Barbour has injected its new S/S range with a touch of the old for 2009. Adapting their traditional family coat of arms into a crest, the iconic British label will feature the crest on polo shirts, knitwear and jackets for the new season. According to Claire Saunders, Barbour’s Head of Marketing, the crest is “a proud and traditional part of our heritage,” and “remaines true to the founding principles on which the company was based, quality, attention to detail, durability and fitness for purpose.”

The crest, dating back as far as the seventeenth century, carries elements of the Barbour family’s roots as farmers. It features a lighthouse representing watchfulness; a helmet representing wisdom and defence; a wheat sheaf representing hope while escallop shells and a cross represent travel and victory. The crest is also demarcated with the Latin phrase ‘Nihilo Nisi Duro’ which means ‘Only Through Endurance,’ which is pertinent given the signature durability of Barbour’s clothing.

Use of the crest as part of the latest Barbour range is a definitive nod by the clothing house at the Brit prep culture, a quintessentially English lifestyle revolving around historical universities like Oxford and Cambridge, sports like polo and croquet and heavily influenced by affluent British families holidaying in the costal areas such as Cornwall and Northumberland.