bucks badge

[grunter]

quick effort

[Nonnie]

Forgive my eyes...but....is that a swan under a shower?

[Paranoid Dave]

dunno but its quite nice. very subtle.

[grunter]

The Shield
The shield hitherto used as our County badge bears the effigy of a swan, having a Duke's coronet round his neck, to which is attached a heavy gold chain. In heraldic language, he is 'Ducally crowned and gorged, or'.

This swan was a badge of the ancient family of De Bohn, and of the Giffards who were Earls of Buckingham, and then of the Staffords who were the first Dukes of Buckingham. These two last-named families owned the important castle at Buckingham, the memory of which has almost perished; it was long ago destroyed, and the Parish Church stands on its site.

It was natural that the Boroughs of Buckingham and High Wycombe should adopt this swan for their badges, and that it should also become the badge of the County. It is, therefore, proper that it should be the main feature on the shield of the County Council.