Bolton Metropolitan Borough 1974
The current arms were granted in 1974. They were designed by H Ellis Tomlinson and Mike Cresswell.
The shield has at its centre a crown palisado - representing a tun (a settlement within a stockade) pierced by an arrow or bolt, making a visual pun on the town's name - bolt-tun. This symbol had also been used as part of the town badge in the 1958 grant of arms.
The eight red Lancastrian roses around the edge of the shield represent the eight townships that joined together to create the present borough on 1 April 1974: the boroughs of Bolton and Farnworth along with the urban districts of Blackrod, Kearsley, Horwich, Little Lever, South Turton and Westhoughton.
The elephant's previous green and red Coventry trappings and bishop's mitre are replaced by a red Lancastrian rose on gold.
The left hand supporter is a black 'Flanders' lion representing Bolton, its collar in the old borough's red and gold colours and bearing a green pennon that retains the spindle and shuttle emblems of the textile industry from the previous arms.
The right hand supporter is the red lion of the Hulton family, representing Farnworth, its collar in the blue and gold colours of the old Borough of Bolton and its pennon bearing a hornet from the arms of the Borough of Farnworth.
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