The Heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 of Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 represents the long history of the city and its people.

Arms

The image of three castles is often present, particularly in the flag and coat of arms of the city. The symbol has been around since the time of Robert the Bruce and represents the three buildings that used to stand on the three hills of Aberdeen; Aberdeen Castle

Aberdeen Castle

Aberdeen Castle was a late Middle Ages fortification, in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was situated on Castle Hill, a site today known as the Castlegate, where a block of flats are currently located....

 on Castle Hill, a castle on Windmill Hill and St. Katherine's Chapel (dedicated to Saint Catherine of Siena and founded in 1242 by John Kennedy of Kermuck, a Constable of Aberdeen Castle, but gone by the time Parson Gordon of Rothiemay drew up his Map of Aberdeen in 1661) on St. Katherine's Hill (now levelled).

Conversely the image of a single castle, rather than the triple, is often used in the city. Notably they can be seen in the city educational institutions of Aberdeen Grammar School

Aberdeen Grammar School

Aberdeen Grammar School, known to students as The Grammar is a state secondary school in the City of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of twelve secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department...

, Robert Gordons College and the University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

.

The coat of arms have been displayed on the city's seal since 1430. In 1672 the Parliament of Scotland

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

 passed an act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 requiring all persons or bodies using coats of arms to matriculate them in a register maintained by Lord Lyon King of Arms

Lord Lyon King of Arms

The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...

. Accordingly, the arms of the "Royall Burgh of Aberdein" were recorded in Lyon Register on February 25, 1674. The blazon

Blazon

In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

 of the arms was:

Gules, three towers triple-towered within a double-tressure flowered and counterflowered argent. Supported by two leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

s proper; and in an escrol above "Bon Accord"

The double tressure surrounding the three castles is derived from the royal arms of Scotland, and was traditionally said to have been granted to the city by Robert I

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

, but may only date from the reign of James I

James I of Scotland

James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...

The supporters are two leopards. According to legend the beasts were granted by James I to Aberdeen as the burgh underwrote his expenses while in exile in England. The city's local magazine is called the "Leopard" and when Union Bridge was constructed in the 19th century small statues of leopards in a sitting position were cast and placed along its railing tops.

Due to local government reorganisation, the arms have been rematriculated twice: in 1976 by the City of Aberdeen District Council, and in 1996 by the present Aberdeen City Council.

Motto

Bon Accord, is the motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

 of the city and is French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 literally for "Good Agreement". Legend tells that its use dates from the 14th century password used by Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence

Wars of Scottish Independence

The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....

, when he and his men laid siege to Aberdeen Castle before destroying it in 1308 and massacring the English Garrison, retaking Aberdeen for the townspeople. The secret phrase to initiate the campaign was "Bon Accord".

The city's toast is "Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again", this has been commonly misinterpreted as the translation of Bon Accord. The motto should also not be confused with that of Aberdeen Grammar School, which is Bon Record.