A coat of arms featuring a black sailing ship could be changed if a probe discovers it depicts a slave vessel, a council has revealed. Hammersmith and Fulham council's coat of arms depicts the arrival of Vikings in the borough in 879AD - but some fear it could actually represent a slave ship. And those behind the probe suggested a horseshoe symbol on the coat of arms could have links to a 17th-century slave trader who lived locally, the Sun reported. The Labour-run authority in West London will have all statues, plaques, monuments and street names within its boundary examined by experts for traces of anything seen to celebrate Britain's connections to the slave trade.