Saint Patrick's Saltire

"Saint Patrick's Cross" redirects here. For other uses, see List of Saint Patrick's Crosses.

Saint Patrick's Flag: a red saltire on a field of white

Saint Patrick's Cross (or Saint Patrick's Saltire) is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned Argent, a saltire gules. Saint Patrick's Flag is a flag composed of Saint Patrick's Saltire.

The flag is sometimes used to represent Ireland and takes its name from Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The antiquity of the association with Ireland and Saint Patrick has been questioned.^[1] The cross was used in the regalia of the Order of Saint Patrick, a British chivalric order established in 1783 by George III, and later in the arms and flags of a number of institutions. After the 1800 Act of Union joined Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain, the saltire was added to the British flag to form the Union Flag still used by the United Kingdom. Saint Patrick's Cross is rejected by many Irish nationalists as a British invention.^[1] In modern usage, it is sometimes associated with Northern Ireland as there is no universally accepted flag for the island of Ireland.

Insignia of a Knight of St Patrick: Gold crowns on a green shamrock on a red Cross of Saint Patrick

Origins

The earliest unequivocal use of the cross is in the official description of the badge of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick that Lord Temple, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, forwarded to his superiors in London in January 1783:^{[citation needed]}

And the said Badge shall be of Gold surrounded with a Wreath of Shamrock or Trefoil, within which shall be a Circle of Gold, containing the Motto of our said Order in Letters of Gold Viz. QUIS SEPARABIT? together with the date 1783, being the year in which our said Order was founded, and encircling the Cross of St Patrick Gules, surmounted with a Trefoil Vert each of its leaves charged with an Imperial Crown Or upon a field of Argent.

The Order of Saint Patrick was created in 1783 to mark the Constitution of 1782 which gave substantial autonomy to Ireland. The order was a means of rewarding (or obtaining) political support in the Irish Parliament.^[2]

The origin of the cross used in the badge is unclear. Many subsequent commentators have assumed that the saltire was simply taken from the medieval arms of the FitzGeralds (or Geraldines).^[1] William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster was the premier peer in the Irish House of Lords and a founder member of the Order of Saint Patrick. Michael Casey suggests that Lord Temple, pressed for time, had based the Order's insignia on those of the Order of the Garter, and simply rotated its George's Cross through 45 degrees.^[3]

While there is earlier evidence of saltires used in representations of Ireland, it is scanty and equivocal; instances have been explained away as the Geraldine arms,^[4][5] or sometimes as the Spanish Cross of Burgundy. The CAIN website^[6] states:

Even on St. Patrick's day, this flag is not widely flown by Irish people who, for the most part, do not recognise it as their own. It is seen as a British symbol, and is used by regiments of the British Army. [Additional note: The flag was first designed by British authorities in Dublin Castle in the 17th century as a counterpart to St. George's Cross. The flag also forms part of the coat of arms of the Duke of Leinster.]

The arms of Ireland since the sixteenth century have been a gold harp with silver strings on a blue field.^[7] Some contemporary commentators in Ireland condemned the Order's red saltire as an alien symbol. While there had previously been crosses associated with Saint Patrick, they were not X-shaped.

Earlier use of saltires in Ireland

Arms of Trinity College Dublin

A variety of sources show saltires in use earlier than 1783 in Ireland.

The design on the reverse of some Irish coins (groat and half-groat) minted c.1480 includes two shields with saltires. At this time, Gerald FitzGerald was Lord Deputy of Ireland, and the shields are considered to be his arms.^[8][9]

Cross of Burgundy

English and German picture maps of the battle of Kinsale of 1601/2 show the combined Irish–Spanish forces under a red saltire. This is presumed to be the Cross of Burgundy, the war flag of the House of Burgundy (merged into the House of Habsburg) that ruled Spain, rather than an Irish flag.^[10]

The arms of Trinity College Dublin, attested from 1612, show flags flying from two castle turrets. One is a red cross on white, interpreted as St George's Cross; the other is a red saltire on white, interpreted as representing Ireland.^[11][12]

