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DURHAM

Origin/meaning :
The arms were granted on 10th May 1974.
The arms are based on those granted to the former Durham County Council on 30th May, 1961. Before that date the Council had used the arms of the Bishopric of Durham because the Council could be said to have succeeded, in some measure, to the palatinate jurisdiction formerly enjoyed by the palatine Bishops of Durham. In order to stress this succession the lions were depicted in the arms as grasping swords and wearing on their heads coronets used by the bishops in conjunction with the mitre. As a further mark of difference the cross was charged with five black diamonds, which are generally used to represent coal and the industries dependent upon it.

The Local Government Act of 1972, which established the new Durham County Council, made substantial alterations in the Council's area of jurisdiction, one of the principal alterations being the incorporation in the County of the Startforth Rural District in the North Riding of Yorkshire. In order to recognise this alteration the central lozenge in the former County Council's arms has been replaced by a white rose; otherwise, the arms granted to the new County Council are identical with those of the former County Council.

Literature : Image and information provided by Laurence Jones.


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