A
heraldic
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
shield has been associated with the
historic county of
Sussex since the seventeenth century. The device, displaying six
martlet
A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...
s or heraldic swallows on a shield, later formed the basis of the
flag of Sussex
The Flag of Sussex is the flag of the traditional and historic county of Sussex. The flag was registered by the Flag Institute on Friday 20 May 2011 as a 'traditional' county flag as a result of a campaign started in August 2010, by Sussex r ...
and the armorial bearings granted to the
county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
s of
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
.
The six gold martlets on a blue shield is the official heraldic shield of Sussex, very much the same as the
Yorkshire Rose is for Yorkshire.
Under English Heraldic law this heraldic shield has been granted to the county by the new administrative body. Sussex hasn't had an administrative body since 1086, the year of the Domesday Book, but in October 2018 the device has been reclassified as the counties heraldic shield by the administrative body for the county.
History
The first known recording of this Heraldic shield being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer
John Speed deployed it to represent the
Kingdom of the South Saxons in his atlas ''The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine.'' However it seems that Speed was repeating an earlier association between the emblem and the county, rather than being the inventor of the association. It is now firmly regarded that the county Heraldic shield originated and derived from the coat of arms of the 14th century
Knight of the Shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...
, Sir
John de Radynden
Sir John de Radynden (1274-1350) was the only child of Walter and Agatha (daughter of Simon de Mucegros). He inherited his father's estate of Radynden, as well as the properties of his mother and his aunt, Alice de Mucegros. He initially was in ...
.
The seal of the clerk of the peace of the county bore the Heraldic shield, as did the badges of the
East Sussex Constabulary
East Sussex Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for policing East Sussex in southern England from 1840 to 1968. Its headquarters were located at Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex.
History
East Sussex Constabulary were formed ...
and the
Sussex Yeomanry.
[Francis W Steer, ''The arms of the County Councils of East and West Sussex and the Diocese of Chichester'', jointly issued by the two county councils, 1959]
County councils
The
Local Government Act 1888
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
introduced
administrative counties
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
each governed by an elected county council. Sussex was divided into two administrative counties: With the exception of the
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...
s of
Brighton,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and from 1911,
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, East Sussex County Council administered the
rapes
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...
of
Lewes,
Pevensey
Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part ...
and
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, while West Sussex County Council administered the rapes of
Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
,
Arundel and
Bramber. Each county council was required to adopt a common seal.
The
Local Government Act 1972 reorganised councils throughout England and Wales from 1974. In Sussex two new
non-metropolitan counties
A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...
of East Sussex and West Sussex were created, but with different boundaries to the administrative counties abolished by the 1972 Act. Accordingly, the two county councils had to apply for new arms. Both county councils were granted arms in 1975, based on those previously used.
East Sussex
East Sussex County Council
East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex.
East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...
adopted a seal in 1889. The seal bore a quartered shield. The first quarter represents Sussex, while the second, third and fourth quarters each represent one of the traditional Sussex subdivisions, known as rapes, administered by East Sussex County Council at the time.
*The first quarter bore the traditional six gold martlets on blue of Sussex
*The second quarter consisted of gold and blue checks from the arms of the De Warenne family, Earls of Surrey and lords of the
barony of Lewes
*The third quarter was gold with a red displayed eagle, arms of the De Aquila (
L'Aigle
L'Aigle is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy in northwestern France. Before 1961, the commune was known as ''Laigle''. According to Orderic Vitalis, the nest of an eagle (''aigle'' in French) was discovered during the construction o ...
) family, lords of the
rape of Pevensey
The Rape of Pevensey (also known as Pevensey Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. With an area of it is the largest of the Sussex rapes.
History
William the Conqueror gra ...
*Representing the
rape of Hastings, the fourth quarter bore the arms of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
These unofficial arms remained in use until 1937 when a grant of arms from the College of Arms was obtained on 10 September. A red shield was adopted and a gold Saxon crown was added for heraldic difference. The arms were blazoned as:
''Gules, six martlets three, two and one, and in chief a Saxon crown or''
[Geoffrey Briggs, ''Civic and Corporate Heraldry'', London, 1971]
East Sussex County Council was granted a new coat of arms on 29 August 1975. The arms are identical to the 1937 grant with the addition of a silver wavy line, representative of the coastal
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...
s of
Brighton,
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
added to the county in 1974.
West Sussex
West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 7 ...
promptly applied to the
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovere ...
for a grant of arms, which were granted on 18 May 1889. The cost of the grant was met by the
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
, a member of the council and titular head of the College of Arms. West Sussex was the first county council to become armigerous.
The arms were the same as those associated with the historic county with the addition of a gold "chief" or band at the top of the shield. The
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...
or technical description was:
''Azure, six martlets, three, two and one a chief or.''
West Sussex County Council was granted new arms on 14 January 1975. The gold chief of the 1889 shield was modified by being given an "indented" edge. A crest was added, shown atop a helm and decorative mantling. The crest represented the areas transferred from East Sussex and
Surrey in 1974: the Saxon crown was taken from the East Sussex arms and the acorns from those of Surrey.
The blazon of the arms is:
''Azure six martlets three two and one and a chief indented or, and for a crest on a wreath of the colours a sprig of oak proper fructed with two acorns or within a Saxon crown also or.''
Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – West Sussex, retrieved 24 August 2007
/ref>
Other organisations
*The Sussex Police Authority was granted arms on 30 May 1969: a blue shield bearing a gold tower between five gold martlets.
*The Sussex County Cricket Club uses the traditional county arms as its badge.
*The Sussex Motor Yacht Club, founded in 1907 and headquartered in Brighton, uses the traditional Sussex county arms (i.e., the six martlets) on its club burgee; it depicts the martlets in red, and places them on a white shield, surmounting a three-bladed propeller, which also in red.
*The University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
's coat of arms features the six martlets.
See also
*List of English counties' coats of arms
This is a list of the coats of arms of various county councils (current and former) in England.
Background
Under heraldic law in England, arms are not granted to places as such, but only to the corporate bodies that govern them. Accordingly, alth ...
*Flag of Sussex
The Flag of Sussex is the flag of the traditional and historic county of Sussex. The flag was registered by the Flag Institute on Friday 20 May 2011 as a 'traditional' county flag as a result of a campaign started in August 2010, by Sussex r ...
* Sussex
References
{{Reflist
Sussex
Sussex
Sussex