I want to know of any organisations, families, cities, pubs etc. using
the "elephant and castle"
as arms, crests or emblems. I know that Coventy and Bolton city
Corporations use this emblem and that the Beaumont family in Wivenhoe,
Essex was using it in the C16. The Cutlers Company of London was
granted use of this device as a crest in 1622. The Cutlers Company of
Hallamshire (Sheffield) use the same device.

Dear budfry-ga

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. There
is at least two entities that I know of that are using an elephant and
castle as it?s crest. Ironically (or perhaps not so ironically,
depending on how you look at it) one of them is a very well known pub
franchise called ELEPHANT & CASTLE. There are multiple locations in
the US, UK and Canada.

Here is the crest:
http://www.elephantcastle.com/images/crest_logo.jpg

The other one that I am aware of is the Coventry City Football Club located at:
Highfield Road Stadium
King Richard Street
Coventry
WEST MIDLANDS
CV2 4FW

Here is their crest:
http://www.depro.co.uk/sbs/cov-elephant.gif

There are others that are defunct or perhaps historically superceded
or outdated but in terms of those that are currently ?using? (as you
defined it) the image these are the ones I know of.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

ELEPHANT & CASTLE
http://www.elephantcastle.com/main.html

THE DATABANK
http://www.depro.co.uk/sbs/databank_info.asp


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Elephant 

Castle

Crest

Arms

You might also find this site of interest ...

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/areas/elephant.html

This may also throw some light on the subject.  Be sure to read the
second site, since it refutes to some extent the first one:
http://www.elephantandcastle.com/
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ele1.htm

This one adds a different flavour:
http://www.answers.com/topic/elephant-and-castle

It should also be mentioned that the elephant and castle is the form
of the rook in some chess sets, whereby the figure was originally an
elephant with a howdah.
http://www.chesscentral.com/chess-pieces.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ab6/imuhtuk/gdmans/chess/Y_1.htm

By all odds  - say I -  the chess figure would have been known earlier
than the 17th century, perhaps in the time of the Crusades or even
that of Charlemagne.

Nevertheless, my friends, you will note that the Coventry Arms and
Cutlers of London, specifically mentioned by the customer, both
contain an image of a castle (in the form of the rook in some chess
sets) virtually identical to the ones I mentioned.

http://www.adnax.com/images/views/200cutlersarms.jpg
http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/resource/coat-of-arms-current.gif

Apparently the Elephant & Castle crest fits the description of what he
or she is looking for in spite of it's possible historical inaccuracy.

tutuzdad-ga

Tutuzdad,
Yes, of course.  I wasn't questioning your answer, just suggesting
that the elephant and castle as a crest may be earlier, although a
family, etc., may not be identified.  This for example:

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_104/104_222_235.pdf

See page 226, suggesting a Swiss 1551 source, admittedly not
necessarily as an heraldic emblem.

The Danish Order of the Elephant, dating from 1693, is well known:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Elephant