Civic pride in coat of arms
TODAY, the Black Country is administered by four metropolitan boroughs – Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley – but from the end of the 19th century until 1974 the region was home to a plethora of boroughs, each proudly displaying its individual status.
And status was very important to the civic leaders of the past, and the people who elected them. There was a distinction in importance between them, with some Black Country towns being County Boroughs, some Municipal Boroughs and other Urban Districts. As towns grew in size, so they moved up the ranks of civic status and some of our towns spent many years petitioning governments for this to happen.
The crowning moment came when a town was granted a charter by the sovereign of the day, conferring on it the status of Municipal Borough. That meant that the town could then have a mayor, its senior councillors could be aldermen, and it was more likely to be granted a coats of arms.
Tipton Urban District began its campaign to be raised to Municipal Borough in 1919, but it did not achieve that aim until October 1, 1938. On that day a grand ceremony was held, when the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, the Earl of Harrowby, on behalf of King George VI presented the charter of incorporation to Tipton’s first Mayor, Councillor A.F. Welch.
The charter decreed that the first sitting of the new Tipton Municipal Borough Council would be on November 9, 1938, and the day before the College of Arms officially granted the town its arms.
These arms adorned the cover of the charter day souvenir booklet and inside was a description:
Arms – Gules a castle between in chief three wheels and in base a Stafford knot or.
Crest – On a wreath of the colours issuant from a rock three spear heads proper hafted or.
Supporters – On either side a lion or pendant form the mouth by a strip gules an escutcheon sable charged with a thunderbolt or.
Motto – Salus populi suprema lex.
The gold castle on the red shield represented the civic authority, as well as alluding to nearby Dudley Castle, while the three wheel represented industry and the Staffordshire Knot represented Tipton’s county.
The crest of three spear heads emerging from a rock alluded to Tipton’s name in the Domesday Book, Tibintone, or Tipstone.
The shields held by the supporting lions represented the electric industry, as well as alluding to the Tipton-built car Thunderbolt, which set a new land speed record in 1938.
The motto translates as “The welfare of the people is the highest law.”
The arms also featured on the mayor’s badge of office, presented to the town at a special dinner on September 22, 1938. The charter day souvenir brochure has a description:
“The Badge is hand wrought and the whole in 18ct gold. The Borough Arms with crest, supporters and motto are raised and are in full heraldic colours. Surrounding this in a shield formation is a border of intertwining acanthus leaves which hold a Sword and a Mace diagonally across the Badge. Surmounted at the top is the Imperial Crown out of which a Thunderbolt (the symbol of electricity) forms a decorative loop. The Chain is composed of eleven large links with a raised Roman ‘T’ to represent Tipton, and twelve smaller links of geometrical formation. The large centre links bear a raised Lion rampant on a shield.”
Tipton was absorbed into West Bromwich in 1966 and subsequently into Sandwell in 1974. The Mayor and Mayoress’s chains and badges were displayed at West Bromwich Town Hall but in 1981 they were stolen in a burglary and have never been recovered.