The Shield and School Crest

The Shield and School Crest

The school was founded in the name of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, of Calcutta, in1865. The school adopted the Cotton family crest as its own and the features on it take one far back into medieval English history.

Bishop_Cotton_School_Crest: The Crest is divided vertically down the centre, the right hand side being referred to as Dexter, and the left as Sinister. The arms of the “Dexter” half of the Crest are those of the Bishopric of Calcutta – the Bishop’s Mitre (head-dress), the Bishop’s Staff and the open Bible. The other side contains the arms of the ancient house of Cotton of Combermere, in England, to which Bishop Cotton belonged. The white figures of eight- like shapes represent the skeins of Cotton. The chevron (the inverted V) is supposed to represent the gable of a house and was usually granted to a family for distinguished service in a siege. One of the Bishop’s ancestors was a famous General and it is surmised that this might have been a reward for his military service. The crest that Bishop Cotton Boys’ School proudly bears today is not so much a reward but a symbol of service to the field of education.