The Griffin (or Gryphon) is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Combining the attributes of the "King of the Beasts" and the "King of the Air", it was thought to be especially powerful and majestic. Griffins appear widely as school sports team mascots, in heraldry and in corporate logos.
The coat of arms of Latvia has a griffin on the shield and a griffin as a supporter. The griffin on the shield is holding a sword and is the symbol of Vidzeme and Latgale (Eastern Latvia), one of the historical territories making up modern day Latvia.
Subdivisional and Municipal coats of arms
Some municipalities have griffins derived from state or county arms, e.g. many towns in the ancient province of Pomerania in Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) and Poland (Pomeranian Voivodeship and West Pomeranian Voivodeship) have the Pomeranian griffin in their arms.
Adaincourt, French municipality
Ahlbeck (Usedom), former German municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Ainaži, Latvian municipality
Anklam, German municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Altentreptow, German municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Bad Doberan, former district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany
Balice, village in Poland
Balzers, village in Liechtenstein
Banie, village in West Pomerania in Poland
Bentwisch, German municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Białogard, Polish municipality in West Pomerania
Białogard County, Polish county in West Pomerania
Bjarkøy, Norwegian municipality
Bodilis, French municipality
Broderstorf, German municipality (a griffin's head)
Brzesko, Polish municipality in West Pomerania
Camden, London borough: coat of arms
Crimea, autonomous republic in Ukraine: coat of arms
Dębica, Polish municipality
Dębica County, Polish county
Demmin, German municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Dobra, Polish municipality in West Pomerania
Furdenheim, French municipality
Genoa, Italian municipality
Greifswald, German municipality
Hammersmith and Fulham, London borough: coat of arms
Houmslow, London borough
Malmö, Swedish municipality
Östergötland, Swedish province
Pomerania, a region now divided between Germany and Poland:
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, German land: coat of arms
Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland: coat of arms
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Richmond upon Thames, London borough
Scania, Swedish province
Södermanland, Swedish province
Subcarpathia (Podkarpackia), Polish voivodeship
Troms, Norwegian county
Schools and Universities
The Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts.
Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Cowley International College in St. Helens, UK.
Downing College, Cambridge in Cambridge, England.
Fontbonne University in Clayton, Missouri
Gale Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, California
Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California.
Grossmont Community College in El Cajon, California.
Groves Academy in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
International School of Indiana in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Johnson & Wales University, uses a griffin predominately on its school seal
Lehigh University, whose Gryphon Society members are the mentors to the Freshmen Class.
Marymount Manhattan College in New York City.
Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Redwood Middle School in Saratoga, California.
Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
Rocky Mount High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York.
Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Trinity College, Oxford in Oxford, England.
Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Buchtel High School in Akron, Ohio.
Dutchtown High School in Geismar, Louisiana.
Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, Illinois.
Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California.
Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut.
Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Missouri.
Roycemore School in Evanston, Illinois The annual yearbook is also called The Griffin.
St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Sandford Park School in Dublin, Ireland. Again, the annual yearbook is called The Griffin.
Foothill Middle School in Walnut Creek, California.
Springville-Griffith Institute in Springville, New York
Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg, SC
Early College of Arvada in Arvada, Colorado.
Abingdon School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The school tradition is to spell it as 'Griffen'.
Walter L. Sickles High School in Tampa, FL
Raffles Institution in Singapore. The school refers to the creature as 'gryphon' rather than 'griffin'. 'Griffles' is the name of the school mascot.
Sullivan County High School in Laporte, PA
Veritas Press Scholars Academy in World Wide Web
University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada
MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sports and Athletics
The home ground of English football team Brentford FC is called Griffin Park because of the griffin that features in the logo of Fuller's Brewery, which had previously owned the land. A local pub next to the ground is also named The Griffin.
Grand Rapids Griffins, a team in the American Hockey League.
Guelph Gryphons; the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
London Griffins; a rugby league club.
Grant MacEwan Griffins; a University Sports team. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Waterloo Rugby Club 's badge features a griffin in the centre of a red Lancastrian Rose.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia has announced their new roller coaster for 2007 will be The Griffon, designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard.
Midland Bank used a griffin as its symbol before it was subsumed into its HSBC parent company.
Norwegian Army 2nd Battalion has a griffin insignia
The Saab auto company features a profiled griffin head in it logo. Saab Aerospace built a fighter jet, the JAS 39 Gripen, meaning "griffin" in Swedish.
Sprecher Brewery features a heraldic black griffin in its logo. A cartoon griffin named Rooty appears on bottles of Sprecher Root Beer.
Vauxhall Motors of Luton, England, uses the griffin as its trademark.
The 367th Training Support Squadron unit patch is a Griffin holding a Globe and Torch.
Merv Griffin Entertainment used a griffin as its mascot & logo in its heyday.
US Army 407th BSB, 82nd Airborne Division distinctive unit crest Golden Griffin, WW2, Operation Market Garden original insignia, US Army Heraldry Department.