Contemporary reports of the ensigns of the Irish Catholic Confederation during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms state that each had a canton with a red saltire on a gold field.^[13] A 1645 picture map of the Siege of Duncannon shows Preston's Confederates under a saltire.^[11][14]

A 1915 book about flags claims that The Protectorate of the 1650s briefly used a flag containing the St George's cross in the first and fourth quarters, St Andrew's cross in the second, and a red saltire on white in the third to represent Ireland.^[15] Several drawings of Union flags, including one of HMS Henry made c.1661 by Willem van de Velde, the elder, include a red saltire as in the post-1800 Union; but there is no official evidence for such a design.^[16]

The Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1769 edition) illustrates one of three maritime flags of Ireland (figure 49, in bottom left hand corner), described as white, charged with a red saltire. One other flag is also white with a red saltire, while the remaining maritime flag is Green with a golden harp with a silver quarter bearing a red cross

Several atlases and flag books in the late 17th and 18th centuries show a red-saltire–on–white flag for Ireland; including Paulus van der Dussen's (c.1690),^[4] and Le Neptune françois, a marine atlas published in Amsterdam in 1693, where it is depicted with the legends Ierse above and Irlandois below — Dutch and French for "Irish".^[17] Jan Blaeu's 1650s atlas has a saltire on white for Ireland, which is hand-coloured red in some copies.^[18]

Contemporary evidence

Some contemporary responses to the badge of the order complained that an X-shaped cross was the Cross of St Andrew, patron of Scotland, although modern vexillology allows only a blue-and-white design to be so called. A February 1783 newspaper complained that "the breasts of Irishmen were to be decorated by the bloody Cross of St Andrew, and not that of the tutelar Saint of their natural isle".^[19] Another article claimed that "the Cross of St Andrew the Scotch saint is to honour the Irish order of St Patrick, by being inserted within the star of the order [...] a manifest insult to common sense and to national propriety".^[19]

An open letter to Lord Temple, to whom the design of the Order of St. Patrick's badges were entrusted, echoes this and elaborates:^[19]

The Cross generally used on St Patrick's day, by Irishmen, is the Cross-Patee, which is small in the centre, and so goes on widening to the ends, which are very broad; this is not recorded as the Irish Cross, but has custom for time immemorial for its support, which is generally allowed as sufficient authority for any similar institution ... As bearing the arms of another person is reckoned very disgraceful by the laws of honour, how much more so is it, in an order which ought to carry honour to the highest pitch, to take a cross for its emblem, which has been acknowledged for many ages as the property of an order in another country? If the cross generally worn as the emblem of the Saint who is ascribed to Ireland is not agreeable to your Excellency, sure many others are left to choose from, without throwing Ireland into so ignominious a point of view, as to adopt the one that Scotland has so long a claim to.

As against this, a 1785 newspaper report from Waterford states:^[20]

Upwards of forty vessels are now in our harbour, victualling for Newfoundland, of which number thirteen are of our own nation, who wear the St. Patrick's flag (the field of which is white, with a St. Patrick's cross, and an harp in one quarter.)

Other symbols of Ireland

The coat of arms of Ireland is a gold harp on a blue field. It represented Ireland in the flags of earlier unions: the Commonwealth Flag (England and Ireland, 1649) and the Protectorate Jack (England, Ireland and Scotland, 1658). It also featured on the Royal Standard since James I.^[21]

The Celtic cross and Brigid's cross are other crosses which have been used as symbols of Ireland.

