The first 48 members of the class were named after places in the West Country served by its trains or close to its lines. This represented a publicity success due to many of the locomotives being able to visit their namesake areas. Many 'West Country' locomotives sported an additional plaque with the coat of arms of the town or region the locomotive was named after. This plaque was mounted on the casing between the gunmetal locomotive nameplate and the "West Country Class" scroll, above the middle driving wheel. Several members of the class had only the nameplate and the "West Country Class" scroll, a gap being left where a crest would have been mounted. The background of the nameplate was usually painted red, though sometimes examples could be found in black if the locomotive works undertaking overhaul of the engine could not locate the correct colour paint.