The Hereford Coat of Arms brings the History of Hereford very much into one place. Starting from the centre are the three lions of King Richard I. He gave us our first Charter, back on October 9th 1189. This makes the City of Hereford the second oldest City, by Charter in England.
We gave the King 40 pieces of silver towards his Crusade to the Holy Land, sadly Richard never returned. The King allowed us to have his three lions in the Centre of our coat of arms. We share this honour with one other City in the United Kingdom and that is the City of London. Now if we do not pay the £40, Hereford will lose its status as a City. As a matter of interest when we received our first Charter Hereford was in Wales and Welsh was the first language. This enabled us to rule the City without the interference of the High Sheriff.
City of Hereford 