The City of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

North-West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

has traditionally been represented by various symbols. Most of these symbols are derived from

heraldic emblem A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual, family or corporate body. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance. They are ...

s contained within the city's official

heraldic achievement In heraldry, an achievement, armorial achievement or heraldic achievement (historical: hatchment) is a full display or depiction of all the heraldic components to which the bearer of a coat of arms is entitled. An achievement comprises not only ...

, which was officially adopted when the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Manchester was granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

in 1842. Notably, the motif of the

worker bee A worker bee is any female (eusocial) bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen. While worker be ...

has been widely used to represent the city as a symbol of industry.

Heraldry

The

of Manchester (colloquially but inaccurately referred to as a ''

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

'') were granted to the Borough of Manchester in 1842 and continue to be used today by

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

. Arms: ''Gules three Bendlets enhanced Or a Chief Argent thereon on Waves of the Sea a Ship under sail proper.''
Crest: On a Wreath of the Colours a Terrestrial Globe semée of Bees volant all proper.
Supporters: On the dexter side a Heraldic White Hart Argent attired collared and chain reflexed over the back Or and on the sinister side a Lion guardant Or murally crowned Gules each charged on the shoulder with a rose of the last.
Motto: ''Concilio et Labore'' ("By Counsel and Work") At the centre of the arms is a heater-style escutcheon, or shield, with gold stripes on a red

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

representing the rivers Irwell, Medlock and Irk, which flow through Manchester. The

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

symbol at the top of the shield is a ship in full sail, representing the city's trade with the rest of the world. On either side of the shield are a pair of

supporter In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coro ...

s, an

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

and a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, each bearing the

Red Rose of Lancaster The Red Rose of Lancaster (blazoned: ''a rose gules'') was the heraldic badge adopted by the royal House of Lancaster in the 14th century. In modern times it symbolises the county of Lancashire. The exact species or cultivar which it represents i ...

on its shoulder, derived from the arms of King Henry IV,

Duke of Lancaster The Dukedom of Lancaster is an English peerage merged into the crown. It was created three times in the Middle Ages, but finally merged in the Crown when Henry V succeeded to the throne in 1413. Despite the extinction of the dukedom the title h ...

. The lion is said to symbolise bravery and strength, while the antelope stands for peace, harmony, courage and discipline. At the top, the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

consists of seven bees flying over a

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

, symbolising Manchester's industry being exported across the world. At the foot of the arms is the city's

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

motto, ''Concilio Et Labore'', which is loosely translated to "by wisdom and effort" or "by counsel and work", a phrase taken from the Book of : "Let reason go before every enterprise, and counsel before every action". The heraldic arms appears on many architectural features around Manchester, including

Manchester Town Hall Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian, Neo-gothic municipal building in Manchester, England. It is the ceremonial headquarters of Manchester City Council and houses a number of local government departments. The building faces Albert Square to th ...

and the

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

, and on

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

in the city.

Worker bee

The

is one of the best-known symbols of Manchester. It was adopted as a motif for Manchester during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, at a time when Manchester was taking a leading role in new forms of mass production, and symbolises Mancunians' hard work during this era and Manchester being a hive of activity in the 19th century. was nicknamed ''Busy Bee'' after the Manchester bee symbol, and the bee is depicted on the ship's crest, which is also present on the ship's funnel. In the early 1970s the famous

Boddingtons Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be ...

logo was introduced, depicting a barrel and two bees.

The University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

's coat of arms features three bees. The bees are depicted on many structures in Manchester such as lampposts and bollards. The 2009/10 away kit of

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

was inspired by the Manchester bee, featuring a black shirt with yellow shoulder inserts. Following the May 2017

Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...

, the bee emblem gained popularity as a public symbol of unity against terrorism, appearing on protest banners and graffiti.

Tattoo parlours A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing proc ...

both in and outside Manchester began to take part in the Manchester Tattoo Appeal, in which they offered bee

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

s to raise money for the victims of the attack.

Floral emblems

Lancashire rose

Manchester is part of the historic county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, within the

Salford Hundred The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see: Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the ...

. This is reflected in the use of the

in Manchester's heraldic arms. After the reform of local government in 1974, Manchester was removed from Lancashire for ceremonial and administrative purposes and brought into the new

metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

. After the change, both the City of Manchester and the new county retained the Lancastrian Rose in many emblems.

Cottongrass

Eriophorum angustifolium ''Eriophorum angustifolium'', commonly known as common cottongrass or common cottonsedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Native to North America, North Asia, and Northern Europe, it grows on peat or acidic soil ...

'', commonly known as Cottongrass, is the county flower of Manchester. Cottongrass was selected because of Manchester's association with cotton, chiefly during the 19th century, when the city was given the nickname of

Cottonopolis Cottonopolis was a 19th-century nickname for Manchester, as it was a metropolis and the centre of the cotton industry. Background Early cotton mills powered by water were built in Lancashire and its neighbouring counties. In 1781 Richard Arkw ...

Three rivers

On the Manchester City Council arms, the three golden diagonal stripes on the red shield are meant to symbolise the three rivers which run through

Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...

: the Irwell, the Irk and the Medlock. This heraldic device has been adopted in other popular symbols, such as on the badges of

F.C. United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Found ...

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

(until the early 1970s) and

Manchester City Football Club Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Football ...

(between 1972 and 1997, the club replaced the stripes with the Red Rose of Lancashire, but the badge now combines the stripes and the flower)..

References

External links

* {{Heraldic creatures Manchester