Looking Back: The meanings behind Falkirk district's coats of arms

A few years ago Denny became the first town in Scotland to adopt a flag which locals said was “part of our identity and we are proud of it”.

Not long after that the Provost promoted a schools competition to design flags to represent each ward in Falkirk district.

Of course it is really nothing new. Falkirk Council has a coat-of-arms which serves much the same purpose, made up of elements of the arms of the former independent burghs of Grangemouth, Bo’ness, Denny and Falkirk itself.

An early version of the Grangemouth arms was in use in the 1880s but the officially approved one is from 1920.

It combines two historical references: the stag’s head with a cross is a reminder of the foundation of the abbey by King David I as a thanksgiving for avoiding death on the antlers of a stag.

The other element is the Charlotte Dundas, the world’s first practical steamboat, built in Grangemouth in 1803.

The motto Ingenium Vincit Omnes means genius (or talent) overcomes all difficulties.

As one might expect the former Bo’ness arms also feature a sailing ship representing the basis of the town’s prosperity.

The black half of the background stands for the coal mining industry and the red half, along with the coronet and the lion, are for the powerful Hamilton family.

The arms were approved in 1930 and have a Latin motto, Sine Metu, which means ‘Fear Nothing’ which is also the family motto of Jamieson’s Irish whiskey and appears on every bottle!

The Denny and Dunipace arms are the most recent, dating back to 1956.

They bear more than a passing resemblance to the new flag with the ‘angel of peace’ representing Dunipace above a bridge with the Carron flowing below.

The motto is ‘For God and the People’.

The original arms of Falkirk which emerged sometime in the 18th century can still be found on display in the town.

For example high up on the Glebe Street elevation of the old Burgh Buildings is a carved stone panel dating to 1880 and there is another wooden carving above the door of the library in Hope Street.

Unlike the other towns Falkirk’s story is confused.

Early versions seem to derive from the arms of the Livingstons with the blocks or ‘billets’ representing the original Callendar family.

These arms had two ‘savages’ with clubs acting as ‘supporters’ on either side of the shield which later versions had converted into young boys.

The figures on the Burgh Buildings are in that form.

There were also references to the meeting of Highlands and Lowlands as well as our familiar motto Tangite Unam, Tangite Omnes.

In 1906 the official version was approved and the supporters were gone leaving the Livingston lion with symbols representing Callendar, the two Falkirk battles, the Parish Church and the Antonine Wall.