The University's coat of arms was granted in 1921, the year after its foundation as a university college. The hammer, pickaxe and anchor represent Swansea's industrial and maritime heritage, while the book represents academia. The dragon, of course, represents Wales.

The castle in the crest comes from the arms of the City of Swansea, and the flaming beacon represents the light cast by education (I'm guessing at that last bit!)

The motto is in Welsh - Gweddw Crefft Heb Ei Dawn, which can be translated as "Technical Skill is Bereft Without Culture", is taken from The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, one of the earliest collections of medieval Welsh literature to be printed entirely in Welsh.

For branding, the university now relies mainly on a blue and white logo which is based on the coat of arms, but the arms themselves are still used in some circumstances.

Swansea University was founded in 1920 on the site of Singleton Abbey, former mansion of the Vivian family. Originally called University College of Swansea, it was the fourth constituent college of the University of Wales. It became the UK's first campus university in 1948, and its campuses are the closest to the sea of any in the UK.

As a result of changes in the University of Wales's structure, the college became known as University of Wales Swansea in 1996, before becoming a separate university under its present name in 2007.

The university now has two main campuses (Singleton Park and the Bay Campus), as well as other sites in Swansea and beyond.

For mrore about the university see Swansea University's website and Wikipedia.

The arms in Singleton Abbey.

The arms on the old library building (1937)

On the Wallace Building, Singleton Campus

In the library on the university's new Bay Campus.

In the university's Great Hall, Bay Campus

Variations of the arms are used on university logos : 1996, (top), 2007 (middle), 2017 (bottom).

The arms on the university's World War II memorial plaque, in Fulton House.