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This is the splendid coat of arms of Derbyshire County Council.

Its official heraldic description is as follows:

ARMS: Or a Rose Gules surmounted by another Argent, both barbed and seeded proper on a Chief Sable three Stags' Heads caboshed of the third.

CREST: Out of a Mural Crown Or a Dragon wings elevated Sable holding in the dexter claw a Pick Or and collared Argent.

SUPPORTERS: On the dexter side a Stag and on the sinister side a Ram, both proper each gorged with a Chain Or pendent therefrom a Rose Gules surmounted by another Argent both barbed and seeded proper.

MOTTO: 'Bene Consulendo' - 'By Good Counsel' - officially granted 17 September 1937.

Although at first sight the heraldic language may seem confusing, close scrutiny of the arms should elucidate the explanation. DEXTER is 'right' and SINISTER is 'left'. As for the colours - OR is 'gold', ARGENT is 'silver', SABLE is 'black' and GULES is 'red'. And the splendid term 'CABOSHED' is heraldic-speak for 'showing the full face but nothing of the neck' -surely a word which rightfully belongs on the television word game Call My Bluff.

The red Tudor rose has been an emblem of Derbyshire for many years, having previously appeared on an unofficial device before the arms were formally granted.

The three stags' heads are from the Cavendish arms of the Duke of Devonshire.

The dragon crest, with metal collar and pick, symbolises the county's foundation by the Danes - the men of the dragon ships - and its long links with mining and engineering enterprises. More obscurely, too, dragons traditionally dwell in underground caves, of which Derbyshire has many, and are thus considered the guardians of mineral wealth.

The stag and ram have special significance for Derbyshire:

Deer are closely associated with the county, for when it was 'founded' by Danish invaders of the ninth century, they named their first fort Deoraby - 'the place of the deer' - which later evolved into the modern placename Derby.

Sheep had been introduced in the New Stone Age, and became the foundation of local farming, later providing the wool and hide for the early cloth and leather industries on which the county's towns were based. The male of the species - the ram - was the subject of an ancient traditional folk verse 'The Derby Ram'. The beast is also the mascot of both the county's regiment and its foremost football team, Derby County.

Peter Seddon, November 2007.

• Derbyshire - Coats of Arms, Badges and Crests

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County:  Derbyshire

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