|
The badge for the Choir was contrived in April 1992 by the then County Archivist, David Smith, in consultation with, and a final approval by, Gloucester County Council Secretary, David Seed.
The badge is taken from the Gloucestershire County Coat of Arms, granted in 1935, but has its make-up from the ancient Arms of Gloucester and the Tudor Coat of Arms, together with devices from the Cotswold District Council Coat of Arms.
The badge comprises a shield outlined in gold. The upper third – the Fess – consists of three panels each with a horseshoe studded with nails, symbolic of the early trade of Gloucester which, from even before the twelfth century, was famous for its ironwork and smithery.
The Horseshoes: The one on the right is taken from the ancient Arms of the City of Gloucester, granted 20th October 1538, the left-hand one is taken from the Arms of the Cripps family, and the centre one from the Arms of the Allen family. Sir Frederick Cripps was Chairman of the County Council and Mr. Sidney Allen was High Sheriff in the year when the Arms were granted in 1935. It is an odd coincidence that all three Coats of Arms should have included horseshoes, which are not a particularly common armourial bearing
The two outside panels have a green background, signifying the fields and hills on which the woollen cloth made locally was laid out on tenterhooks to dry. The centre panel has a blue background symbolic of the great rivers of the Cotswolds – Thames and Severn – vital for washing the wool and dyeing the cloth.
The lower two-thirds of the shield is red and comprises three chevronels in gold, originally part of the Coat of Arms of the de Clare family, Earls of Gloucester; there is a gold per chevron at the lower point of the shield.
The two fleeces in gold, each banded and ringed in gold, are symbolic of the great flocks of Cotswold sheep and thus the woollen industry of the Cotswolds.
Pat Grant-Hudson and David Ford
May 2004
|
