Walk through Cambridge and you will quickly notice that the city is full of symbols.

They appear above ancient gateways, carved into stone walls, displayed on signs and windows, and incorporated into the decoration of college buildings. Some contain animals, crowns, crosses or geometric patterns. Others are so detailed that most visitors walk past without ever stopping to examine them.

These are the coats of arms associated with Cambridge’s colleges, the University and other historic institutions.

To a first-time visitor, they can simply look like attractive medieval decoration. But once you begin noticing them, they become another way of understanding Cambridge.

In a university made up of 31 colleges, visual identity has mattered for centuries.

One University, Many Identities

One of the most confusing things about Cambridge for first-time visitors is the relationship between the University and its colleges.

The University of Cambridge is one institution, but it is also a collegiate university consisting of 31 colleges. Students belong to the University while also becoming members of an individual college.

That college membership can become an important part of university life.

This helps explain why Cambridge contains so many separate gates, chapels, dining halls, courts and libraries — and why individual colleges have developed distinctive visual identities.

A coat of arms is part of that identity.

On a Shared 90-Minute Cambridge Walking Tour or Private 90-Minute Cambridge Walking Tour, these details can easily disappear into the background because Cambridge contains so much architecture competing for your attention.

Once someone points them out, however, you begin seeing them everywhere.

Why Did Heraldry Matter So Much?

For much of British history, heraldry provided a recognisable visual language.

Before modern logos, websites and branding systems existed, coats of arms could identify families, institutions and communities through combinations of colours, shapes and symbols.

Cambridge colleges developed within that historical world.

Many were established through royal, religious, aristocratic or scholarly connections, and their heraldry can reflect elements of those histories. The exact meaning differs from college to college, so it is better not to assume that every lion, flower or crown represents the same thing.

That is what makes looking closely so rewarding.

A symbol that appears decorative may have a connection to a founder, patron or an earlier chapter in the institution’s history.

Cambridge is full of information that does not arrive on a signboard.

Sometimes it is carved directly into the building.

Look Above the Entrance

College gateways are among the best places to start looking.

Visitors naturally focus on the scale of the entrance: the stonework, towers, wooden doors or the view into the court beyond. But look slightly higher and you may find heraldic details incorporated into the architecture.

This changes the way you experience the building.

Instead of seeing an impressive old gate as a generic piece of “Cambridge architecture”, you begin asking more specific questions.

Who built it? Which institution does it belong to? Why is that symbol there? What was the college trying to communicate?

For visitors who enjoy going deeper into university history and college culture, a Shared 2.5-Hour In-Depth Cambridge Tour or Private 2.5-Hour In-Depth Cambridge Tour allows more time for this kind of observation.

The longer you spend in Cambridge, the more the city rewards attention to small details.

A Coat of Arms Is Not Just an Old-Fashioned Logo

It is tempting to describe a college crest as the historical equivalent of a modern company logo.

That comparison is useful up to a point, but it does not tell the whole story.

Modern logos are usually designed as part of a deliberate branding exercise. Historic heraldry developed within a much older system of identity and symbolism.

Yet there is an interesting similarity.

Both allow us to recognise an organisation visually before reading its full name.

That still matters in Cambridge today. College identities appear in many aspects of university culture, and visual symbols help distinguish one institution from another within the wider University.

This is one reason Cambridge can feel both unified and fragmented at the same time.

There is one famous university name, but within it are dozens of smaller communities, each with its own history.

The River Reveals Another Side of College Identity

The streets are not the only place to notice how individual colleges present themselves.

The River Cam changes the relationship between the visitor and the university landscape.

On a Shared Cambridge Punting Tour or Private Cambridge Punting Tour, the College Backs unfold as a sequence of gardens, bridges and historic buildings. Instead of approaching each college through its main entrance, you encounter parts of them from behind.

This can make the differences between colleges easier to appreciate.

One moment you are looking towards the Mathematical Bridge at Queens’ College; later, the landscape opens towards King’s College Chapel, Clare Bridge and the riverside architecture further along the Backs.

From the river, Cambridge does not look like a single campus designed at one moment.

It looks like what it really is: a collection of institutions that developed across different periods but gradually became part of one extraordinary university landscape.

Cambridge Rewards People Who Notice Details

There are cities where the most important things are enormous.

Cambridge certainly has its monumental landmarks, but some of its most interesting stories are surprisingly small.

A carved shield.

An inscription above a doorway.

A symbol repeated in several parts of the same college.

A detail on a bridge that thousands of people photograph without noticing.

These elements do not necessarily make the best postcard. They do something more useful: they encourage you to look at Cambridge as a place with layers.

That approach also works inside the Fitzwilliam Museum.

During a Shared Fitzwilliam Museum Tour or Private Fitzwilliam Museum Tour, the scale becomes smaller again. Instead of reading an entire city, attention turns towards individual artworks, objects and details.

The subject changes, but the habit is the same.

Look carefully before moving on.

Why This Matters for Photography

Cambridge is one of those places where almost everyone becomes a photographer.

King’s College Chapel naturally dominates the skyline. The Mathematical Bridge and Bridge of Sighs attract cameras throughout the day. Punts on the River Cam provide the classic Cambridge photograph.

But after taking the obvious pictures, try moving closer.

Photograph the stonework around a college entrance. Look for heraldic symbols above doorways. Notice how old materials sit beside modern signs and everyday university life.

These photographs often tell a more personal story of the visit.

Anyone can return home with a photograph of a famous landmark.

A photograph of something you only noticed because you stopped and looked carefully can mean much more.

Cambridge Was Never Designed as a Tourist Attraction

This is important when interpreting the symbols around the city.

The colleges did not develop their identities because millions of future visitors would photograph them.

These were functioning institutions with their own communities, histories and relationships.

That remains true today.

Cambridge is visited by people from around the world, but behind the architecture there are still students studying, researchers working and colleges continuing their everyday routines.

For families, schools, organisations or returning visitors who want to focus on particular interests, a Private Bespoke Cambridge Tour can provide more flexibility around the stories and areas explored.

At We Are Cambridge, we believe the best tours help visitors understand what they are looking at rather than simply moving them from one famous photograph to the next.

Try This the Next Time You Walk Through Cambridge

When you next pass a Cambridge college, resist the temptation to look only through the gate.

Look at the gate itself.

Look above it.

Look at the stonework around the entrance and see whether you can find a shield, emblem or another repeated symbol.

Then continue walking.

Once your eyes become accustomed to noticing these details, Cambridge starts revealing an entirely different visual language.

The famous landmarks are still there, of course. King’s College Chapel is no less impressive, and the River Cam is no less beautiful.

But between those major sights are hundreds of smaller clues about the institutions that created the city we recognise today.

Cambridge does not tell all of its stories in words. Some have been carved into stone and left there for generations to notice.

Written by a Cambridge guide at We Are Cambridge.