{{other uses|The Liver Birds (disambiguation)}} {{EngvarB|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Short description|Mythical bird which is the symbol of Liverpool}}
thumb|The liver bird The '''liver bird''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|aɪ|v|ər|b|ɜr|d}} {{respell|LY|vər|burd}}) is a mythical creature that is the symbol of the English city of Liverpool. It is normally represented as a cormorant, and appears as such on the city's arms, in which it bears a branch of laver seaweed in its beak as a further pun on the name "Liverpool".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Heraldry Gazette|publisher=The Heraldry Society|url=http://theheraldrysociety.com/publications/gazette/2008-Mar.pdf|date=March 2008}}{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Liverpool seal.jpg|thumb|left|13th century seal of Liverpool (lost in the English Civil War)]]
King John founded the borough of Liverpool by royal charter in 1207. The borough's second charter, granted by Henry III in 1229, gave the townspeople the right to form a guild with the privileges this came with, including the right to use a common seal.<ref name=NML>{{cite web|title=The Liver Bird|publisher=National Museums Liverpool|url=http://liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/sheet/21}}</ref> Liverpool's ancient seal probably dated from this time, though the earliest surviving impression (kept in the British Museum) is from 1352.<ref name=NML/> The seal depicted a generic bird with a plant sprig in its beak, together with a scroll inscribed (in shaky letters) "JOHIS" - an abbreviation for ''Johannis'', Latin for "John's".<ref name=NML/> The bird was almost certainly intended to be an eagle, the symbol of John the Evangelist, who was both the namesake and the patron saint of King John.<ref name=NML/> The plant sprig is interpreted as broom (''planta genista'' in Latin), a badge of the Plantagenet dynasty.<ref name=CH>{{cite web|title=Liverpool City Council|publisher=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales|url=http://civicheraldry.co.uk/cumbria_palatine_counties.html#liverpool%20city}}</ref> Also visible on the seal is a star and crescent, one of King John's personal badges.<ref>{{cite book|title=Heraldic Badges|last=Fox-Davies|first=Charles|location=London|publisher=the Bodley Head|date=1907|url=https://archive.org/details/heraldicbadges00foxd|page=[https://archive.org/details/heraldicbadges00foxd/page/118 118]}}</ref>
thumb|The coat of arms of Liverpool, granted in 1797 The shoddy draughtsmanship of the seal has given rise to other theories. Richard Brooke, a 19th-century Liverpudlian antiquary, surmised that the bird was a dove with an olive branch, and that the scroll read "NOBIS" or "VOBIS".<ref name=Wall>{{cite journal|last=Wall|first=J|date=1970|title=The Quest for the Liver Bird|journal=Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire|location=Liverpool|url=http://hslc.org.uk/documents/PDFS/1969.pdf|volume=121|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222064905/http://hslc.org.uk/documents/PDFS/1969.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
By the 17th century the bird's real identity had been forgotten: it began to be interpreted either as a cormorant, a common bird in the area, or as a "lever". In 1611 the municipal records describe the mayor receiving a plate "marked with the Cormorant, the Townes Armes", while in 1668 the Earl of Derby gifted the town a silver-gilt mace engraved with a "leaver".<ref name=NML/> In his 1688 work ''The Academie of Armorie'', Randle Holme records the arms of Liverpool as a blue "lever" upon a silver field. Holme takes this word to be an adaptation of the German ''loffler'' or Dutch ''lepler'', both referring to the spoonbill.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Academie of Armorie|last=Holme|first=Randle|date=1688|page=266|volume=2|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A44230.0001.001/1:11.12?rgn=div2;view=fulltext|location=Chester}}</ref> It is possible that these continental words were adopted for the bird in Liverpool's arms as they made a fitting allusion to the name "Liverpool".<ref name=NML/> Around the same time the broom sprig in the bird's beak was reinterpreted as a branch of laver, also on account of the similarity of the word to the city's name.
In August 1796 Mayor Clayton Tarleton wrote to the College of Arms to request an official grant of arms to the city. His letter called the bird "a lever or sea cormorant".<ref name=Wall/> Arms were duly granted on 22 March 1797 by Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King of Arms, and George Harrison, Norroy King of Arms; however the grant described the bird only as a "cormorant".<ref name=FD>{{cite book|title=The Book of Public Arms|last=Fox-Davies|first=Charles|date=1915|publisher=T C & E C Jack|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924029798927|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924029798927/page/n475 450]}}</ref>
In addition to the arms and crest, Garter granted supporters on 23 March. These consist of Neptune, the god of the sea, and his son and herald Triton. The motto is ''Deus nobis haec otia fecit''—a quotation from Virgil's ''Eclogues'' translating to "God hath granted us this ease" or "God has bestowed these blessings upon us".<ref name=CH/>
==Representations in the city== Representations of the bird can be found throughout Liverpool, most numerously on the heritage lamp standards in the town centre on which small versions sit as a top piece. The two most famous stand atop the clock towers of the Royal Liver Building at Liverpool's Pier Head, overlooking the Mersey. Their names are Bertie and Bella. The male, Bertie, looks over the city and the female, Bella, looks to the sea.<ref>[https://www.explore-liverpool.com/a-tale-of-the-liver-birds-the-hidden-birds-of-the-city/ "A tale of the Liver Birds & the Hidden Birds of the City", ''Explore Liverpool'', 19 August 2019]. Retrieved 25 May 2020</ref> They stand at 18 ft tall with a wingspan of 24 ft.<ref name="Statues"/> The building, headquarters to the Royal Liver Assurance, was opened in 1911. The metal cormorant-like birds were designed by Carl Bernard Bartels and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts.
