided that something more impressive and more relevant was required as the civic insignia of the Burgh.

Arms (crest) of Falkirk

The arms in the Coffee Hag albums +/- 1935

District Council

Additions: 1975 Burghs of Bo'ness, Denny and Dunipace, Falkirk, Grangemouth and districts
Incorporated into: 1996 Falkirk Area Council

Arms (crest) of Falkirk

Official blazon

Quarterly: 1st, Sable, a bend bretessed accompanied by six bil­ lets Or, three in chief and three in base; 2nd, Gules, a stag's head erased with a cross-crosslet fitchee between the attires Or; 3rd, per pale Gules and Sable, in a sea in base undy Argent and Azure, a three-masted ship of the 17th century Or, in full sail Proper, flagged Gold; 4th, per fess engrailed Azure and Vert, in chief a demi-angel Proper, attired Argent, wings displayed Or and celestially crowned of the Last, holding in either hand a palm branch of the Second, and in base a bend wavy of the Third charged with a bendlet wavy of the First.

Above the Shield is placed a coronet appropriate to a statutory District, videlicet:-a circlet richly chased, from which are issuant eight thistle-heads (three and two halves visible) Or; and in an Escrol under the Shield this Motto "Ane for A' ".

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on April 15, 1976.

The quartered arms show features from the arms of the four burghs of the District: the bend for Falkirk, the deer head for Grangemouth, the ship for Bo'ness and the fourth quarter shows the arms of Denny and Dunipace.

The Scots Motto recalls Touch Ane Touch A', one of the mottoes of the burgh of Falkirk.

Area Council

Additions: 1996 Falkirk Disctrict Council of the Central Region

Arms (crest) of Falkirk

Official blazon

Quarterly, 1st, Sable, a bend bretessed accompanied by six billets Or, three in chief and three in base (for Falkirk); 2nd, Gules, a stag's head erased with a cross-crosslet fitchee between the attires Or (for Grangemouth); 3rd, per pale Gules and Sable, in a sea in base undy Argent and Azure, a three-masted ship of the 17th century Or, in full sail Proper, flagged Gold (for Bo'ness); 4th, per fess engrailed Azure and Vert, in chief a demi-angel, attired Argent, wings displayed Or and celestially crowned of the Last, holding in either hand a palm branch of the Second, and in base a bend wavy of the Third charged with a bendlet wavy of the First (for Denny).

Above the Shield is placed a Coronet appropriate to a statutory Area Council, videlicet:- issuant from a circlet eight paling piles (three and two halves visible) Or and eight garbs (four visible) of the Last, banded Sable, and in an Escrol below the same this Motto "Ane for A".

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on June 6, 1996.

These are the former District arms with a crown of an Area council.



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Literature: Porteous, 1906; Urquhart, 1974, 1979, 2001