Heraldry (Back) in the News!

I've covered the controversy about the current "coat of arms" used by the town of Glastonbury in England just over a year ago, http://blog.appletonstudios.com/2013/04/heraldry-in-news_18.html.

As you can see from the above, it's a bit of a mashup, though that alone is not the whole problem that some folks see with it, as noted in that post of a year ago.

Well, a year has passed since then, and the working group created then to make recommendations about changing the town's arms has given its report to the town council.  The working group consulted the College of Arms in London and were told that the arms are "unlawful" so far as the College is concerned, and recommended that the council apply to it for a legal coat of arms.  A majority of the members of the council agree that the arms need changing.

But after a long discussion at the meeting of the council when one member suggested an amendment to "note" the recommendations of the working group rather than to "accept" them, things devolved a little, and finally the town clerk had to step in and explain what it was that the council was voting on.  The majority finally voted to "note" the recommendations, and a new committee was set up to look at a new design; a committee which each council member chose to join.

But the antics, and confusion, of the town council at the meeting about this issue have sparked some controversy and a couple of hot letters to the local newspaper, the Central Somerset Gazette, about it, one by one of the members of the working group.  The story of the meeting and the scrutiny it is under now can be found on-line at http://www.centralsomersetgazette.co.uk/Glastonbury-Town-Council-scrutiny/story-20966802-detail/story.html, while the two letters can be found at http://www.centralsomersetgazette.co.uk/Glastonbury-Town-Council-meeting-like-watching/story-20966885-detail/story.html and http://www.centralsomersetgazette.co.uk/Glastonbury-Town-Council-know-draft-amendment/story-20966901-detail/story.html