The red and blue ""per pale"" division of the shield, gold engrailed chevron and buglehorns were taken directly from the county borough's arms. The buglehorns refer to the service by which the manor of Bradford was granted by John of Gaunt to John Northrop of Manningham: upon the blowing of a horn on St Martin's day Manningham was to wait on John and his heirs and conduct them safely to Pontefract Castle. In the county borough's arms there were three horns: one has been replaced by a golden fleece. This is an emblem of the woollen industry and was found in the arms or devices of five urban districts included in the metropolitan borough in 1974. On the chevron is an heraldic fountain from the arms of borough of Keighley and Ilkley urban district.