Lobster Blogster

An occassional series on the joy of heraldic art from the perspective of a council waste operative.


Heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats of arms and badges, as well as the formal ceremonies and laws that regulate the use and inheritance of arms. The origins of heraldry lie in the need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets. (from Wikipedia)

In the modern world there is no finer "Knight of the Road" than the dual purpose waste and recycling collection vehicle. The joust has now been superceded by the weekly rubbish and recycling collections, as two over-sized vehicles battle to reverse down your road. This is why municipal authorities choose to adorn their general purpose domestic waste recepticles with the ancient symbols from heraldry.

One the left you will find a full length shot of a wheelie bin, proudly displaying the coat of arms of Watford.

To the right you will see the design in fine detail. The coat of arms of Watford is described thus:

An ancient shield design, displayed above the Latin motto "Audentior", surronded by a white rectangle bearing the imprint "Watford Borough Council" in capitals at the base, all colour and some detail lost as the entire design is impressed in white onto a gray high density polyethylene wheelie bin shell using a heat stamping method.

Note 1: Audentior translates as "if you've got bad taste, don't be afraid to show it."

Note 2: Wheelie bins with heraldic emblems are a real improvement to the town, credit where credit's due.