LAUNCESTON COAT OF ARMS

LAUNCESTON COAT OF ARMS

This example of the Launceston City coat of arms can be found on the civic buildings in St John Street opposite the town hall and seems to feature an “artistic” interpretation of its formal colours The coat of arms was approved at a council meeting in 1893, although Alderman Barrett was less that impressed with the appearance of the Tasmanian tigers.

The council website provides the following explanation of the elements of its official design: “The gold shield refers to the history of gold mining in districts surrounding Launceston. The top green portion of the shield is symbolic of the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside, and the Tasmanian waratah flowers are symbolic of endemic flora. The blue Pall represents the River Tamar and the North Esk River and the South Esk River. The golden centre point represents Launceston's location at the confluence of the three rivers. The two tin ingots on the pall refer to the days when tin smelting took place in the city. The supporters are the famous thylacines. Although possibly extinct, their appearance is ideally heraldic. (The thylacine gained additional significance in the mid 1980s when it was adopted as Council's logo.) The crest is the yellow wattle bird, endemic to Tasmania, resting on a native gum branch and holding a sprig of gum in its beak. The compartment on which the whole rests includes an English heraldic rose on one side of the shield and sprigs of wattle on the other. These were added in 1957 by the College of Heralds as tokens of the city's loyalty to the 'mother country' (United Kingdom).”

A description of the coat of arms published by the Examiner on 25^th August 1936, suggests that the circle at the junction of the rivers is a “bezanit (a gold coin of Eluzantium), symbolic of wealth.” The author also writes that the wattlebird presented sitting on a branch is emblematic of council and that the foliage in its mouth, stands for peace. He suggests that silver is the third mineral to be symbolically included in the coat of arms, and that the rampant presentation of the thylacines is “emblematic of magnanimity”. This article was inspired by the fact that Melbourne had just had its coat of arms officially recorded (at a cost of 130 pounds). Launceston did not apply for registration until the council's centenary in 1953.