 Armorial bearings ofKing Richard I of England, often referred to as the "arms of England" | |
| Heraldic tradition | Gallo-British |
|---|---|
| Governing body | College of Arms |
| Chief officer | David White,Garter Principal King of Arms |
English heraldry is the form ofcoats of arms and otherheraldic bearings and insignia used inEngland. It lies within the so-calledGallo-British tradition. Coats of arms in England are regulated and granted to individuals by the English kings of arms of theCollege of Arms. An individual's arms may also be borne 'by courtesy' by members of the holder'snuclear family, subject to a system ofcadency marks,[1] to differentiate those displays from the arms of the original holder. The English heraldic style is exemplified in the arms of British royalty, and is reflected in the civic arms of cities and towns, as well as the noble arms of individuals in England. Royal orders in England, such as theOrder of the Garter, also maintain notable heraldic bearings.
Like many countries' heraldry, there is a classical influence within English heraldry, such as designs originally onGreek andRoman pottery.[citation needed] Many coats of arms featurecharges related to the bearer's name or profession (e.g.Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (The Queen Mother), depictingbows quartered with alion), a practice known as "canting arms".
Representations in person of saints or other figure are very rare, although there are however a few uses, mostly originating fromseals, where there have never been such limitations.[2] Although many places have dropped such iconography, theMetropolitan Borough of St Marylebone,London, includes a rendering of the Virgin Mary, although this is never stated.[3] This is also the case in many other examples, particularly those depicting Christ, to remove religious complications. Unlike in mainland Europe where armorial achievements make a large use of their eponymous saints,[citation needed] these are few and far between in England.
The lion is the most common charge, particularly in royal heraldry.[4]Heraldic roses are also common in English heraldry, as in theWar of the Roses where both houses, Lancaster and York, used them, and in the ensuing Tudor dynasty. Theheraldic eagle, while common on the European continent and particularly inGermany, is relatively rare in English heraldry and, in early English heraldry, was often associated with alliances with German princes.[5]
The coat of arms ofRichard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, pictured here, uses almost all typical forms of heraldry in England. The first quarter consists of the arms of his father-in-law,Richard Beauchamp, who bore an inescutcheon ofDe Clare quarteringDespenser, now shown in Neville's fourth quarter. The second quarter shows the arms of theMontacutes (Montagu). The third quarter shows the arms of Neville differenced by a label for Lancaster.[6]
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KingHenry I of England was said to have given a badge decorated with a lion to his son-in-lawGeoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and some have interpreted this as a grant of the lion arms later seen on his funerary enamel, but the first documentedroyal coat of arms appear on the Great Seal ofRichard I, where he is depicted on horseback with a shield containing one lion on the visible half. Because several of his immediate kin used lion coats, it has been speculated that his fatherHenry II may likewise have borne a single-lion coat of arms, perhaps with the same colours as later used by the family, a gold lion on red.[citation needed] Heraldry is thought to have become popular among the knights on thefirst andsecond crusades, along with the idea of chivalry.[7] UnderHenry III, it gained a system of classification and atechnical language.[8] However, over the next two centuries, the system was abused, leading to the swamping of true coats-of-arms.[8][dubious –discuss]
For the rest of the medieval period, it was popular within the upper classes to have a distinctive family mark for competitions and tournaments, and it was popular (although not prevalent) within the lower classes. It found particular use with knights, for practice and in themêlée of battle, where heraldry was worn on embroidered fabric covering their armour. Indeed, their houses' signs became known ascoats-of-arms in this way.[9] They were also worn on shields, where they were known as shields-of-arms.[9] As well as military uses, the maincharge was used in the seals of households. These were used to prove the authenticity of documents carried by heralds (messengers)[citation needed] and is the basis of the wordheraldry in English.[10] One example of this is the seal of John Mundegumri (1175), which bears a singlefleur-de-lys.[11] Prior to the 16th century, there was no regulation on the use of arms in England.[12]
One of the first contemporary records of medieval heraldry is aroll of arms calledFalkirk Rolls, written soon after theBattle of Falkirk in 1298. It includes the whole range of recognised heraldic colours (including furs) and designs.[13] This clearly demonstrates that English heraldry was fully developed at this time, and although the language is not quite identical, much of the terminology is the same as is still used.[citation needed] It is an occasional roll of arms, meaning it charted the heraldry visible on one occasion. Other rolls of arms covering England include the Caerlaverock Poem (composed 1300 aboutsiege of Caerlaverock) and Glover's Roll (a mixed and varied collection from around the mid-13th century).
