Part of the Arms of the historic county of Staffordshire on the entrance pavilion to the Great Hall of Birmingham University.
This shield is carved in the stone spandrels of the great round-arch mullion window which is set in the entrance pavilion to the Great Hall. The shield displays a chevron on to which is superimposed a 'Stafford Knot'.
This shield is one of six carved in the stone spandrels of the window, representing the arms of the Midland counties, of England, and is the first part of the Official blazon shown below:
'Arms: Or on a Chevron Gules a Stafford Knot of the first on a Chief Azure a Lion passant guardant of the field.'
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The part of the Blazon which refers to '...of the first' part of the rules of Cadency in this particular case the brisure is the 'Stafford Knot. (
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The origins of this shield can be traced to the seal of Staffordshire County Council in 1889 as can be seen from the following extract from 'A Knotty Puzzle' by The Stafford Knot:
'When Staffordshire County Council was created under the Local Government Act of 1888, the need for its own common seal immediately arose. At its first meeting on April 1st, 1889, the task of designing a seal and ordering it to be made was entrusted to three members – the chairman, the Earl of Harrowby, the vice chairman and Lord Wrottesely.
The design they chose incorporated the arms assumed by the Borough of Stafford in the late 16th century, but never approved by the College of Arms, within an octofoil. Four of the eight lobes of this figure contained Stafford Knots linking roundels bearing emblems representing the four principal industries of Staffordshire – a wheatsheaf for agriculture, the alchemical symbol of iron for iron-founding, a lozenge for coalmining and a jug for pottery manufacturing.
The Latin legend around the rim read: “SIG: COM: CONCILII COMITATUS STAFFORDIENSIS” meaning “common seal of the council of the county of Stafford”.
A coloured representation of this seal appeared at the top of certificates issued to special constables during the First World War. At the bottom appeared a Stafford Knot with the initials SCC within its loops – rather like the makers’ marks used by minor pottery manufacturers in North Staffordshire at the time.
The county council did not apply for its own coat of arm until 1930 when a member offered to pay the fee for a grant by the College of Arms and a committee was set up to consider various designs. Some complicated proposals involving devices used by long established county families were quickly discarded and the arms used on the common seal advanced with the addition of a red chief (a broad stripe across the top of the shield) bearing a golden lion passant guardant, taken from the arms of the Borough of Stafford approved in 1614. The heralds later insisted that the chief should be blue rather than red, probably to avoid too close a resemblance to the royal arms of England. The blue chief also gives a more pleasing overall effect.
The crest above the shield was quickly agreed on as a Stafford Knot arising out of a mural crown, indicating a civic authority. Supporting the shield were a red lion and a golden gryphons, two of the Stafford family’s many other badges.
The motto selected was: “The Knot Unites”, demonstrating how deeply ingrained in the consciousness of Staffordshire folk the emblem had become. This achievement was approved by the College of Arms in January 1931 and is still used on the county council’s common seal, in place of the earlier unapproved shield.' (
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Source: 'Pevsner's Architectural Glossary' by Nikolaus Pevsner (ISBN:978-0-300-22368-2