Frome's Coat of Arms

The shield is black (sable), a colour chosen because it is common to the arms of both the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, a reminder of our connection with the cloth industry, and the Leversedge family who were Lords of the Manor in the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.

The inverted double chevron is one white (ermine) on top of a gold (or) one. The ermine chevron and the gold teasel at the base are taken from the Clothworkers arms - the teasel is a thistle head used to raise the nap on woollen cloth. The ermine chevron is a reference to Bishop Ken finally buried at St. John's Church in 1711. Similarly the gold chevron is from the Leversedge arms. Above the chevron are two willows (sallow), a reference to the forest of Selwood - "Sallow Wood", a hunting forest in Saxon and Norman times.

The crest above the shield is a helmet (helm) with a closed visor and mantling in black and gold. The closed helm signifies that the arms belong to a corporation, in this case the local Council, rather than an individual. On top of the helm is a gold Saxon crown, reference to Frome's connection with Saxon kings; King Athelstan held an assembly (witan) in Frome in 934, and King Eadred died here in 955. The Red Dragon (gules) rising from the crown is the Wessex Dragon, also used on the arms of Somerset. It holds a gold crosier, the shepherd's crook associated with bishops, and refers to the Abbey of Cirencester, to which the church of St. John's was granted in 1133.

The motto below the shield, "Time Trieth Troth" is from the Hungerford family. They were major landowners locally in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It means "time will tell how trustworthy you are".

The arms were designed by H. Ellis Tomlinson, who also designed those of Bridgwater, Crewkerne and Bathavon.