Member

From the outset, modern football teams have made use of heraldry on their shirts. Many, from the date of their foundation, used a version of the coat of arms of the town or city in which they played, without official licence to do so. This rarely caused problems; town and city councils were usually happy for the local team to display the local coat of arms. At the national level there was a similar situation. The Football Association used the Royal Arms in various versions and contexts until 1949, when it was granted its own arms—perhaps the most famous coat of arms in the country. Some may like to sing about three lions on a shirt; I like to think of them as Argent three lions passant guardant in pale azure. No other clubs have regularised the use of the emblems that they use. In most cases, nobody has challenged them for their use, but there have been exceptions or problems which have emerged when clubs tried to register these arms or insignia as a trademark. When Doncaster made an application in 1968 to register its arms as a trademark, the borough lodged an objection against the local team. A similar problem arose in relation to Rotherham United.