University removing ‘offensive’ dolphin emblem from logo

The emblem of a dolphin, for centuries associated with Edward Colston, is to be removed from the logo of the University of Bristol as part of a move by the institution to “tell our history in an honest, open and transparent way”.

Vice chancellor Evelyn Welch argued the symbol of the animal was “offensive” to staff, students and members of the public who recognised its links to the infamous 15th century figure.

Colston, Welch said, had “completely direct” links to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and the academic body was “listening to hurt and pain voiced internally” by erasing the image.

The dolphin is understood to have been the emblem of the Colston family and can be seen on their coat of arms, with four dolphins also featuring on the plinth in the city centre which used to hold the statue of Colston.

Bristol University’s decision follows a year-long consultation which has resulted in the names of seven Bristol Uni-owned buildings linked in different ways to the slavery being retained.

Colston’s controversial statue was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7 2020 and has not been returned to its city centre plinth since – photo; Betty Woolerton

Born in 1636 in Bristol, Colston was a wealthy merchant trader who made his fortune from slave trading conducted by the Royal African Company.

According to legend, Colston took the dolphin as a symbol following the safe return of an uninsured vessel. The ship was in danger of sinking due to a large hole, which a young dolphin plugged with its body.

But, the vice chancellor said, “ironically”, Colston died 200 years before Bristol Uni was founded in 1876 and there is “no association” between the figure whose statue was dumped in the Floating Harbour in 2020 and the higher education institution.

“We have no connection to Colston,” Welch said. “His dolphin insignia was included because in the 1880s there was a cult of Colston, almost a competition to hold onto his name, reputation for philanthropy and legacy.

“13 streets in Bristol were called Colston and Colston buns were suddenly handed out to schoolchildren.”

“This is all an extraordinary invention of tradition, which actually has nothing to with our foundation – but you can’t put a footnote explaining that on your logo.”

The Fry Building is named after the Fry family who donated land and funds to the university – photo: Betty Woolerton

The dolphin symbol appears alongside a sun to represent the Wills family and a horse for the Fry family.

Money donated by Henry Overton Wills III helped found the university in 1909 and had its early origins in importing and selling tobacco produced on plantations in the USA which used enslaved labour. Chocolate the Frys processed was, until 1833, produced from ingredients cultivated by enslaved labourers.

Asked why the two families’ logos were remaining on the graphic, Welch said: “To be absolutely consistent, we’re not removing the names Fry and Wills or their insignia from buildings so we’re not removing their insignia from our logo.

“They did found the university so we wouldn’t be here without Wills and Fry and we need to own that, acknowledge it and explain it.

“There is a big difference between the connectivity of Wills and Fry and Colston with slavery.”

Welch said the university would amend the symbol digitally first and then address more permanent examples of it such as on buildings. She added the dolphin could be replaced by an open book, as seen on the university’s coat of arms.

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read next:

• Dolphin School to work with artist to design new emblem
• Bristol Uni could rename buildings with links to slave trade
• ‘The toppling of Colston has taken the spirit of Bristol around the world’

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