The position of herald in England was well defined, and so on January 5, 1420, William Bruges was appointed byKing Henry V to be Garter King of Arms. No such position had been created in other countries.[14] A succession of different titles was introduced over the next four centuries for principal governor of arms, includingKing of Arms. Some were members of theCollege of Arms, some were not. Other holders of positions included theFalcon King of Arms, a position created underKing Edward III. Other positions were created for important counties, such as theLancastrian King of Arms, but the balance of power between them and those charged with larger regions remains unclear.[15]
During the Tudor period, grants of arms were made for significant contributions to the country by one of the Herald and Kings of Arms in a standard format, as in the case of Thomas Bertie, granted arms on 10 July 1550.[16] This was given as a passage read out by the herald. Although many are written in English,[16] it is possible they were also read out in Latin.[17]
The introduction in his case read:
To all noble and gentled the present letters reading hearing or seeing, Thomas Hawley alias Clarencieulx principal Herald and King of Arms of the south-east and west parts of this realm from the river Trent southward, sendeth humble commendation and greeting.
This seems to be the standard introduction, each herald using their name and position.
The early 18th century is often considered the nadir of English heraldry.[18][19][20] The heraldic establishment was not held in high regard by the public; the authority of theCourt of Chivalry (though not its armorial jurisdiction) was challenged,[21] and an increasing number of 'new men' simply assumed arms, without any authority.[18] This attitude is evident even in the appointment of the heralds themselves—SirJohn Vanbrugh, a prominent dramatist and architect who knew nothing of heraldry, was appointed to the office ofClarenceux King of Arms, the second-highest office in the College of Arms.[22] No new grants were made between November 1704 and June 1707.[23]
The situation slowly improved throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, with the number of new grants per year slowly rising—14 in 1747,[20] 40 in 1784 and 82 in 1884.[24] These numbers reflect an increasing geographical spread in grantees, due to a general increase of interest in heraldry. This was caused by a number of factors, including the creation of theOrder of the Bath in 1725, and grants of arms to its members,augmentations for honour granted to successful military commanders in thePeninsular War andNapoleonic Wars, and the rise in popularity of name and arms clauses.[25] The medieval period, and with it heraldry, also became popular as a result of theRomantic movement andGothic revival.[26]
Heraldry in England is heavily regulated by theCollege of Arms, who issue the arms. A person can be issued the arms themselves, but the college fields many requests from people attempting to demonstrate descent from anarmigerous (arms-bearing) person;[38] a person descended in the male line (or through heraldicheiresses) from such an ancestor may be reissued that ancestor's arms (with differencing marks if necessary to distinguish from senior-line cousins). To that end, the college is involved ingenealogy and the manypedigrees (family trees) in their records, although not open to the public, have official status. Anyone may register a pedigree with the college, where they are carefully internallyaudited and require official proofs before being altered.
Applications are open to anyone with a 'reputable status' (normally including a university degree, but officially down to the discretion of the college).
The College of Arms was incorporated in 1484 by King Richard III,[39] and is a corporate body consisting of the professional heralds who are delegated heraldic authority by the British monarch. Based in London, the college is one of the few remaining government heraldic authorities in Europe. Its legal basis relies on theLaw of Arms, which makes the right to grant arms exclusively todue authority, which has, since the late medieval period, been the Monarch or State, who gives the College of Arms this right and duty. Much of it is under the personal responsibility of the Monarch and not government, although the college has always been self-funded and independent.
According to one source,[40] the number of grants of arms in each half-century was roughly as follows:
| 1550–1600 | 1600–1650 | 1650–1700 | 1700–1750 | 1750–1800 | 1800–1850 | 1850–1900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2600 | 1580 | 780 | 560 | 1600 | 4600 | 3800 |
Although the accuracy of the figures is in doubt, the general trend is likely to be correct.[40] It is clear that heraldry saw a resurgence in England in the early 19th century.
