- Arms:
- Per pale Vert and Azure a double warded Key in pale the bow in base and the wards in chief radiated Or between six Mullets each of six points also radiated Or a Chief Gold
- Crest:
- [Upon a Helm] In a Crown rayonny Or a demi-figure of Mercury vested Vert purfled Or over his sinister shoulder a Mantle Azure lined Or on his head a Petanus Argent winged Or and his dexter arm raised pointing with the index finger upwards to and supporting at the lowest point a Mullet of six points radiated Gold
- Mantling:
- Vert lined Or
- Supporters:
- On the dexter a Griffin and on the sinister a Horse both gorged with Wreaths Argent and Gules and both winged Azure the under wings Vert and all semée of Mullets of six points radiated Gold
- Badge:
- A Falcon affronty wings displayed head to the dexter per pale Vert and Azure beaked and charged on the breast with a Mullet of six points radiated Or alighting upon a Book expended proper leathered per pale Azure and Vert clasped Or the pages inscribed CITO in letters Sable and edged Gold
- Motto:
- Cito
That IT's principal or key processes are calculation and storage of knowledge, and its instantaneous transmission and dispersal, is symbolised upon the Company's shield by the key, the wards and its bow radiated, in token of the access to technology which enable information and technology once gained to be dispersed, moving as do the impulses of a computer virtually with the speed of light. Electrical forces, without which this could not be achieved, are denoted by the mullets or stars scattered upon the shield's surface, as in the vault of heaven; the stars also represent stored energy which when released radiates and spreads the light of knowledge everywhere.
The crest is composed of the figure of Mercury, the swift messenger of the gods in the classical legend; indeed he is the archetypal messenger and thus also embodies communication, in which information technologists excel. He emerges from a crown with rays like those of an heraldic sun. These, and the radiated star to which Mercury points his forefinger, have the same symbolism as the stars in the shield, that is, the rapid dissemination of information and knowledge.
Energy and speed, reliability and intelligence, can be said to be characterised by the winged griffin, half lion and half eagle, strength and swiftness combined, and the winged horse or Pegasus, having the like qualities, between which traditional "monstrous beasts" of the heraldic imagination the Company's shield is held up and supported. Each supporter reflects the fact that by the wreath or torse about its neck in red and white (the City's colours), the Company was granted ots livery by the Court of the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London.
The Company's motto, "Cito", incorporates the Company's initials CIT. Cito means "swiftly" and epitomises the way in which the technology is applied by the Company's members' functions.
