Kearsney's badge was designed by the then-headmaster, R.H. Matterson, and the chaplain, the Rev. W.H. Irving, in about 1923. The greyhound is taken from the arms of the founder, Sir James Liege Hulett The scallop shells and the dividing chevron are from the arms of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. The pheon, or arrowhead, is taken from the badge of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where Matterson studied. The motto "Carpe Diem", traditionally at Kearsney translated "Seize the Day," comes from the Roman poet Horace.