Since 1797, no case of free assumption of arms has ever been successfully prosecuted in England.[12] The Court of Chivalry, the court of enforcement of such cases, has fallen into unimportance.[12]
The English system of cadency allowsnuclear family members to personally use the arms of the head of that family 'by courtesy'. This involves the addition of abrisure, or mark of difference to the original coat of arms. The brisure identifies the bearer's family relationship to the actual bearer of the arms, although there is some debate over how strictly the system should be followed, the accepted system is shown below:
| Wife | First son | Second son | Third son | Fourth son | Fifth son | Sixth son | Seventh son | Eighth son | Ninth son | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family member |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
label of three points | doublequatrefoil† |
†also known as an octofoil[41]
The English system of cadency is considered deprecated and is not enforced by the College of Arms, which maintains the position that all descendants of a grantee in the legitimate male line can use the arms without marks of cadency.
Women do not display the "war-like" crest. Daughters have no special brisures, and customarily bear their father's arms on a lozenge while they are unmarried.[42] The wife of an armigerous man may bear her husband's arms alone on a shield or banner differenced by a small lozenge.
If she bears arms in her own right, while she is married, a woman maymarshal (combine) her or her father's arms with her husband's on a single shield,[1] normally byimpalement.[43]
Upon becoming a widow, a woman may bear her late husband's arms alone on a lozenge, oval or similar vehicle of display, differenced by a lozenge and if she bears arms in her own right, returns to bearing her father's arms upon a lozenge, though now impaled with her late husband's arms.[42] Her husband's arms are borne on the dexter side and her father's arms on the sinister side.
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The royal coat of arms is the officialcoat of arms of theBritish monarch.[44] These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch, and are also known asArms of Dominion.[citation needed] Variants of the Royal Arms are used by other members of theRoyal Family; and by theBritish Government in connection with the administration and government of the country.[44] InScotland, the monarch has a separate version of the Royal Arms, a variant of which is used by theScotland Office.[44]
The shield is quartered, depicting in the first and fourth quarters the three lions passant guardant ofEngland; in the second, the rampant lion and double tressureflory-counter-flory ofScotland; and in the third, aharp forIreland.[45]
Thecrest is a lion statant guardant wearing theTudor crown, itself standing upon another representation of that crown.
The dextersupporter is a likewise crownedlion, symbolizingEngland; the sinister, aunicorn, symbolisingScotland.[44] According to legend, a free unicorn was considered a very dangerous beast; therefore the heraldic unicorn is chained, as were both supporting unicorns in theRoyal coat of arms of Scotland.[citation needed]
The coat features both themotto ofEnglish monarchs,Dieu et mon droit (God and my right), and the motto of theOrder of the Garter,Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shamed be he who thinks ill of it) on a representation of the Garter behind the shield.[44]
Children and male-line grandchildren of a monarch are usually granted their own coats of arms. Although many are given peerage titles named for places in Wales or Scotland, the royal family follows English heraldic tradition; indeed, most coats of arms of the royal family are based on the royal arms as described above.
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TheHeraldic Visitations of the several counties of England were instituted in the 16th century and required each family which displayed coat armour to report to the visiting heralds, generally holding court in the county capital during a certain period, to declare its pedigree to show it came from ancient gentry stock. This has given rise to well recorded armorials of the ancientgentry families from each county, which generally assumed amongst themselves the administration of the county on behalf of the monarch, filling such offices asSheriff, Justice of the Peace, Commissioners, Knights of the Shire or Members of Parliament, and in thefeudal era iftenants-in-chief fought in the royal army.
