The town's arms might be described thus: Quarterly, first and fourth sable a key palewise argent, the wards to chief and sinister, second Or a bear passant of the first, and third Or a crayfish palewise gules, the head to chief.

The arms borne until 1951 were similar, but there were two notable differences:
The third quarter bore another bear, like the second quarter, but it was turned to sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right);
There was a silver inescutcheon at the fess point (centre) charged with a red cross, (i.e., the arms of the Archbishopric of Trier).

The keys are meant to be the keys of heaven held by Saint Peter, to whom the Archbishopric of Trier is consecrated.
The bear is the town's armorial bearing, and is canting (“bear” is Bär in German).
The crayfish, also canting, as the blazon calls it a Krebs (a word applied to any of a number of crustacean creatures), stands for Nikolaus von Kues, whose family name was Cryfftz (the same as Krebs in High German).
There are only two other towns in Germany whose arms bear a crustacean charge, namely Bad Wurzach in the Allgäu and Cottbus.
The town's arms might be described thus: Quarterly, first and fourth sable a key palewise argent, the wards to chief and sinister, second Or a bear passant of the first, and third Or a crayfish palewise gules, the head to chief.
The arms borne until 1951 were similar, but there were two notable differences:
The third quarter bore another bear, like the second quarter, but it was turned to sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right);
There was a silver inescutcheon at the fess point (centre) charged with a red cross, (i.e., the arms of the Archbishopric of Trier).
The keys are meant to be the keys of heaven held by Saint Peter, to whom the Archbishopric of Trier is consecrated. The bear is the town's armorial bearing, and is canting (“bear” is Bär in German). The crayfish, also canting, as the blazon calls it a Krebs (a word applied to any of a number of crustacean creatures), stands for Nikolaus von Kues, whose family name was Cryfftz (the same as Krebs in High German). There are only two other towns in Germany whose arms bear a crustacean charge, namely Bad Wurzach in the Allgäu and Cottbus.
Bernkastel-Kues