The Polish eagle on Ealing’s mayoral chain: how it came to be there

A Polish eagle sits at the centre of the Mayor of Ealing’s chain of office. It is not a decorative detail placed there by chance. The London Borough of Ealing’s official description of its civic insignia states explicitly that the symbol was added at the request of the Polish community in Ealing. It is a small but lasting sign of Polish presence in the borough’s official symbolism.

The chain is part of the civic insignia: the objects used by the mayor and deputy mayor in their representative roles. The council also includes the mace, robes, chains and badges used by the mayor, mayoress, deputy mayor and deputy mayoress. According to the council’s current page, the insignia were made by Fattorini in 1966, following the 1965 amalgamation of the former boroughs of Acton, Ealing and Southall into today’s London borough.

The description of the mayoral chain is precise. The mayor’s badge is oval, with an enamel centre showing the armorial bearings of the London Borough of Ealing and a pierced border. The same shape is repeated in thirty lozenges connected by a double row of chain. The Polish eagle is positioned between the badge and the chain itself, at its central point.

The description distinguishes the mayor’s chain from the other items in the set. The mayoress’s chain has twenty-two sunburst-shaped lozenges, while the deputy mayor and deputy mayoress have separate badges with enamel centres depicting the borough’s armorial bearings. The Polish eagle is mentioned only in the description of the mayor’s chain.

There is also a dated trace of public interest in this feature. In a post published on 10 July 2016, local blogger Joanna D. described a conversation with the then Mayor of Ealing, Patricia Walker, at Acton Carnival. The writer recorded that they discussed the origin of the Polish emblem on the chain. The post shows that the symbol was being discussed publicly at least a decade ago, but it does not give the date when it was installed.

The council page does not state the date when the eagle was added, nor does it name the people who proposed it. Those details should therefore not be supplied without evidence. What can be confirmed is that, in 2026, the reference to the Polish eagle remains on the council’s current Mayor’s Office pages alongside information for the 2026/27 municipal year.

Councillor Faduma Mohamed is Mayor of Ealing for that year, with Ahmed Haji Mohamed as mayor’s consort. Councillor Ghulam Murtaza is deputy mayor, and Humera Murtaza is deputy mayoress. The council explains that the insignia symbolise the authority of the civic office. The robes and mace are normally used for civic occasions, although the mayor may also wear the robe during school visits when explaining the mayoralty to children.

The Polish eagle on the chain does not represent a new event or a newly launched initiative. It is an established element of Ealing’s official civic insignia, confirmed by the council. For residents of Polish heritage, its significance is straightforward: the community’s presence has been incorporated into a material symbol of the shared borough. Precision matters here too — the council confirms why the eagle was added, but it does not publish a complete history of that decision.

Anyone interested in the insignia can consult the official Mayor’s Office pages. The office is based at the Mayor’s Parlour, Perceval House, 14–16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing. The council page also provides a public email address for contacting the office.