No I didn’t. How come this is the first I’m hearing about this?
Well the coat of arms, or crest, was officially granted to the university in 1962. It was designed by Dr Anthony Wagner, who was Richmond Herald of Arms at the College of Arms, responsible for all matters heraldic, so it’s all very official.It isn’t used in many places anymore, as it was largely replaced with the familiar “US” logo in 2011. Those of you graduating this summer will still find it at the top of your degree certificates though.
That’s pretty cool. These things are supposed to symbolise stuff right, what does it all mean?
Well, we can start with the shield. It’s kind of a mash-up of the arms of East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton. The 'Saxon Crowns', for example, represent the Kingdom of the South Saxonsand appear on the arms for both East and West Sussex.
What about the little gold birds?
Those are martlets, they also appear on the arms of East and West Sussex. Martlets feature in a lot of heraldry, they are mythical birdsthat have no feetbecause they never land.
Right, so they’re like an allegory or something?
Exactly! University of Sussex students in full flight.
If the martlets are for East and West Sussex, I guess the weird fish thing must represent Brighton?
That’s a dolphin, and yes it’s taken from the arms of Brighton.
Fine, so what about those swans stood on either side?
Those are pelicans, they symbolise piety. They are standing on books to represent learning, while the motto ‘Be still, and know…’ is from Psalm 46, which forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies.
And the flags?
Well the sinister banner (the one on the left) is half lion and half boat. It represents Hastings, one of the Cinque ports, a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England. The name “Cinque ports” means five harbours, and refers to the five original members of the group. The lion/boat hybrid is actually from one of the most ancient flags in Britain.
OK, that sounds like a Wikipedia rabbit hole I haven’t got time for right now. How about the stag's head then?
Actually, we’re not sure on that one. Our research didn’t find an explanation for “stag's head caboshed Silver”, but we’d love to hear your theories!