Make a coat of arms with Surrey Heritage

A coat of arms contains symbols about a person or place.

Knight’s shields would display a coat of arms. They were used so that knights could tell each other apart in battle and date back to the 1100s.
A lot of families and places had their own coat of arms. The designs would include elements that had meaning to the family or area.

Surrey’s Coat of Arms has gold keys to symbolise St Peter’s Abbey which used to be in Chertsey. It also has a wool sack as a reminder of the importance of the wool trade in medieval Surrey. The acorn on the coat of arms represents the trees of Surrey and was also a symbol on the Earl of Surrey’s coat of arms. The acorn can still be seen in the logo for Surrey County Council today.

To make your own coat of arms you will need:
A4 paper
pen or pencil
ruler
colouring pens


1.Fold the piece of paper in half lengthways

2. Make a mark 5 centimetres (cm) from the bottom of the paper along the fold line

3. Now measure 5cm down from the top of the piece of paper along the fold line and make a mark

4. Now draw a line 8cm to the left of the mark and another line 8cm to the right of the mark

5. Now draw curved lines connecting the edges of the topline to the mark at the bottom

6. Go over the lines in pen to create an outline for your coat of arms

7. Now start drawing symbols that represent you and your life. Google – heraldic symbols to see what different images symbolize

8. Colour in your design.