Metal button with Reading coat of arms
2013
Reading coat of arms button
Metal button made by Buttons Ltd, Birmingham, embossed with the coat of arms for the borough of Reading. The coat of arms contains a shield with five female heads (one wearing a crown), supported by two rams and crested with a bishop’s mitre adorned with scallop shells and lyres. The rams on the arms symbolise the historic wool trade, the mitre represents Reading Abbey, the scallop shells as the symbol of pilgrims, and lyres for the musical heritage.
The button was purchased from Jacksons Department Store in 2013. Jacksons was founded in 1875 as a gentleman’s outfitters. It was a family business which formerly had shops in other towns, but its flagship store in King Street closed in 2013 after 138 years of trading. It was a Reading institution, supplying school uniforms for generations of local children, and the shop site had become known as Jackson's Corner, a name it retains after redevelopment.
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