Cork City Coat of Arms
- The Arms of Cork City were officially registered by the chief herald on 23rd August 1949 and are
described as follows: "on waves of the sea a ship three masts in full sail proper between towers gules
upon rocks also proper each tower surmounted by a flag argent charged with a saltire of third"
The current coat of arms comprises two battlemented towers with a medieval galleon sailing between them.
The towers are said to represent the King's and Queen's Castles, which operated the medieval portcullis
gate that allowed ships to enter the interior dock of the walled town.
The Latin motto reads:
Statio Bene Fida Carinis or "a safe harbour for ships"
The Cork Coat of Arms can be seen in various places through out the City:
The Coat of Arms inscribed in stone which is exhibited at the entrance to Cork Public Museum was that
which was salvaged from the Cork City Hall when it was burnt down in 1920.
Other variants of the Cork City Seal existed.
In the Cork Public Museum there is a pen and ink sketch of the arms by Daniel Maclise taken from a stone
at the old Custom House, North Main Street. In this a ship sails between two towers or castles, bearing
a sailor in Elizabethan period dress and a bird on the rigging.
Cork City has other official insignia. In the days of the Anglo-Normans, the Corporation of Cork had
jurisdiction over the harbour, and for centuries the Mayor symbolically asserted his authority over the
harbour by throwing a dart into the sea at a particular point. Established under a charter of Henry V11,
dated 1st August 1500, the custom of "throwing the dart" was carried out until the 20th Century, when it
was discontinued.
In recent years it has been resurrected by Cork City Council and the Lord Mayor's Office.
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