• Athlone Town Crest
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Athlone Town Crest

The coat-of-arms of Athlone as described in ‘The Book of public arms’ by A.C. Fox-Davies and M.E.B. Crooks (Edinburgh, 1894) p14 corresponds with the details on the official seal of the Corporation of Athlone details of which survive and are dated 1663.  This is the earliest known use of the coat-of-arms for Athlone.

The coat-of-arms has never been registered in the Chief Heralds Office in Dublin or in the College of Arms in London and yet it has been used intermittently for 350 years.

The heraldic description is: Gules, a lion passant guardant, on chief of the last two roses of the field slipped and leaved vert, with the motto ‘Urbes stant legibus’ (A city stands by its laws).

The use of the symbolism of a lion passant and the roses reflect the history of the 17^th century when Ireland was under British rule.

Heraldic description explained:

Gules = red

A lion passant = describes a lion (or leopard) shown walking with the right fore paw raised and the others on the ground, it is often referred to as the ‘lion of England’ as three such lions are shown on the Royal Arms

Guardant = indicates that the animal has its head turned to face the viewer

On chief = a chief is a charge on the coat-of-arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield

Roses = a common heraldic symbol, in this case being ‘slipped and leaved’ simply means that they are rose blooms cut with leaves still attached and ‘vert’ means that the leaves and stem are green.

(The background colour of the shield is red below with the lion in gold, the colours are reversed in the upper band where the roses are shown as red on a gold ground with the leaves and stem in green).‌

Chairpersons Atlone Town Council

Dissolved in 2014