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This is the splendid coat of arms of Chesterfield Borough Council:

Its formal heraldic description is as follows:

ARMS: Gules a Device representing a Pomegranate Tree as depicted on the ancient Common Seal of the Borough, the tree leaved and eradicated proper, flowered and fructed Or.

CREST: On a Wreath of the Colours issuant from a Mural Crown Gules masoned Or, a Mount Vert thereon a Derby Ram passant guardant proper.

SUPPORTERS: On the dexter side a Cock and on the sinister side a Pynot or Magpie proper, each ducally crowned Or.

MOTTO: 'ASPIRE' - Granted officially 10 November 1955.

Although at first glance the heraldic language may seem obscure, closer scrutiny of the arms should elucidate the explanation. DEXTER is 'right' and SINISTER is 'left'. FRUCTED means 'in fruit'. As for the colours - GULES is 'red', OR is 'gold', and VERT is 'green'.

The arms are derived from the design of the Borough's Common Seal, which bears a pomegranate tree decoratively treated. The reason for that particular fruit is open to debate. The emblem was in use by Chesterfield in the reign of Elizabeth I, and may have derived from the pomegranate of Granada, Spain, which Henry VIII had adopted as a badge upon his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. But it has also been claimed that the pomegranate was in use by Chesterfield long before Tudor times, so the true origin remains uncertain.

The mural crown (literally a 'wall crown') is a common symbol of civic government, and the celebrated 'Derby Ram' links the arms with the largest settlement in the county.

The supporters commemorate the revolution plot in 1688 at the Cock and Pynot Inn (latterly the Revolution House) at Old Whittington, and the association of the Earl of Devonshire with that plot. The birds stand on a base representing the rocks and moorland around the town.

The motto reveals a rare nod to jocularity in the rather sober world of heraldry. 'ASPIRE' suggests 'encouragement to achieve', but also refers punningly to the famous 'crooked spire' of the Parish Church.

Peter Seddon, November 2007.

• Derbyshire - Coats of Arms, Badges and Crests

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