For several years after the creation of Somerset County Council in 1889 they had no official coat of arms. In 1906 the council unofficially adopted a variation of the Wessex wyvern, in this instance it became a four legged dragon, as their crest. The dragon was golden on a red background, just as the old wyvern of the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex had beem. When Somerset County Council finally applied to the College of Heralds in 1911 for an official coat of arms, it became a red dragon on a gold background holding a mace as a symbol of office. They became the official arms of the Council on the 2nd December 1911.
The motto Sumorsaete Ealle means "All the people of Somerset" and is a line from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 878 when they rose up under King Alfred the Great to liberate Wessex from the Danes. A modified version of the arms was adopted by the Council in 2004.
Dragons have been associated with Somerset for many centuries, with their adoption as standards by the Saxons, Romans and Celts alike. The stories about them are legion. The West Saxons were using a golden dragon standard by the mid 8th century and it was carried into battle against the Mercians in 752 and the Danes in 1016. Its final use in battle was at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, by which time Wessex had long since become a part of England.
There is a difference between a dragon and a wyvern. A dragon is the creature on the Somerset flag, having four legs. A wyvern on the other hand has only two legs. The Somerset flag does not have a wyvern on it, despite it often being called that.
