By 1894 the LCC had adopted a device consisting of "an armed female figure between the armorial bearings of the Cities of London and Westminster".

Despite the opposition of two members on the grounds that it was "an insidious attempt to undermine the democratic character of the Council" and, jokingly, that they should not "degenerate to the level of the City Corporation", the General Purposes Committee were instructed to take steps to obtain a coat of arms.

In May 1906 the general purposes committee was asked to consider and report on whether the council should make an "application to the College of Arms or otherwise take steps to obtain a coat of arms, with a view to commemorating worthily its work in connection with public improvements, such as the construction of new streets and bridges, the restoration of ancient buildings and the like.

Another councillor sarcastically suggested the arms of the council should include, among other things, a wrecked ship, the shut gates of the work department and a tombstone to the memory of municipal enterprise with the motto "ad quod damnum".

[4] In 1914 the council chairman, Cyril Cobb offered to defray the cost of obtaining a grant of arms.

[6] The final design for the arms, "simple in character and in every way suggestive of the corporate life of London", was agreed by the council on 26 May 1914.

[11][12][13] The English lion on a St George's cross was to show that London was the "Royal centre of England", encompassing the nation's capital city.