| Coat of arms of Colchester | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Armiger | Colchester City Council |
| Crest | On a Wreath of the Colours issuant from a Chaplet of Roses alternately Gules and Argent a Female Figure habited Azure and Veiled Argent crowned Or holding a Passion Cross Or |
| Shield | Gules four Pieces of Wood raguly conjoined in a cross proper each side arm transfixed with a Nail palewise Sable ensigned by an Ancient Crown Or and that in base enfiling a like Crown and transfixed by a like Nail in bend |
| Supporters | To the dexter a Roman Centurion habited and holding in his dexter hand a Short Sword proper and to the sinister an Oyster Fisherman habited and holding in his sinister hand a Length of Rope proper each standing on a Compartment comprising a Grassy Mound proper and an Estuary barry wavy Argent and Azure |
| Motto | 'No cross, no crown' |
The coat of arms of Colchester was first granted to the city by Henry V in 1413.[1]
The shield is more commonly used than the full arms.[2] There are two versions of the arms that are commonly seen.[3] The first was in use from around 1550 to 1915; the other the intervening periods between 1413 and present.
- ^ "The Borough Arms". www.colchester.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Essex: Colchester Borough Council". Civic Heraldry of England and Wales. Robert Young. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
- ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1915). The book of public arms : a complete encyclopædia of all royal, territorial, municipal, corporate, official, and impersonal arms. Colchester: Benham and Company. pp. 194.