Valencia Coat of Arms
The Valencia Coat of Arms is found throughout the city on almost everything that is touched by the municipality — monuments, manhole covers, government buildings, gardens and even the caution tape used by repair crews.
It has its origins in the royal emblem of Aragón with an adaptation by the Municipal Council in the 14th century. The foundations of the design are a rhomboid shape, also known as a lozenge in heraldic nomenclature is made up of four dark red vertical stripes on a gold background.
This was augmented by adding the features of a royal crown above the rhomboid as well as the two Ls on either side of the lozenge to represent the two sieges (known as the War of Two Pedros) where the city remained loyal to the crown. The conflicts between Castile and Aragón led to King Pedro IV favoring the city with the honor.
The bat on the top of the coat of arms might have actually been a dragon or snake as were used by many cities in Aragón in the era. However, the bat was adopted in the 17th century and legend has it that they had been instrumental in alerting the troops of Jaume I the Conqueror to a surprise attack by Muslim armies.
The laurel branches encircling the bottom of the crest were added during the reign of Fernando VII, again in recognition of the loyalty of Valencia, in this case against the invading armies of Napoleon.
Below are some of our favorite images that incorporate the Valencia coat of arms into their designs. Click the photos for the locations of the images.
The coat of arms can be found in a wide variety of uses. Valencia Club de Fútbol uses it as part of their identity with the stylized lozenge and bat forming the logo of the club.
Many of the metal covers along Valencia sidewalks such as those for gas, sewerage, traffic signals and communications bear stylized versions of the coat of arms.
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Many of the most famous monuments in Valencia incorporate the coat of arms into their designs.
Even the tape used by repair crews has a version of the coat of arms. 
Of course, the team at Valencia International loves the history, meaning and design and we have made it part of our own logo.
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