Canford Coat of Arms

The cigarette card is part of the first series of 25 cards detailing the Arms of Public Schools, published in 1933. Each card has the coat of arms on one side and a brief description of the school on the other.

The Canford coat of arms was designed by John Benson, first Housemaster of Franklin House and produced by Arthur Bell, Art Master at Canford from 1928 to 1937. It was approved by the College of Arms in September 1924. The first Canford flag – measuring 15’ by 9’ – was made jointly by Mr Benson and Mrs Chancellor.

The open book is the appropriate symbol of a seat of learning, and the wavy bands of blue and silver stand for the river ford. The rebus of the oak tree depended on the assumption (later disproved) that Cheneford (the Domesday form of Canford) meant Oak-tree-ford. It remains, however, a suitable emblem for a school, with its associations of growth, strength and endurance; and for a school, of course, whose parkland contains some fine specimens of mature oak.