Rochdale Association Football Club, founded in 1907 and nicknamed “The Dale,” uses a crest based on the arms of the former County Borough of Rochdale. The coat of arms, itself derived from the arms of the local Rochdale family with additions, was granted to the Borough by the College of Heralds in 1857. When a new Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council was formed in 1974 and received a new coat of arms, the football club continued to use the older County Borough arms.[1]
Design and History
The club’s shirts were largely unadorned until the early 1960s, when a crest based on the Rochdale coat of arms first appeared on the kit.[2] For the 1974-75 season and part of 1976-77, the team wore a simple monogram, and shirts were not adorned again until the 1978-79 season, when the club adopted a slightly modified version of the town’s old coat of arms, which was used until 1993.[2]
In 1993, a modernised version of the club crest was introduced. The familiar coat of arms appeared within a roundel surrounded by the legend “Rochdale AFC – The Dale.”[2] Different versions appeared at the beginning of the new millennium before the circular version was reinstated in 2005.[2]
For the club’s centenary season in 2007-08, the crest was enhanced with the legend “Centenary Year – 1907-2007” in gold lettering.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
At the centre of the crest, a shield displays a sack of wool and a cotton plant, representing the local wool and cotton industries. Around the edge of the shield sit eight martlets (birds), taken from the Rochdale family coat of arms and widely used in heraldic devices.[1]
Above the shield, in the heraldic position known as the crest, further local industry references appear: a fleece of wool suspended by a band, and a mill-rind, the iron centre of an old millstone.[1] The green branches encircling the woolpack represent branches from the cotton tree, reflecting the importance of both wool and cotton to the town.[3]
A motto below the shield reads “Crede Signo,” roughly translated as “The sign of trust and confidence.”[1] Around the arms, a ring displays the full club name and its shorter nickname using the home colours of blue and white.[1]
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