On the face of it, Plymouth’s badge is green with a boat on it. But let’s take a closer look at it. (PIC 1) What can you see? Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Trump, Kentucky Chicken, McDonald’s, Bart Simpson, Fred Flintstone, Mickey Mouse, Miami, New York, Chicago, Country And Western, Jazz, Blues, Bob Dylan, George Benson, Hendrix, Hulk, Batman, Superman, Superbowl, Baseball, Basketball, Blueberry Pie, good old Charlie Brown, and all the other things that make up the U. S. of A.
The badge is made up of a green shield, with an image of the ship Mayflower within it, and the club’s initials in a scroll underneath. Boston United has the same image on their yellow badge, and the same nickname “The Pilgrims”. This is because the first Governor of Massachusetts set sail on the Mayflower and was from Boston, England. For more info check out the Boston page. On the 6th of September 1620, the ship on the badge of Plymouth Argyle, the Mayflower, set sail full of Pilgrims for the brave new world. So, as football badges go it may not be the most colourful but behind this badge lies an amazing history. The earliest badge worn on the club’s shirts was taken from the Plymouth coat of arms. (PIC 2) In the roundel and in the club’s colours it has the club’s name around the outer and the centre is lifted from the arms. The pilgrims were a religious group of Christians looking to flee the oppression and false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and Plymouth’s coat of arms reflects this. (PIC 3) Most clubs used their town coat of arms before turning to the club logos they use today, and as I mention elsewhere in these pages this is for copyright reasons. The arms were recorded in the same year as the Mayflower set sail, 1620. Echoing the towers in the arms is the motto “TURRIS FORTISSIMA EST NOMEN JEHOVA” which translates as, The Name of Jehovah Is the Strongest Tower. This is taken from a Bible Scripture and can be found at Proverbs 18:10. Jehovah being the name of the world’s creator or God as he is more commonly known, but God is just a title, and Jehovah is a name. See Exodus 6:3, Psalm 83:16 and Isaiah 12:2 in your King James Bible. The pilgrims would have prayed to Jehovah, and asked to take refuge in him, as you would in a strong tower, during their long and dangerous voyages across the Atlantic. Between the towers is the saltire of Andrew, patron saint of Plymouth. The supporters of two lions with naval crowns were not added until 1931, reflecting Plymouths Naval connection.
Another previous badge is looking more like the present badge, but with the nickname “The Pilgrims” in the shield. (PIC 4) The first Argyle football club was thought to have been formed in September 1886, by former College and Public School pupils, who wished to continue playing the game. The reason for the Argyle name, however, is open to conjecture. One story is that the founder members of the club were impressed with the footballing skills of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who were stationed in the area. Whilst the more likely story is the team is named after a local street or terrace as the first meeting of Plymouth Argyle was held in Argyle Terrace. The nickname Pilgrims, stems unsurprisingly from those pioneers mentioned earlier.
Many thanks, go to Peter Hall, for replying to my request for badge information. Plymouth began life as a village called Sutton, meaning south town in old English. The name Plymouth first officially replaced Sutton in a charter of King Henry VI in 1440, and the name simply means at the mouth of the River Plym. Plym itself is from the Anglo-Saxon word Plymen meaning plum tree, or orchard of plums. Plymouth plays at Home Park and in 1936 playing against Aston Villa, 43,596 fans packed the ground. Capacity now is a smaller yet still adequate 18,600. The ground itself has a nickname. It is a play on Old Trafford’s nickname, and is related to the club’s colours. It’s The Theatre of Greens. Local rivals are Torquay United, and for more on Plymouth Argyle FC then why not set sail for the brave new world wide web by going to www.pafc.co.uk