Use of the flag

The St. Patrick's flag is the flag of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, and is flown on Degree days and other important occasions.^{[citation needed]} Its use is not affected by the creation of a separate National University of Ireland, Maynooth in 1997.^{[citation needed]}

St Patrick's Cross flying for Northern Ireland at the 2011 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Flags in Northern Ireland are controversial, their symbolism reflecting underlying political differences.^[6] Saint Patrick's Cross is sometimes used as a cross-community symbol with less political baggage than either the Union Flag or the Ulster Banner, seen as pro-Unionist, or the Irish tricolour used by Irish nationalists.^[22] It is one of two flags authorised to be flown on church grounds by the Church of Ireland, the other being the Compasrose Flag of the Anglican Communion.^[23] This was the recommendation of a 1999 synod committee on sectarianism.^[23] For similar motives, it is the basis of the police badge of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland.^[22] David McNarry suggested it should be allowed in Northern Irish number plates analogous to the flags allowed on English, Scottish, and Welsh plates.^[24]

Saint Patrick's Flag is often seen during Saint Patrick's Day parades in Northern Ireland.^[22] Flags are handed out by Down District Council before the Downpatrick parade, near Patrick's burial place at Down Cathedral.^[25] In Great Britain, Saint Patrick's Flag was flown in place of the Irish tricolour at the 2009 parade in Croydon, prompting complaints from some councillors.^[26] It is flown on Patrick's Day by Bradford City Council.^[27] It is one of the flags approved by the Orange Institution for display during Orange walks.^[28] The all-island bodies for men's and ladies' bowls compete internationally under the Saint Patrick's flag.^[29][30]

At the 1935 celebrations in London for George V's silver jubilee, "The cross of St. George representing England and Wales, and the saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, representing Scotland and Ireland" were flown separately and used in combination.^[31] At the time the Irish Free State was a separate Dominion within the British Commonwealth. In 1986, government policy during state visits to London was to fly the crosses of George, Andrew and Patrick and the Welsh Dragon.^[32] The government clarified that the Union Jack was the flag of Northern Ireland, not the Patrick's Cross or the Ulster Banner.^[33]

The saltire in combination

Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain		Flag of the United Kingdom

With the 1800 Act of Union that merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, a red saltire was incorporated into the Flag of the United Kingdom as representing Ireland. Regardless of the uncertainty over its origins, the saltire gules on a white field was used in the arms adopted by various Irish organisations, and some outside Ireland.

The arms of Cork city show red-saltire flags on the two towers, though not on versions prior to 1800.^[34] Coleraine Borough Council includes Patrick's cross, as Patrick is said to have given Coleraine its name.^[35]

The original arms of the Royal Irish Academy in 1786 did not have the saltire, but those granted in 1846 do.^[14][36] There are red saltires in the arms of the Queen's University in Ireland (est.1850, arms granted 1851; dissolved 1879) and its successor Queen's University Belfast (est.1908, arms granted 1910);^[37] and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.^[38] The Royal Dublin Society's flag, dating from c.1902–12, has a red saltire, but its significance is unknown.^[39] The Irish Free State Girl Guides, descended from the Unionist British Girl Guides, had a Patrick's Cross on the flag it used from its establishment in 1929 until the 1937 Constitution.^[40] The Church of Ireland diocese of Connor's arms, granted in 1945,^[41] include Patrick's Cross in memory of his supposed enslavement at Slemish.^[42]

The cross is incorporated in the badge of the Reform Movement,^[43] a "post-nationalist" pressure group in the Republic of Ireland seeking closer ties with the United Kingdom.^[44] The Patrick's Cross was on the flag proposed in 1914 of the County Down unit of Irish Volunteers.^[45] A writer in The Irish Volunteer complained that The O'Rahilly should have known the cross was "faked for Union Jack purposes".^[46]

The cross appeared on the house flag of Irish Shipping, founded 1941,^[18][47] and that used by Irish Continental Line in 1973–9.^[48] It replaced the St George's Cross in 1970 on the flag of the Commissioners of Irish Lights.^[49][50] The badge of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, designed by John Vinycomb, incorporates the cross and the arms of the four provinces.^[36] The Urban District Council of Rathmines and Rathgar was granted arms in 1929, a year before it was absorbed into Dublin Corporation; these featured a Cross of St Patrick and a Celtic Cross.^[51]

In 1932-33 a variation of the flag with a St. Patrick's Blue background was adopted as the badge and flag of the short-lived Blueshirts.^[52] This militant group incorporated right-wing, conservative and some former-unionist elements in opposition to the then left-wing republican Fianna Fáil party.^[53]

