Our shield and coat of arms

Our coat of arms

Our coat of arms should not be confused with the University’s logo.

History

The University Arms, whose background colour is azure, contains a gold-edged open book at its centre, on which is inscribed Disce Doce (Learn and Teach). On either side is a sheaf of eight silver arrows, which is derived from the shield of old Sheffield. The gold crown is the Crown of Success and the White Rose of York denotes the University’s home county. The scroll carries the motto of Firth College, Rerum Cognoscere Causas (To Discover the Causes of Things; from Virgil’s Georgics II, 490).

Using the coat of arms

Reproduction of the University’s Coat of Arms is restricted by copyright to formal University of Sheffield documents. It may not be used by external organisations in their marketing activities, whether in hard copy or on the web.

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Our shield

Our shield can be used on its own as a social media avatar and occasionally as a stand-alone graphic device, eg as our favicon. 

It should be used with care as generally, we prefer not to use it in isolation from the rest of the logo. It can not be used to create new logos and can not be used instead of the primary logo. 

This example shows the shield being used as a large background graphic with transparency added.