There’s a medieval feel to Shrewsbury’s badge. The latin contributes to this significantly. Floreat Salopia literally translates as “May Shrewsbury Flourish”. At heart it’s an adaptation of the town coat of arms, itself an adaptation of Shropshire’s county flag, upon which three leopards (referred to as loggerheads locally) feature prominently. In 2015, the club reinstated this revamped version of the crest predominantly used by the club historically, after a brief flirtation with a single lion. Shrewsbury had donned that particular crest for 8 years, a stencil effect of a lion’s head that could easily have been arranged with Hull City as part of a two for one badge deal at the ‘Half-Arsed-Big-Cat-Stencil-Badge-shop’. That badge was wrought in irony. For many years local opinion was divided as to whether the animals, featuring on the clubs crest and town coat of arms, were leopards or lions.
The debate was seemingly brought to a close in 2008 when expert analysis concluded that the weight of tradition tipped the debate well and truly into the loggerheads camp. Alas, this proved less than timely for The Shrews who had changed their badge the year earlier to feature the lion. Hence, the recommissioning of the three loggerheads 8 years later was born out of both necessity and aesthetic preference. Gone was the historically inaccurate and thoroughly half arsed lion. Back were the three loggerheads in pseudo-bohemian rhapsody formation. Loggerheads are back with a vengeance, with ‘expert analysis’ fighting their corner.
Luke Connelly
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