The Coat of Arms of Greater Manchester Metropolitan County Council was granted to the Greater Manchester County Council upon its formation in 1974 by 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 Sover ...

. The county council was abolished as a consequence of the

Local Government Act 1985 The Local Government Act 1985 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Its main effect was to abolish the six county councils of the metropolitan counties that had been set up in 1974, 11 years earlier, by the Local Government Act 1972 ...

which rendered the arms as being no longer officially in use.

Description

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 ...

of the arms is described as follows: *Shield: The shield bears ten turrets in gold, representing the ten districts of the County, on a red ground. *Supporters: The shield is supported on each side by a lion rampant in gold. Each lion bears on its shoulder a badge in red, the lion on the right of the shield bearing a badge with a French horn, representing music and culture, and the lion on the left of the shield bearing a badge with an open book, representing learning and academic life of the County. *Crest: The helm is surmounted by a demi-lion carrying a banner bearing ten small turrets in gold on a red ground. *Motto: ''"Ever Vigilant"''.

Today

Although the coat of arms is no longer in use by authorities, variant segments of the arms are still used today, such as the badge of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service whose arms bear a defaced version of the shield without the gold

crenellations A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

trim, and the crest which is also used by the

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force The Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force (GMACF) is the county cadet force for Greater Manchester, which forms part of the wider Army Cadet Force, a youth organisation in the United Kingdom that offers learning and experiences around a military t ...

, a demi-lion carrying the banner. A banner based on the shield from these arms was also sometimes used as the flag to represent the area. The current

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members; 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...

does not use the symbols of the former Greater Manchester Council, instead using a wordmark consisting of its initials and full title.https://issuu.com/lukeharrison1/docs/id_guidelines

References

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Description

Today

References

See also