A black-and-white shield used by St Bartholomew’s Hospital for more than six centuries has been formally recognised in a new coat of arms, marking a heritage milestone for the West Smithfield hospital.
The shield remains at the centre of the new arms. It has long been familiar around the site, appearing on buildings, railings and the ceiling of the historic North Wing. Its earliest known use dates from 1423, but the hospital had not previously received a formal grant for the emblem.
The recognition completes work begun in 2022 as part of the hospital’s 900th-anniversary programme. The process was delayed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, when the College of Arms was involved in the State Funeral and Coronation. In July 2025, King Charles III granted a Royal Licence allowing the present NHS hospital to use the historic shield officially as its arms.
The new design retains that shield rather than replacing it. Two lions have been added to reflect the hospital’s history and its links to Kings Henry I and Henry VIII. A separate badge draws on the story of the founder, Rahere, and the Latin motto is Servire Sanare.
A formal step for a familiar symbol
For generations, the shield has been part of the hospital’s visual character. Formal recognition gives the longstanding symbol an official place within the new coat of arms while preserving the design that staff, patients and visitors may already recognise around the historic site.
The change is about institutional history and identity. The hospital’s NHS logo remains its principal public identity, while the coat of arms provides a distinct connection with the hospital’s earlier history. No change to clinical services or patient care is announced as part of the recognition.
The project brings together several stages rather than a newly invented emblem. The historic shield was already in use before the current application began. The work since 2022 has been to secure formal recognition and create the surrounding elements of the arms, including the supporters and badge.
The Letters Patent, the formal document confirming the arms, are due to be displayed in the Treasurer’s Room in the North Wing. A new information panel is also planned near reception in the King George V building, giving visitors a way to learn more about the design and its history on site.
People and institutions behind the work
Dr Bruce Wilson led the project with fellow anaesthetist Dr Martin Lees. Their work involved the College of Arms and the detailed process needed to establish the formal status of a symbol with a long connection to the hospital.
Queen Mary University of London funded the application and the Letters Patent. The Barts Guild funded the planned information panel and framing. Those contributions support the presentation of the finished arms as well as the formal recognition process itself.
The milestone sits within the hospital’s wider 900th-anniversary story. It does not seek to rewrite the shield’s history: the familiar black-and-white design remains central. Instead, the new arms put that history into an official form and add carefully defined elements that refer to the institution’s past.
For a hospital whose historic buildings form a well-known part of West Smithfield, the recognition creates a lasting record of an emblem that has been visible on the site for centuries. The planned display of the Letters Patent and information panel will make that record accessible within the hospital, alongside the working modern identity used every day.
