Broad arrow

A broad arrow, of which a pheon is a variant, is a stylised representation of a metal arrowhead, comprising a tang and two meeting at a point. It is a symbol used traditionally in heraldry, most notably in England, and later by the United Kingdom Government to mark government property. In heraldry, the arrowhead generally points downwards, whereas in other contexts it more usually points upwards.

The broad arrow as a heraldic device has two converging blades, or . When these barbs are engrailed on the inside, it may be called a pheon. Woodward's Treatise on Heraldry: British and Foreign with English and French Glossaries (1892), makes the following distinction: "A BROAD ARROW and a PHEON are represented similarly, except that the Pheon has its inner edges jagged, or engrailed." Parker's Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry (1894) states, "A broad arrow differs somewhat... and resembles a pheon, except in the omission of the jagged edge on the inside of the barbs." However, A. C. Fox-Davies, in his Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909), comments: "This is not a distinction very stringently adhered to."

The pheon features prominently in the arms of the Sidney family of Penshurst, and thence in the arms of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and of Hampden–Sydney College, Virginia. Sidney Sussex's newsletter for alumni is titled Pheon.

The Office of Ordnance was created by Henry VIII in 1544. It became the Board of Ordnance in 1597, its principal duties being to supply guns, ammunition, stores and equipment to the King's Navy.

The Office and Board used the broad arrow to signify at first objects purchased from the monarch's money, and later (from at least the 17th century) to indicate government property. The introduction of this symbol is widely attributed to Sir Philip Sidney, Joint Master of the Ordnance in 1585–6, as the pheon was the principal charge in his coat of arms. However, definitive evidence for Sidney's agency is lacking, and an alternative theory is that the broad arrow used on naval stores and property was in fact a corrupted version of an anchor symbol. Thus, a set of "Instructions for marking of Timber for His Majesty's Navy" issued in 1609 instructs:

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