"Birmingham" Top 5 Page for this destination Birmingham by grayfo

Birmingham is Britain's second city, diverse and dynamic city, with its fascinating history and world-class cultural scene, combined with superb shopping, major international events and exhibitions and great nightlife. Birmingham's Chinatown boasts a wide range of restaurants and interesting specialist supermarkets, and for Asian food, there is the Balti (see tips).

Birmingham - Coat of Arms

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The coat of arms of Birmingham were incorporated in 1838 and was it adopted from the armorial bearings of the de Bermingham family (Lords of the manor from the Norman Conquest of 1532). In 1899, when Birmingham was granted city status, it gained the right to add supporters to the shield. Minor adjustments were made in 1936. The arms were again granted on May 10, 1977 after the addition of Sutton Coldfield. A new Coat of Arms was adopted in 1976. To the old arms a bishops mitre (commemorating the 16th century Bishop Vesey) was added to the centre of the shield and the Tudor Rose (marking Henry VIII's granting of a charter to Sutton Coldfield in 1528) on the mural crown.

Birmingham - Flag

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The flag of Birmingham is divided into quarters, the top left and bottom right show a diagonal line of five yellow diamonds on a blue background taken from the arms of the de Bermingham family. The top right and bottom left show quarters that are divided vertically with a zig-zag line, yellow on the left and red on the right and are taken from the arms of another branch of the same Bermingham family. The cross of ermine was included to mark the incorporation of Edgbaston into the city and is taken from the arms of the Calthorpe family but also represents Sutton Coldfield another area of the city. Within the centre of the ermine cross is a mitre and represents John Harmanor Vesey, Bishop of Exeter in the sixteenth century, who was born in Sutton Coldfield.

• In a nutshell:Britain’s Second City