[[File:Spirit of Liverpool 2019.jpg|thumb|The Spirit of Liverpool sculpture above the Walker Art Gallery]] There are other less well-known liver birds in the city. A metal bird is on the nearby Mersey Chambers office building, adjacent to the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, the parish church of the city of Liverpool. Another, a bird carved in stone, topped the St. John's Market building of 1822 until its demolition in 1964. The stone liver bird is now displayed at the Museum of Liverpool.
In 2014, it was announced that a 6ft statue would be placed in the entrance to Liverpool Central station in memory of Paul Rice, former chief executive of Liverpool's Commercial District Partnership.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-08-28 |title=Liverpool Central Station to get Liver Bird sculpture |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-28954975 |access-date=2024-04-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The liver bird appears on the official club crest of Liverpool F.C. having first appeared in a flag over Anfield in September 1892 two weeks after the club's first competitive match, and from the turn of the century it appeared on official club correspondence, club programmes, the players track-suit tops from the 1930s before it first appeared on the club's white away shirts at the 1950 FA Cup final, and was then incorporated in the red home shirt in 1955.<ref name="Hunter">{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Hunter |title=Pics: Liverbird on our chest |url=https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/119394-pics-liverbird-on-our-chest |date=15 May 2012|access-date=1 May 2026 |work=Liverpool F.C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Platt|title=How LFC's Liver bird emblem originally looked 75 years ago |url=https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/how-lfcs-liver-bird-emblem-originally-looked-75-years-ago |date=31 August 2025|access-date=29 April 2026 |work=Liverpool F.C.}}</ref><ref name="Prentice">{{cite news |first=David |last=Prentice |title=Liver Bird to feature on new Liverpool club crest - just as it always has |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liver-bird-feature-new-liverpool-12948038 |date=27 April 2017|access-date=1 May 2026|work=Liverpool Echo}}</ref> The first club to use it as a symbol was Everton, appearing in their league winners medals from 1891 as it also was for Liverpool when they won the league in 1901.<ref name="Hunter"/><ref name="Prentice"/> Everton's first official badge was a white monogram of interwoven "EFC" letters on a blue shield, introduced around 1920, before Everton secretary Theo Kelly designed the club's crest featuring the Everton Lock-Up (Prince Rupert’s Tower) in 1938 which first appeared on the club's ties.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Everton crest from official site |publisher=Everton F.C. |url=http://www.evertonfc.com/history/history-of-the-club-crest.html |access-date=29 April 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125062750/http://www.evertonfc.com/history/history-of-the-club-crest.html |archive-date=25 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2010, an Everton fan believed the liver bird should be reinstated to represent Everton, arguing that as a symbol of the whole city it rightfully belongs to both clubs, but Everton spokesman Ian Ross said: "I think even the most devout Evertonian knows that the Liver Bird is now synonymous with Liverpool FC".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/everton-fc-fan-calls-liver-3431533|title=Everton FC fan calls for Liver Bird to be reinstated by club|work=Liverpool Echo|author=Alan Weston|date=February 2010}}</ref> In 2012, Liverpool F.C. introduced a club mascot based on the liver bird emblem, named Mighty Red.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Echo |first=Liverpool |date=10 July 2012 |title=Liverpool FC unveil new mascot, Mighty Red |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-fc-unveil-new-mascot-3339377 |access-date=14 December 2023 |website=Liverpool Echo |language=en}}</ref>
==Modern myths and popular culture== {{multiple image|total_width=400|image1=Royal Liver Building.jpg|width1=1800|height1=1780|image2=Liver Bird.jpg|width2=668|height2=884|footer=The Liver Building, with a closeup of one of the liver birds}} The modern popularity of the symbol largely dates to 1911, when the Liver Building was built. This prominent display of two liver birds rekindled the idea that the liver was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline. According to popular legend, they are a male and female pair: the female looking out to sea, watching for the seamen to return safely home, and the male looking in to the city, watching over the seamen's families (or "making sure the pubs are open", as a jocular version has it).<ref>{{cite news |title=Explore Liverpool’s myths and customs |url=https://www.discoverbritain.com/heritage/mythology/liverpools-myths-legends/ |access-date=1 May 2025 |website=DiscoverBritain.com}}</ref> Local legend also holds that the birds face away from each other, for if they were to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist.<ref name="Statues">{{cite news |title=City's Liver Birds and the inspiration behind the loved 'mythical' statues |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/citys-liver-birds-inspiration-behind-25492499 |access-date=1 May 2026 |work=Liverpool Echo}}</ref>
