Wigtownshire

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WIGTOWNSHIRE (County Council)

Incorporated into : 1975 Dumfries and Galloway

Official blazon

Per pale indented: dexter, Azure, a lion rampant Argent, armed and langued Gules, crowned of an antique crown Or, and gorged of an antique crown Vert; sinister, Gules, a chevron Argent, and issuing from the sinister chief a quadrant of the sun arrayed Or; on a chief Azure, having a fillet Ermine, a saltire Or, charged with nine lozenges also Azure.

Which Shield is ensigned with the proper coronet of a County Council, videlicet : Issuing from a circlet Vert, five paling piles also Vert, alternately with four garbs Or, banded Sable.

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on February 13, 1955.

The arms symbolise much of the County's history. On the dexter appears the crowned lion of Galloway on its blue field; the lion wears an antique crown as a collar and thus recalls not only the Douglas Lords of Galloway but also the historic family of Macdouall.
On the sinister there is the silver chevron on a red field of Fleming, Earl of Wigtown, with a sunburst from the seal of the Royal Burgh of Wigtown in the top sinister corner.

In the chief, the nine blue lozenges on the gold saltire recall a similar device (with the colours reversed), which is a feature of the arms of Dalrymple, Earl of Stair.
The saltire in the chief and the chevron below also recall the Agnews of Lochnaw in whose arms these appear.

Since the backgrounds of both sections of the lower part of the shield are colours as distinct from metals and since the background of the chief is one of these colours, the chief had to be separated by something distinctive from the rest of the shield; the choice of an ermine fillet for the purpose acknowledges that each of the three compartments of the arms is derived from the arms of a Peerage House.

The seal adopted by the Council in 1890 showed a lion rampant on a shield with a sword and sceptre crossed in saltire behind it, a crown above and a thistle below; it was adapted from a device belonging to the old Galloway Militia.

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Literature : Urquhart, 1974