Crest:  On a wreath argent and vert out of the battlements of a tower a crane wings expanded and inverted proper supporting with the interior foot a Maltese Cross resting upon the battlements quarterly gules and argent.

 

1. Composition: This design comprises shield and crest, as in the case of all three constituent authorities and motto.  The shield combines elements from those of the three district councils and the crest commemorates notable features of the whole new area.

 

2. Description: The upper part of the shield features the green background, two white waves, and the top half of the golden eagle from the arms of North Kesteven Rural District Council from which the new District takes its name.  The waves denote the River Witham (also depicted in the East Kesteven Rural District Council shield) and the River Brant in the agricultural countryside.  The eagle refers to the numerous Roman associations of the area - the Fosse Way, Fosse Dyke and Ermine Street, which for part of its length forms the common boundary of North and East Kesteven.

The lower part of the shield is that of the East Kesteven shield - a gold oak tree taken from the Kesteven County Council arms, representing the forests, remnants of which still survive in the south of the old county.

Between the North and East Kesteven emblems is the gold chevron with three black stars from the arms of Sleaford Urban District Council, which are taken from those of the distinguished Carre family.  The three stars also indicate the union of three authorities in one edifice, suggested by the gable-end shape of the chevron.

Upon the shield stands the closed helm proper to civic arms, with its crest wreath and decorative mantling in the basic green and white of the shield - the liveries of Kesteven County Council.  Upon the wreath is the crest, which shows the crane from the East Kesteven crest representing the important R.A.F. College at Cranwell (also commemorated in the Sleaford crest by an eagle).  The crane stands within the battlements of a tower alluding to Somerton Castle, a 13th century residence of the Bishops of Lincoln, and rest a claw on a cross combining the red Maltese Cross of the Knights Templar and the white one of the Knights Hospitallers, who had establishments at Mere in the North.  The crest thus combines influential institutions in the life of the area in both ancient and modern times.

 

The motto is that of the previous North Kesteven Rural District Council, 'Rectam viam sequi', a quotation from Cicero.  It may be translated 'To follow the right road' and also 'To follow the straight road', the latter giving a reference to the Roman roads of the area.