The sheild symbolises the wirral peninsula,with the green background between white and blue waves for the mersey and dee estuaries.The
central charge is the trident from the crest of Wallasey, epitomising the varied maritime activities of the Wirral - ports,shipbuilding,ferrying,fishing,sailing,seaside
holiday resorts.Suspended from the trident is a conventionalised representation of the wirral horn, seen in the arms of wallasey
and the device of Wirral U.D.C. This recalls the tenure of the master forestership of the forest of Wirral by "cornage",the
actual horn eventually coming to the stanley family. the trident and horn are gold
above the shield is the closed helm proper to civic arms,with its twisted crest-wreath and decorative mantling in the green
and gold of the shield,typifying the rural parts of the Wirral and the sands of the coastal area,upon the wreath is the crest,symbolising
some of the special natural features ot the Wirral. On a sandstone rock representing Hilbre Island and the high rocky areas
of the middle of the peninsula is the oystercatcher from Hoylake,s crest, the bird that is seen in huge numbers on the deeside
area particularly.Flanking the rock are two sprigs of the Bog Myrtle or Sweet Gale, typical of the area, and the whole is
enclosed within a gold "palisado" crown - a coronet of palings signifying protection of these distinctive features of the
district. Five points indicate the five areas of the Borough.
The supporters represent the main early influences in the history of the Wirral on the left is the red lion of Randle Meschines,
Third earl of Chester, who formed the entire Hundred of Wirralinto a forest administered by the master foresters from storeton
in the modern Bebington area. The crosier in the lons paw represents St. Werburgh,s Abbey at Chester, whose manors ,churches
or lands in Wirral including Bebington Bromborough ( site of an earlier Saxon monastery ),Eastham Childer Thornton, Raby and
Neston, all or parts of which were also in Bebington Borough.
On the other side is the white lion of the Masseys, founders of Birkenhead Priory, in whose arms, as in those of the former
County Borough, the lion and crosier appear, though in the civic arms the colour of the lion was changed. The white lion is
also that of the Domvilles who held Brimstage in Bebington.for necessary distinction, each lion wears a collar in the form
of a letter W white on the red lion and vice versa.
Thus, in various symbolic ways, all the five constituent areas of Wirral are represented in the coat of arms.
The motto ,by faith and forsight, is suggested by words in the mottoes of Birkenhead ( fides - "faith" ) and Hoylake ( Prospice
- "look ahead" ).
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