Another popular story told about them is that they are chained down, for if they were to fly away the River Mersey would burst its banks and flood the city of Liverpool. This is somewhat similar to the mating story.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseysidetoday.co.uk/merseyside-trivia/the-significance-of-the-liver-birds/|title=The Significance of the Liver Birds|website=Merseyside Today|access-date=21 October 2018}}</ref>
An all female rock group from Liverpool called The Liverbirds were active in the 1960s. They moved to Hamburg in 1964, where they were billed as ''die weiblichen Beatles'' (the female Beatles).<ref>{{cite news|last=Leigh|first=Spencer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/14/valerie-gell-obituary|title=Valerie Gell obituary|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 December 2016|access-date=1 May 2026}}</ref>
During the 1970s, ''The Liver Birds'' was the name of a popular British sitcom dealing with two young women in Liverpool, which took its name after the famous creatures on the top of the Liver building.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Liver Birds return in Liverpool stage musical |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43658260 |access-date=1 May 2026 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>
The crest of Sir Paul McCartney is a calling liver bird holding a guitar, in reference to his profession and native city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/famous_men_women/sir_paul_mcCartney.htm|title=Sir Paul McCartney|last=Findlater|first=Alexander|date=March 2003|publisher=The Heraldry Society}}</ref>
In May 2026, a bronze Liver Bird statue was unveiled by University of Liverpool Chancellor Professor Simon Jones at the Taicang Entrepreneur College of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, to mark 20 years of partnership between the Universities. The statue was created by Shanghai-based artist Ye Qing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liver Bird sculpture marks XJTLU-UoL partnership anniversary |url=https://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2026/05/liver-bird-sculpture-marks-xjtlu-uol-partnership-anniversary |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ckennedy@liverpool.ac.uk |date=2026-05-26 |title=XJTLU 20th anniversary celebrations culminate in ‘Light up the World’ collaboration - University of Liverpool News |url=https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2026/05/26/xjtlu-20th-anniversary-celebrations-culminate-in-light-up-the-world-collaboration/ |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=News |language=en-uk}}</ref>
==Trademark== thumb|upright|A liver bird on the crest of Liverpool F.C. shirts In November 2008, Liverpool F.C. filed an application with the UK Intellectual Property Office to register the version of the liver bird shown on the club badge as its trademark. The deputy council leader, Flo Clucas, responded that "The Liver bird belongs to all the people of Liverpool and not one company or organisation."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/7737109.stm|title=Flap over Liverpool's bird symbol|work=BBC News}}</ref>
Liverpool F.C. finally acquired a registration covering a trademark incorporating a liver bird in September 2010, after coming to an agreement with the city council. Liverpool F.C. obtained a trademark registration from the European trademark office and the council obtained its own registration from the UK IPO covering a trademark incorporating a liver bird. This was done to protect its use by companies in Liverpool, but also for the football club to protect itself against counterfeit products.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liverpool FC trademarks the Liver Bird|work=Liverpool Echo|author=David Bartlett|date=4 September 2010|access-date=14 May 2015|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-fc-trademarks-liver-bird-3395391 }}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:House flag of Mersey Docks & Harbour Board.svg|House flag of Mersey Docks and Harbour Company<ref>{{cite web |title=House flag, Mersey Docks & Harbour Board |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-304 |website=National Maritime Museum |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref> File:Liver bird from the Sailors' Home, Liverpool (2).JPG|Liver bird from the old Sailors' Home, now in the Liverpool Museum File:Liverpool FC's Might Red liver bird mascot at Anfield giving thumbs up with steward in the background.png|Liverpool FC's Mighty Red liver bird mascot at Anfield </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Liver birds}} *[http://www.stlukeliverpool.co.uk/#/stained-glass/4554285022 The oldest Stained Glass Liver Bird] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060215130956/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/displayGuide.aspx?sid=27&mode=html&sorStr=s_no%20ASC%200&serStr=&pgeInt=2&catStr= Mersey Maritime Museum] *[http://www.royalliverbuilding.com The Liver Building] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060428004241/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gerry.jones/lyver1.html History and pictures, plus a campaign to add a third bird to the Liver Building]}} * [http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2010/02/18/everton-fc-fan-calls-for-liver-bird-to-be-reinstated-by-club-100252-25858139/2/ "Everton FC fan calls for liver bird to be reinstated by club"] * {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20150309012439/http://www.liverbirdsinc.com/ Liver Birds Inc. Website]}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liver Bird}} Category:Liverpool Category:Legendary birds