A belfry is a symbol of the sovereign collective:

“Where a cathedral spire represented the Church and a castle keep represented the lord, the belfry represented the commune — the self-governing town. Building one was an act of civic emancipation, an architectural declaration of independence from feudal and ecclesiastical authority. The bells rang on the town’s own schedule, the archives proved the town’s own rights, and the silhouette on the skyline said: we govern ourselves here.”