Coat of Arms - The City of Red Deer

In 1915 The City of Red Deer offered a prize of $25 for the best design of a coat of arms. Designs were submitted from all over Canada. Mr. Alex Mitchell, of the firm Mitchell & Jewell in Red Deer, won the contest. However, his design was not adopted as the official coat of arms until many years later.

The symbols on the coat of arms include:

The groundwork of mountains showing the setting sun represents sunny Alberta.
The dairy cows in the foreground represent dairy farming.
Above the cow are six milk cans to denote the shipping of dairy products.
A Van Slyke breaking plow on the bottom left of the shield represents three distinct points: farming, a Red Deer invention and a Red Deer manufacturer.
An open book on the bottom right of the shield represents education.
Supporting the shield on the right and left respectively are the lion and the unicorn to represent loyalty to the Crown.
On the shield are the scroll and motto with the words Education, Industry and Progress.
Just over the shield the dates 1901 and 1913 showing the respective years Red Deer was incorporated, first as a town and then as a city.
A deer's head and scroll with City of Red Deer surmount the whole shield.

Mr. Rudolf Gehrke, a north Red Deer resident, provided a teak carving of the Coat of Arms to The City in 1965. This carving of the Coat of Arms can be seen in the Red Deer Council Chambers, 2^nd Floor, City Hall.