Royal Coat of Arms

By the middle of Victoria’s reign the use of the Royal Coat of Arms within Britain had got out of hand, with hundreds of firms using variations of the familiar Lion & Unicorn surrounding the Royal Shield  on products, brochures etc.

 

When Herbert & Sons took over the Wood business in 1867 it continued to use their design: Medhurst’s, bought in 1881 also used the Royal Coat of Arms, even incorporating the design into the frame of a pair of scales.

 

However under the Patents Act(1883) and the Merchandise Marks Act(1887) false claims to possession of royal warrants became a prosecutable offence, and the practice ceased.

 

In 1888 Herbert & Sons registered our own Lion trademark, at least incorporating one of the animals from the Royal Coat of Arms which we had been using until that time.