Stafford knot

Stafford knot
The arms of the Borough of Stafford
The Stafford badge
Information
Family	Stafford family

The Stafford knot, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped knot that is the traditional symbol of the English county of Staffordshire and of its county town, Stafford. It is a particular representation of the simple overhand knot, the most basic knot of all.

The knot was the badge of the de Stafford family. The fanciful legend of its origin is that three convicted felons who had committed a crime together were due to be executed in Stafford gaol. There was argument over who should be hanged first but the hangman solved the problem by devising this knot and hanging the three simultaneously. However, the knot can be seen on a 4 ft (1.2 m) high carved Anglo-Saxon cross in a churchyard in Stoke-upon-Trent, and also on a 7th century Anglo-Saxon object from the Staffordshire hoard.^[1] This strongly suggests it pre-dates the Norman and medieval period, being probably either a heraldic symbol of early Mercia or a Celtic Christian symbol brought to Staffordshire by missionary monks from Lindisfarne.

The Stafford flag, blazoned with eleven Stafford knots

The knot appears on the coat of arms of the Borough of Stafford, and the county motto of Staffordshire is "the knot unites". The Stafford knot is the badge of the 38th Foot (Staffordshire Regiment) in which Sir Thomas Brisbane first entered the British Army as an Ensign in 1789 – and thus the eponymous city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, has the Stafford Knot on its arms.

The North Staffordshire Railway was referred to as the Knotty after the knot. Stoke-on-Trent based football team Port Vale use the knot on their club badge, as have West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City. The knot appears on the logo of Staffordshire University, as well as on many school badges. It is also used as the badge of the Staffordshire Police force.

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