Bromley FC

For our next #GetTheBadgeIn, we turn to another third-round FA Cup participant, @bromleyfc. On the 11th of January, this League Two team will travel north to take on Newcastle (@NUFC) at St James' Park. Not a bad away day!

So, let’s look more closely at Bromley. There’s a lot going on in this badge.

Firstly, Bromley is in South London—but only since 1965. Before that, it was part of Kent, and many people still call it Kent today. Their nickname is the Ravens, for fairly obvious reasons: they play in black and white, and there are three ravens across the middle of the badge. But why?

Note that the ravens are placed inside a wavy, river-esque line across the shield. They represent the River Ravensbourne, which flows through Bromley and into the Thames. It begins at Caesar’s Well—a natural spring with its own legend. Roman soldiers, searching for water, reportedly noticed a raven frequently visiting the same spot. Investigating further, they uncovered the spring, which remains there to this day and is still called Caesar’s Well.

The sun in the top-right quadrant symbolises the Manor of Sundridge, a nearby estate purchased by Sir Claude Scott in 1796. Scott made his fortune in grain imports and multiplied it further by investing in the East India Company—the Bitcoin of its time.

The shell in the bottom-right quadrant comes from the See of Rochester, which once held religious authority over the area. Saxon King Æthelberht, after becoming a Christian, established dioceses across his lands. The See of Rochester, which included Bromley, was the second diocese created, after Canterbury. Bromley itself became a site of pilgrimage after the construction of St Blaise’s Well, whose iron-rich waters were said to have healing properties. People travelled from far and wide to pray there and partake of the waters.

Interestingly, after the Norman Conquest, the area was seized by Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror and the man who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry. However, he eventually returned the land to the diocese, which was a rare concession—Normans didn’t tend to take many prisoners during their invasion.

The sprigs of broom (those corn-like features) are a nod to Bromley’s name, which derives from Old English for “a field where broom grows.” Broom is a type of wildflower.

The horse, which looks a bit like the Ferrari logo, actually comes from the white horse of Kent. Despite Bromley now being a London borough, the badge still harks back to its Kentish roots.

Bromley was also home to Charles Darwin, who formulated his theory of evolution and wrote On the Origin of Species while living there. It feels like the club is missing a trick by not making the three ravens part of an evolutionary chain. Oh well.

Bromley then—the Ravens—the sons of Roman legionaries, iron-rich pilgrims, successful grain merchants, and the authors of world-shaping theories. They’ve got more than enough about them to beat Newcastle. Come on, you Ravens!