The Saint George's Cross is shown on a 13th-century mural of the Tinell Hall, depicting by Barcelonan or Catalan soldiers.

[9] Quartering in is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield to avoid conflict with otherwise similar coats of arms but quarters are numbered from the dexter chief (the corner nearest to the right shoulder of a man standing behind the shield), proceeding across the top row, and then across the next row and so on.

The arms of the citizens were placed in the most honourable quarters (the first and fourth) because their representative traditionally forced the king to negotiate his policies.

In 1359 the Generalitat of Catalonia adopted the Saint George's Cross as flag and sign «by being the ancient arms of the County of Barcelona».

In 1996 was adopted a monochrome logotype as official emblem of Barcelona, a rhombus or lozenge with the cross two bars impaled, sharply defined edges and without the crown.

[9] The versions of 1996 caused such controversy, because they were not designed to conform to traditional heraldic rules and the content of the Law of local symbols of Catalonia, that led to the Catalan Society of Genealogy, Heraldry, Sigillography, Vexillology and Nobility lodged an appeal against them.

This appeal to repeal the emblems of 1996 was successful and a most appropriate version had to be created, so the current arms, quartered with four bars was adopted in 2004.

In some cases, the winged dragon will in time be transformed into in a bat, Rat penat, commonly used in local heraldry.

[15][16]The provincial arms incorporated the elements of the heraldry of the city, the Saint George's Cross and the four red paletts on gold background of the Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona, with a different form of combination.