A flag combining St Andrew's Cross, St Patrick's Cross, and the Red Hand of Ulster has been used by Ulster separatists, who wish to see Northern Ireland leave the United Kingdom and become an independent state, not joining together with the Republic of Ireland.^[6][54]

The Church of England Diocese of Truro, established in 1876, has a Patrick's cross in its arms, representing Cornwall's Celtic heritage.^[55] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, whose cathedral is St Patrick's, incorporates the cross.^[56] St. Patrick's High School, Ottawa has the cross in its flag and arms.^[57]

• 

  Proposed flag of an independent Northern Ireland

• 

  Flag of the Blueshirts

• 

  Flag of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

• 

  Standard of Queen's University Belfast

• 

Unrelated flags

Other flags in which a red saltire on a white field feature include the Flag of Alabama — officially "a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white";^[58] and the Flag of Florida and the Flag of Valdivia, both derived from the Spanish Cross of Burgundy. The Flag of Jersey is said by to derive from a misreading of "Ierse" as "Jersey" in a 1693 Dutch flag book: "Ierse" is Dutch for "Irish".^[18]

The arms of West Dunbartonshire derive from the former arms of the burgh of Clydebank, including a red saltire as the arms of Lennox.^[59][60] Since Old Kilpatrick, a legendary birthplace of Saint Patrick, is in the district, the association of Saint Patrick's Cross may be considered appropriate, if coincidental.^[61][62][63]

• 

  Flag of Alabama.

• 

  Flag of Florida.

• 

  Flag of Valdivia, Chile.

• 

  Flag of Jersey.

• 

  Coat of Arms for West Dunbartonshire.

See also

• List of Irish flags
• Northern Ireland flags issue
• St. Patrick's Blue

References

• Hayes-McCoy, Gerard Anthony (1979). Pádraig Ó Snodaigh. ed. A history of Irish flags from earliest times. Dublin: Academy Press. ISBN 090618701X. 
• Wilson, Timothy (1986). Flags at sea : a guide to the flags flown at sea by British and some foreign ships, from the 16th century to the present day, illustrated from the collections of the National Maritime Museum. London: National Maritime Museum. ISBN 0112903894. 
• Groom, Nick (2007). "Union Jacks and Union Jills". In Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Richard Jenkins. Flag, Nation and Symbolism in Europe and America. Routledge. pp. 68–87. ISBN 0415444047. http://books.google.com/?id=SlhbERCCqzUC&lpg=PA85&pg=PA85. 

