St Andrews the cathedral town of the old diocese of the same name
which was the Metropolitan see of Scotland, was founded as a Bishop's
Burgh by leave of King David I between 1124 and 1144. In 1614, it was
made a Burgh of Regality under the Archbishop of St Andrews, and King
James VI made it a Royal Burgh in 1620.
The arms consist of a rearrangement of the device on the reverse
of the old Burgh seal of which a 1357 impression is on record. the
shield is parted in the blue and silver colours of St Andrew and
Scotland.The figure of the Saint with his cross needs no explanation.
The boar and the oak tree which were, before 1912, sometimes regarded
as the Burgh arms, recall the ancient name of the Burgh, which was
Muckross, "the headland of the boars" .
