What does the coventry city crest stand for?

Answer 1

Legend has it that in the middle ages, folk believed the elephant was such a huge animal, it must sleep standing up and never lay down. People therefore assumed if you built your castle on an elephant's back, you'd have an inpentratable fortress that would never fall down. This tale, combined with the true fact of Coventry having one of the worst strongholds / prisons to be locked up in (hence the phrase "being sent to Coventry"), the football club adopted these into their crest. Additionally, on the club crest is the Phoenix rising from the ashes (to remember the people of the city who died during the Second World War Blitz on Coventry by the Nazi Luftwaffe in November 1940, and how the survivors rebuilt the area), plus an eagle which ties in with the Leofric family - their family mascot (a certain Lord Leofric in the middle ages was the husband of no other than Lady Godiva).