Nisi Dominus Frustra, The Crest of Edinburgh, on city stone fountain, Scotland

Incorporated into : 1975 Edinburgh District Council in the Lothian Regional Council (1996 Edinburgh City Council) Official blazon: Argent, a castle triple-towered and embattled Sable, masoned of the First, and topped with three fans Gules, windows and portcullis shut of the Last, . situate on a rock Proper. [Above the Shield is placed a suitable Helmet with a Mantling Sable doubled Argent, ] and on a Wreath of the Colours is set for Crest an anchor wreathed about with a cable all Proper. Motto, in an Escrol above, "Nisi Dominus Frustra". Supported, on the dexter by a maid richly attired with her hair hanging down on her shoulders, and on the sinister by a doe, [both] Proper. Origin/meaning The arms were granted on April 21, 1732. Edinburgh, the Capital of Scotland, has been a Royal Burgh since the reign of King David I, dating from between 1124 and 1127. The arms resemble, but are not identical to, the device on the earliest known seals of the City of which fourteenth- and fifteenth-century impressions are on record.