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hayes-McCoy, p.38
2. ^ "Monarchy Today: Queen and Public: Honours: Order of St Patrick". Official website of the British Monarchy. http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page4880.asp. Retrieved 2006-12-03. 
3. ^ Casey, Michael (Autumn 1991). "The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick". Dublin Historical Record (Old Dublin Society) 44 (2): 6. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Wilson, pp.28–30
5. ^ Hayes-McCoy, pp.37–8
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Symbols in Northern Ireland - Flags Used in the Region". CAIN. University of Ulster. 6 January 2009. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/symbols/flags.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
7. ^ Hayes-McCoy, pp.20,22
8. ^ Smith, Aquilla (1839). "On the Irish Coins of Edward the Fourth". Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy) 19: 31–33. http://books.google.com/?id=jmEGAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22royal%20irish%20academy%22%20%20saltire&pg=PA32. 
9. ^ Hayes-McCoy, p.37
10. ^ Hayes-McCoy, pp.36–7
11. ^ ^{a b} Galloway, Peter (1999). The most illustrious order : the Order of St Patrick and its knights. London: Unicorn. pp. 189–190. ISBN 0906290236. 
12. ^ Hayes-McCoy, pp.38–39
13. ^ Daly, Peter Maurice; Alan R. Young, Leslie T. Duer, Anthony Raspa (1995). The English Emblem Tradition: Emblematic flag devices of the English civil wars, 1642-1660. Index Emblematicus. 3. University of Toronto Press. p. xlvii. ISBN 080205739X. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Hayes-McCoy, p.40
15. ^ Flags of the World, Past and Present: Their Story and Associations. 1915. pp. 58–60. http://www.archive.org/stream/flagsworldpasta00stokgoog/flagsworldpasta00stokgoog_djvu.txt. "In the first flag following that [1654] ordinance, England and Scotland were represented by the crosses of St George and St. Andrew, and Ireland by a golden harp on a blue ground which is the correct standard of that country. These were displayed quarterly, St. George being first and fourth, Ireland second, and St. Andrew third. The standard of the Protector consisted of this flag with his escutcheon of a white lion rampant on a black field placed in the centre. The harp, however, seemed quite out of place in this flag, and another was tried in which St. George was in the first and fourth, St. Andrew in the second, and the red saltire on white daringly placed in the third as representing Ireland. This was a most unsatisfactory arrangement for visibility at sea, and the old Union was reverted to, but as Ireland was not shown on it, a golden harp was placed in the centre, and at the Restoration the harp was removed and the flag became as it was at the death of Charles I." 
16. ^ Wilson, p.24
17. ^ Hayes-McCoy, pp.40–41
18. ^ ^{a b c} Hayes-McCoy, p.41
19. ^ ^{a b c} Morley, Vincent (27 September 2007). "St. Patrick's Cross". http://home.connect.ie/morley/cros_e.htm. Retrieved 29 June 2009. 
20. ^ "London". Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser (Gale): p. 2. 26 February 1785; Issue 17 539. 
21. ^ Hayes-McCoy, p.25
22. ^ ^{a b c} Groom, p.81
23. ^ ^{a b} Church of Ireland General Synod Sub Committee on Sectarianism Report : April 1999 Church of Ireland
24. ^ "St Patrick's cross 'is NI symbol'". Daily Mirror: p. 8. 16 December 2008. 
25. ^ Emerson, Newton (20 March 2003). "St Patrick's parade remains inoffensive". Irish News: p. 6. 
26. ^ Austen, Ian (20 March 2009). "'Slap in the face to the Irish'". Croydon Advertiser: p. 19. 
27. ^ "Race row over tricolour". Irish Daily Mirror: p. 27. 12 April 2006. 
28. ^ Bryan, Dominic (2000). Orange parades: the politics of ritual, tradition, and control. Pluto Press. pp. 128. ISBN 0745314139. 
29. ^ "Nolan's cross words". The Times: pp. 84. 5 September 2008. 
30. ^ "Full List of International Member Countries". World Bowls. http://www.worldbowlsltd.co.uk/members.html#ireland. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
31. ^ HC Deb 07 May 1935 vol 301 cc814–5W
32. ^ HC Deb 22 July 1986 vol 102 c111W
33. ^ HC Deb 25 July 1986 vol 102 c571W
34. ^ Hayes-McCoy, p.39
35. ^ "The Coat of Arms of Coleraine Borough Council". Coleraine Borough Council. http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/show.php?id=304. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
36. ^ ^{a b} Howley, M F; John Vinycomb, G D Burtchaell (1902). "Badge of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland: 415–8. 
37. ^ "The University's Coats of Arms". Queen's University Belfast. http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/EstatesDepartment/FileStore/UniversitysCoatsofArms/Filetoupload,18348,en.doc. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
