Where did the tradition of naming British pubs after random animals and people come from?

by GlitteryLizard

In Britain every pub has a name like, 'The Lion' 'The Queen Victoria' 'The King George' 'The Queen Elizabeth' 'The Swan' and we see the same names over and over again.

Where did this tradition start?

I can think of a few random objects too, like, 'The Plough' or 'The Railway'.

vinylemulator

You may find this previous answer by u/sunagainstgold useful: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/i6ehy4/why_do_so_many_english_pubs_follow_the_the_arms/

In short, when many original taverns were founded literacy rates were low and as such an easily identifiable sign with a red dragon, a crown, a swan, a plough or a bell were important marketing tools so that people knew what your pub was called.