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Almost every town council, city council and major educational establishment has an official armorial bearing (coat of arms), although the use of such arms varies wildly, due to the governance of the institution, and who uses the arms, particularly concerningunitary authorities. TheCollege of Arms grants arms only to people or corporate bodies, and so coats of arms are attributed to Borough, District or Town councils, rather than to a place or its populace.[47]Mottoes are common but not universal.Arms of such councils may feature the historical ecclesiastical arms of a localchurch,cathedral ordiocese, such as the arms ofWatford Borough Council which feature the arms of theDiocese of St. Albans. Similarly they can also feature the arms of a local patron Saint, as in the arms ofSt. Edmundsbury Borough Council which features the coat of arms ofSaint Edmund.[48] Another example is the use of the rose, the symbol of theVirgin Mary.[49] Others are derived from the arms of an associated influential family or local organisation, or their creation is granted as an honour to an influential person.
In local government, however, there has been a move away from traditional heraldic style designs to clean, streamlined ones, as in the case ofLondon.
Often use is restricted to certain events and institutions within the town or city, its use superseded by the logo of the localborough council orarms-length management organisation.[citation needed] Current uses of historical coats of arms normally include use in town halls and on litter bins and benches (where corporate-style council logos are deemed inappropriate).[49]
Many British educational establishments have arms dating back hundreds of years, but theCollege of Arms continues to grant new arms to schools, colleges and universities each year.[a] The arms of educational establishments often represent the aims of the institution and history of the establishment, town or major alumni.
For instance theletters patent grantingarms to theUniversity of Plymouth were presented byEric Dancer,CBE,JP,Lord Lieutenant ofDevon, in a ceremony at the university on 27 November 2008, in the presence ofHenry Paston-Bedingfeld,York Herald of theCollege of Arms, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Plymouth, Judge William Taylor, the Recorder of Plymouth, andBaroness Wilcox.[50] The books represent the university's focus on learning and scholarship. The scattering of small stars representsnavigation, which has played a key role in the history of the city and the university. The scallop shells in gold representpilgrimage, a sign of the importance of the departure of thePilgrim Fathers from theBarbican aboard theMayflower in 1620. A Pelican and aGolden Hind support the shield and reflect both the original and later, better known, name ofSir Francis Drake's ship. The crest contains the Latin mottoIndagate Fingite Invenite ('Explore Dream Discover'), a quote fromMark Twain, reflecting the university's ambitions for its students and Plymouth's history of great seafarers.
In the arms ofCranfield University (prepared by SirColin Cole, the sometimeGarter Principal King of Arms), the "bars wavy" in the chief of the shield are intended in combination with thecranes to allude to the nameCranfield. The three-branchedtorch in the base refers to learning and knowledge in the sciences of engineering, technology and management. In the crest, theastral crown alludes to the college ofAeronautics and also commemorates the contribution of its founding Chancellor,Lord Kings Norton, to the development of aeronautical research. The keys signify the gaining of knowledge by study and instruction. Theowl, with its wings expanded, may also be taken to represent knowledge in the widest sense. In the badge, which repeats the keys, the crown rayonny refers both to theroyal charter under which Cranfield came into being and, by the finials composed of the rays of the sun, to energy and its application through engineering and technological skills to industry, commerce and public life. The chain that surrounds the badge shows the links between the various disciplines to be studied at the university and in itself also refers to engineering where it plays so many parts.
English heraldists include:
Members of theOrder of the Garter may encircle their arms with the Garter and, if they wish, with a depiction of the collar as well.[52] However, the Garter is normally used alone, and the more elaborate version is seldom seen. Stranger Knights and Ladies do not embellish the arms they use in their countries with English decorations.
Knights and Ladies Companion are also entitled to receive heraldicsupporters, a privilege granted to few other private individuals. While some families claim supporters by ancient use, and others have been granted them as a special reward, only peers, Knights and Ladies Companion of the Garter, Knights and Ladies of the Thistle, and certain other knights and ladies are automatically entitled to them.[52]
On January 5, 1420,William Bruges was appointed byKing Henry V to be Garter King of Arms.[citation needed] Since the creation of the position, it has been changed into the positionGarter Principal King of Arms, but the duties remain the same.Ex officio, it also makes the position's holder head of the College of Arms, and subsequently is usually appointed from among the otherofficers of arms at the college. The Garter Principal is also the principal adviser to the Sovereign of theUnited Kingdom (particularlyEngland,Wales andNorthern Ireland) with respect to ceremonial and heraldry.[53]
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