Municipal Borough of Bexley - Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

A coat of arms was granted to the Bexley UDC on October 16, 1937 and inherited by the borough. The blazon was as follows: Per fesse vert and Or a fesse wavy barry wavy of four argent and azure in chief an eagle displayed between two apples leaved and slipped of the second and in base an oak tree eradicated proper. Crest: Upon heather proper within a coronet of four fleur-de-lis set upon a rim Or a horse forcene argent.

The green and gold colouring of the arms represented the cornfields and grasslands which covered the area before the town grew up. The oak tree continued this theme, and also depicted the town's parks. The blue and silver waves or "becks" referred to the name "Bexley". Gold apples stood for traditional fruit-growing and the eagle came from the arms of Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley, one time chancellor of the exchequer. The crown was included in the crest as the arms were granted in the coronation year of George VI. The crest was the white horse of Kent on a mound of heather for former heath lands of Bexleyheath.

The latin motto was Non Nobis Sed Communitati or "Not for ourselves but for the community".