A very personal project here, bringing together a supporter’s family heraldry, his passion for history and one of the great loves of his life – Liverpool Football Club.

The Ó Ceallaigh coat of arms features a fortified tower and the Latin motto turris fortis mihi Deus – God is a tower of strength for me.

Irish supporter David Kelly wanted a personal design which combined elements of the Kelly (Gaelic: Ó Ceallaigh) coat of arms with the familiar shield of LFC, flanked by twin Liverbirds.

To accompany the centrepiece, the design also features a famous phrase – “Either with shield, or on it” – the exhortation of Spartan women to the husbands and sons when sending them off to war. With shield would indicate that they had been victorious; on it, that they had died a glorious death. To return without one’s shield was considered a shameful act, indicating retreat, and to the belligerent Spartans, was considered a fate worse than death.

Obviously not to be taken literally in a football context, it nevertheless remains a firm message – leave it all on the field and, as Mo Salah taught us back in 2019, Never Give Up.

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