The Eagle: A Pub Under the King of Birds
The Eagle: A Pub Under the King of Birds | A Homerton pub carrying the eagle – the majestic king of the birds, symbol of power and empire across the ages
Tag: heraldry
The Star: A Pub Under the Brightest Point of Light
The Star: A Pub Under the Brightest Point of Light | A Hackney Downs pub carrying the star – one of the oldest, simplest and most luminous of all pub signs
The Griffin: A Pub for a Mythical Beast
The Griffin: A Pub for a Mythical Beast | A Shoreditch pub carrying the griffin, the magnificent mythical creature that is half eagle, half lion, and guardian of treasure
The Red Lion: England’s Most Famous Pub Name
The Red Lion: England’s Most Famous Pub Name | A Hoxton pub carrying the single most common pub name in England, drawn from the red lion of royal and Scottish heraldry
The Talbot: A Pub Named for a Vanished Hound
The Talbot: A Pub Named for a Vanished Hound | A Dalston pub carrying the name of the talbot, the noble white hunting hound that is now extinct but lives on in heraldry and pub signs
Angel and Crown Review: Two Signs Joined Because Two Pubs Merged
Angel and Crown Review: Two Signs Joined Because Two Pubs Merged | The double name is almost always a marriage, a merger, or a landlord bringing his old sign with him
The White Swan Review: The Most Common Pub Name in England
The White Swan Review: The Most Common Pub Name in England | There are hundreds of them. This one has a 4.4. Nobody has ever asked why the swan is white.
Shoreditch Arms Review: Nobody Has Any Arms
Shoreditch Arms Review: Nobody Has Any Arms | An arms pub is flying a coat of arms, and a district cannot have one, and nobody has ever asked
Griffin Review: It Guards the Gold and It Is on the City Boundary
Griffin Review: It Guards the Gold and It Is on the City Boundary | The griffin marks the edge of the City of London, and it has been guarding treasure in myth for four thousand years
Red Lion Review: The Second One, and the Colour Is the Message
Red Lion Review: The Second One, and the Colour Is the Message | Six hundred of them in England, and the animal tells you nothing while the colour tells you everything
White Lion Review: The Badge of the House of Mortimer
White Lion Review: The Badge of the House of Mortimer | A white lion is Edward IV again – the third pub in this survey flying a badge from the Wars of the Roses
Spread Eagle Review: The Eagle Is Habsburg, and It Has Two Heads
Spread Eagle Review: The Eagle Is Habsburg, and It Has Two Heads | A displayed eagle is a heraldic pose, the double-headed version is an empire looking both ways, and it is on a great many pub signs
Spread Eagle Review: Displayed Is a Heraldic Term
Spread Eagle Review: Displayed Is a Heraldic Term | It is not a species and not a description – it is a technical word for how the bird has been drawn
Pelican Review: The Bird on the Sign Is Stabbing Itself
Pelican Review: The Bird on the Sign Is Stabbing Itself | In heraldry the pelican wounds its own breast to feed its young. It is called the pelican in her piety, and it is on pub signs all over England.
Leyton Star Review: A 4.5, and the Star Is the Oldest Sign There Is
Leyton Star Review: A 4.5, and the Star Is the Oldest Sign There Is | A Marian symbol, a heraldic badge, and the safest thing to paint on a board when the religion keeps changing
White Horse & Bower Review: The Hanoverian Steed and the Leafy Arbour
White Horse & Bower Review: The Hanoverian Steed and the Leafy Arbour | A 4.3 pub named White Horse & Bower, pairing the royal white horse of Hanover with the leafy garden bower
The Black Horse Review: The Noble and Powerful Steed
The Black Horse Review: The Noble and Powerful Steed | A classic old pub name – the Black Horse, that noble, powerful and beautiful steed, one of the great classic inn signs
Sun Tavern Review: Another Sun, and This One Is Just a Sun
Sun Tavern Review: Another Sun, and This One Is Just a Sun | After the parhelion at Mortimer’s Cross and the badge of Edward IV, here is a pub sign that means nothing at all, and it is a relief
Cross Keys Review: The Keys Belong to Saint Peter
Cross Keys Review: The Keys Belong to Saint Peter | Two crossed keys are the arms of the Papacy. Every pub in England displaying them is flying a Catholic badge, mostly by accident.
Rising Sun Review: A Pub Named After the Cheapest Sky in England
Rising Sun Review: A Pub Named After the Cheapest Sky in England | One of the most common pub names in the country, and a small lesson in why the sunrise was such a big deal to people with no clocks
Prince of Wales Review: The Feathers Came Off a Blind King
Prince of Wales Review: The Feathers Came Off a Blind King | Or so the story goes. The Black Prince supposedly took them from a dead Bohemian at Crecy. The evidence is thin and the story is unkillable.
Ganton Arms Review: 4.6, and the Arms Belong to Nobody
Ganton Arms Review: 4.6, and the Arms Belong to Nobody | An arms pub is flying a coat of arms, and this one is named after a street, which does not have one
White Horse Review: The Horse of Hanover, and a Hill in Oxfordshire
White Horse Review: The Horse of Hanover, and a Hill in Oxfordshire | The white horse is the badge of the House of Hanover. It is also carved into a hillside and is three thousand years old.
Golden Lion Review: The Colour Is the Whole Message
Golden Lion Review: The Colour Is the Whole Message | A lion is generic and tells you nothing – the colour tells you whose land you are standing on
Sun in Splendour Review: Three Suns Rose Before the Battle
Sun in Splendour Review: Three Suns Rose Before the Battle | In 1461 a terrified army saw three suns in the sky. An eighteen-year-old talked them into believing it was God. He became Edward IV.
Greyhound Review: The Fastest Dog, and the Sport That Ate It
Greyhound Review: The Fastest Dog, and the Sport That Ate It | A greyhound accelerates faster than a racehorse. Then somebody invented a mechanical hare and built an industry on it.
Royal Star Review: Where Majesty Meets the Heavens
Royal Star Review: Where Majesty Meets the Heavens | A 4.7 pub named Royal Star, pairing the grandeur of royalty with the ancient wonder of the stars
Kings Arms Review: The Lion and the Unicorn Are Chained
Kings Arms Review: The Lion and the Unicorn Are Chained | Look at the royal arms. The unicorn has a collar and a broken chain, and that is not decoration.
King’s Arms Review: The Most Loyal Name in the Land
King’s Arms Review: The Most Loyal Name in the Land | The King’s Arms is one of the oldest and most common of all pub names – a straightforward declaration of loyalty to the Crown
White Horse Review: The Ancient and Magical Pub Name
White Horse Review: The Ancient and Magical Pub Name | The White Horse is one of the oldest of all pub names – rich with ancient English legend, chalk hillsides, and heraldry