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Original Coat of Arms
The original coat-of-arms consisted of a shield bearing a double-headed eagle. Above the shield, as a crest, was a cock and below the shield was the motto “Vigilantibus” (meaning “forever watchful”).
New Coat of Arms
A new coat of Arms was introduced 11th June 1930 by the Lord Lyon King of Arms after drawing attention to the Town Council that the original Coat of Arms was improper.
The Meaning of Airdrie : (Origin of the name)
Although still controversial, some say it derives from the Gaelic “ard ruith” meaning a level height or high pasture land. Others say it derives from Arderyth, the scene of the battle in 577AD between the armies of Aeddam, King of Kintyre, and Rydderych the Bountiful, King of Strathclyde. Possibly another suggestion could be that it was taken from the Gaelic “Airidh” meaning a sheiling or wayside town. As an aside, in 1695 the Scottish Parliament passed a special Act of Parliament authorising “Robert Hamilton of Airdrie” to hold four fairs yearly and a weekly market in the “town of Airdry”
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April 25th, 2005 at 10:35 am
Airdrie seems to me more likely to come from the Ancient Celtic to Gaelic “Aird Righ” which means High King.
Thought you might find that interesting.
June 19th, 2005 at 2:19 am
doubt it. There is no evidence of a kingly association which would have given ride to that name.
“Airdrie” is most likely a topographical name.
Cycle or walk up the high Street from the old “Gushet” House and you’ll see why!
July 27th, 2005 at 9:31 am
The Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names says it is of Gaelic etymology, dates from 1584 and means ‘high slope’. Thus, it is indeed topographical
September 9th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
For the town motto: it is I believe, rather an odd construction in the ablative case – giving a meaning “to the watchful” or “of the watchful” – I think the second is preferable. I learnt this in my Latin class at Airdrie Academy!
The two headed eagle always mystified me – that’s normally associated with the Russian and the Byzantine empires – does anyone have any idea how that came to be part of the coat of arms?
September 10th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
My wife, not an Airdrieonian but a keen amateur historian, has long plugged the ‘High KIng’ theory as a possible etymology.
There’s no hard historical evidence, but if you think about a number of things, maybe it’s right. Airdrie is slap bang in the middle of central Scotland. If you climb even halfway up Airdriehill, you can see Grangemouth to the east, the Isle of Arran to the West, Tinto to the south, and heaven knows what to the north (I always thought that being able to see to the North Sea from Airdriehill was a myth, but Grangemouth isn’t far off, is it?).
What better location for a High King than to be in the centre of the kingdom, with a view for many, many miles in all directions. What better site for a hill fort, then, than at the top of Airdriehill?
Add in the the possible link with King Arthur, who would fit anyone’s description of High King (in some accounts, Merlin is thought to come from Strathclyde, and the relatively nearby settlement of Camelon is just one letter away from being Camelot) and you have a possibility that is at least intriguing.
Just a thought…
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:07 am
I had known only about it is a city in canada (one of my favourite place)… Lol.. :-D
Don Lapre Jones
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