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Coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham


The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is the official heraldic arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The arms were granted to the then London Borough of Hammersmith on 1 March 1965, but the motto changed languages in 1969. The subsequent change of names to Hammersmith and Fulham on 1 January 1980 did not affect the arms.

The wavy lines in the main field of the shield is taken from the coat of arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Fulham and is a symbol for the River Thames and its water. The hammers and horseshoe are a pun on the name of Hammersmith and comes from the coat of arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith. There were also horseshoes in the arms of Sir Nicholas Crispe, Bt, whose works in Hammersmith in the 17th Century contributed significantly to the growth of the town. The red chief has charges from the coat of arms of the former Fulham arms. The crossed swords are taken from the coat of arms of the Diocese of London and the mitre stands for the Bishop of London, since the Parishes of Fulham and Hammersmith used to constitute a manor belonging to the bishop.

The wreath under the crest is in silver and sanguine and the sail, flags and pennons on the Viking ship in the crest are also in sanguine. Sanguine, a deep, dark red colour, is not a common colour in heraldry and is rightly not even a colour but a "stain". Why there is sanguine in these arms are not officially explained but perhaps because of the old arms of Hammersmith which, though blazoned red (gules), used to be depicted in a deep pink colour, or perhaps signifying the blood-thirst of the Vikings. The mantling has the blue and silver tinctures of Fulham. The crest consists of a mural crown, a common heraldic symbol for a town or a city, and the aforementioned ship, which was brought from the former arms of Fulham and signifies the 879 AD landing of Danish Vikings at what now is Fulham.


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