• The shield is divided into five parts which represents the five districts that form the county. These divisions form a letter 'W' which, when comprised with the white rose of Yorkshire, graphically represent the county's name.
• The two lion supporters are taken from the Coat of arms of England. One supporter has an image of the sun while the other has a Yorkshire rose. These two symbols together formed part of the arms of the preceding council, West Riding County Council, as a Rose en Soleil.
• The compartment shows the hills of the Pennines which make up a large part of the western part of the county.

The formal description of the arms, or blazon, is:

For the arms: Or two Piles Azure a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper; and for the crest: on a Wreath of the Colours a Mural Crown Or standing thereon a Lion rampant guardant per fess Gules and Tenne crowned Or bearing in its forepaws a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper; and for the supporters: Dexter a Lion rampant guardant per fess Gules and Sable armed and langued Azure crowned and charged on the shoulder with a Sun in splendour Or sinister a Lion rampant guardant per fess Tenne and Vert armed and langued Gules crowned Or charged on the shoulder with a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper, the whole upon a Compartment representing the Pennine Hills; and for the motto: 'By effort achieve'.