“The Speaker’s coat of arms has been developed by the College of Arms. The design includes: a ladder, representing Mr Speaker’s family’s humble beginnings; four roundels representing Mr Speaker’s interest in tennis and Mr Speaker’s ex officio role as the Chairman of the Boundary Commissions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; scimitars or seaxes as used on the coat of arms of the county of Essex where Mr Speaker went to university. The motto, “all are equal”, is separated by pink triangles representing the Speaker’s championing of LGBT rights, and rainbow colours on the scroll represent the flag of equality.”

Glad they cleared up what the ladder was all about…