38. ^ "Stained glass: RCSI crest". Virtual tour. RCSI. http://www.rcsi.ie/tour/colles_room/popups_colles/stained_glass_rcsi.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07. 
39. ^ "The RDS Flag". Royal Dublin Society. http://www.rds.ie/index.jsp?p=151&n=232. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
40. ^ "History" (PDF). Irish Girl Guides Handbook. Irish Girl Guides. January 2003. p. 2. http://www.irishgirlguides.ie/adult/handbook.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-13. ^{[dead link]}
41. ^ "How was the Diocese of Connor created?". Diocese of Connor. http://www.connordiocese.org.uk/index.cfm?id=5. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
42. ^ "Nichevo" (11 May 1946). "An Irishman's Diary: Episcopal Arms". The Irish Times (ProQuest): p. 5. 
43. ^ Johnston, Shane (Spring/Summer 2004). "The History and Origins of the Saint Patrick’s Cross" (PDF). The Reform Movement Newsletter. Reform Movement. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on 2004-07-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20040710181910/http://www.reform.org/TheReformMovement_files/newsletter.pdf#page=3. Retrieved 2009-07-06. "It is seen amongst others in the arms of Queens University, the Royal Irish Academy, The Royal College of Surgeons, and of course in the badge of the Reform Movement." 
44. ^ "Aims". Reform Movement. 27 July 2007. http://www.reform.org/site/aims/. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
45. ^ Hayes-McCoy, p.200
46. ^ Hayes-McCoy, p.201
47. ^ "House flag, Irish Shipping Ltd (AAA0272)". Collections Online. National Maritime Museum. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=AAA0272. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
48. ^ Rosanoski, Neale (17 June 2003). "Irish Ferries (Irish Continental Line Ltd.)". House flags of Irish shipping companies. Flags of the World. http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/ie~hf.html#bbl. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
49. ^ Grieve, Martin; Miles Li, Jarig Bakker, Rob Raeside (19 July 2008). "Commissioner of Irish Lights". Flags of the World. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ie~comil.html. Retrieved 27 April 2011. 
50. ^ Dillon, Jim (1995). "The Evolution of Maritime Uniform". Beam (Commissioners of Irish Lights) 24. http://www.commissionersofirishlights.com/cil/publications/beam-magazines/volume-24/the-evolution-of-maritime-uniform.aspx. Retrieved 27 April 2011. "In the Lighthouse Service the cap badge originally was a St George's Cross surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves but from 1970 the St Patrick's Cross has been used." 
51. ^ Jones, Laurence (2 August 2005). "Rathmines and Rathgar Urban District Council". Dublin County Council, Ireland. Flags of the World. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/ie-dub.html#rathmines. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
52. ^ Morris, Ewan (2005). Our own devices: national symbols and political conflict in twentieth-century Ireland. Irish Academic Press. p. 60. ISBN 0716526638. 
53. ^ Cronin, Mike (April 1995). "The Blueshirt Movement, 1932-5: Ireland's Fascists?". Journal of Contemporary History (Sage) 30 (2): 311–332. doi:10.1177/002200949503000206. http://www.jstor.org/stable/261053. 
54. ^ Groom, p.85
55. ^ Dorling, Edward Earle (1911). Heraldry of the church: a handbook for decorators. Arts of the Church. 10. London: A. R. Mowbray. p. 66. http://www.archive.org/details/heraldryofchurch00dorl. 
56. ^ Sullivan, Paul J.. "The Coat of Arms of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy Michael Dolan, Ph.D., D.D. Archbishop of New York". Archdiocese of New York. http://www.ny-archdiocese.org/about-us/archbishop-timothy-m-dolan/the-coat-of-arms/. Retrieved 2009-07-07. 
57. ^ "St. Patrick's High School". The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada. Canadian Heraldic Authority. 2005. http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=228&ShowAll=1. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
58. ^ State Flag of Alabama Alabama Department of Archives and History
59. ^ "Clydebank District Council Coat of Arms". The Clydebank Story. West Dunbartonshire Council. http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/onlinestories/theClydebankStory/Photograph_Coat_of_Arms.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-07. ^{[dead link]}
60. ^ "West Dunbartonshire Council". Heraldry Society of Scotland. http://heraldry-scotland.com/copgal/displayimage.php?album=46&pos=2. Retrieved 2009-07-07. 
61. ^ Urquhart, Robert Mackenzie (1973). Scottish burgh and county heraldry. London: Gale. p. 129. ISBN 0810320053. 
62. ^ Urquhart, Robert Mackenzie (1979). Scottish Civic Heraldry: Regional, Islands, District. London: Heraldry Today. ISBN 0900455268. 
63. ^ Urquhart, Robert Mackenzie (2001). Scottish civic heraldry 2. Hamilton: Scottish Library Association. ISBN 0900649232.