Fraserburgh

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FRASERBURGH

Burgh

Incorporated into : 1975 Banff and Buchan District Council (1996 Aberdeenshire Area Council)

Official blazon

Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Purpure, three fraises Argent; 2nd and srd, Gules, a lion rampant Argent, armed and langued Azure.

Above the Shield is set a coronet suit able to a Burgh, and thereon a Helmet befitting its degree with a Mantling Purpure doubled Argent, and on a Wreath of its Liveries is set for Crest an ostrich Proper holding in its beak a key Or, and on a Compartment below the Shield with this Motto "Deo Fidens", are set for Supporters two angels habited Proper, wings addorsed Or.

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on March 12, 1930.

Fraserburgh developed from a fishing village called Faithlie and was made a Burgh of Barony in favour of Alexander Fraser, 7th of Philorth, in 1546, and in 1601 raised to a Burgh of Regality in favour of his grandson, Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th of Philorth.

The arms, which closely resemble but are not identical to the Burgh seal are based on those of Fraser of Philorth, with the ostrich in the crest holding in its beak the key of the Burgh instead of a horse-shoe and with the accompaniment of angel supporters similar to the cherubim used by Lord Saltoun, the direct descendant of Fraser of Philorth and the Superior of the Burgh.

Some change of colours has also been made for difference: the field of the first and fourth quarters has been made purple instead of blue, and in the second and third quarters, the colours of the lion and the field have been interchanged.

In addition, the Fraser motto "In God is All" appears in a Latin version.

Seal of the burgh as used in the 1890s
The arms as used on a JaJa postcard +/- 1905	The arms in the Coffee Hag albums +/- 1925

Community Council

Official blazon

Quarterly, 1st, Purpure. three cinquefoils Argent; 2nd, Argent, an ostrich Sable, holding in its beak a key Or; 3rd, Argent, three fish fretted Azure; 4th, Gules, a lion rampant Argent, armed and langued Azure.

Above the Shield is placed a Coronet appropriate to a statutory Community Council, videlicet:- a circlet richly chased from which are issuant four thistle leaves (one and two halves visible) and four pine cones (two visible) Or, and in an Escrol below the same this Motto "In God is A"'.

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on April 21, 1992.

The arms combine elements of the former Burgh arms.

The first quarter shows three Fraser cinquefoils or fraises, on a purple field for difference; the second has an ostrich (from the Philorth crest), holding the key of the town in its beak - this was the burgh crest; in the fourth is a silver Ross lion on a red field, denoting that the Frasers acquired Philorth through a Ross marriage. The three fretted fish in the third quarter remind us that Fraserburgh is a centre of the fishing industry. The motto is a Scots version of the Saltoun "In God is All".