Official blazon
Per pale: dexter,
Argent, a dexter hand in a steel gauntlet Proper fessways, holding up a
heart Gules, and on a chief Gules three pallets Or; sinister, Azure, a
cross moline Argent, on a chief Ermine two weavers' shuttles saltirewise
Azure, threaded Or, between as many escallops Gules.
And in an
Escrol below the Shield which is ensigned of a coronet befitting a
Police Burgh (videlicet: Azure masoned Argent) is placed this Motto "Labore
Et Fiducia".
Origin/meaning
The arms were
officially granted on February 27, 1964.
Galston became a Burgh
in 1864.
The arms show on the dexter side the Keith family arms
to recall Sir William Keith of Galston
who brought back to Scotland the heart of King Robert I after
Sir James Douglas, who was taking
it to the Holy Land, had been killed fighting the Moors in Spain.
The mailed hand with the heart were specially included to
commemorate this famous deed and also to make a canting reference to the
neighbouring family of Lockhart of Barr, one of whom, John Lockhart, was
well known for his support of John Knox and the Reformers.
On the
sinister side are the arms of Bentinck, the Duke of Portland being the
Superior of the Burgh.
The red shells on the ermine field allude to
Campbell of Cessnock; Cessnock Castle was the original Tower of
Garliestoun from which the town derived its name.
The crossed
shuttles are shown as a crest on the Burgh seal and refer to the weaving
industry for which the town was once well known.
The Latin motto
- "By work and by confidence" - comes from the seal and is said to have
been adopted by Galston in its early days
Notes:
1.
Sir Symon Lockhart was among the knights, led by Sir
James Douglas,
who took Bruce's heart on Crusade in 1329. The heart was carried in a
casket, of which Sir Symon carried a key. Their arms also include
a heart.
See also:
•
Arms of keith of Galsron
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