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Agrant of arms or agovernmental issuance of arms is an instrument issued by a lawful authority, such as anofficer of arms or State Herald, which confers on a person and their descendants the right to bear a particularcoat of arms or armorial bearings. It is one of the ways in which a person may lawfully bear arms in a jurisdiction regulatingheraldry, another being by birth, throughinheritance.
Historically a grant of arms is distinguished from both a confirmation of arms and a private registration of arms. A grant of arms confers a new right, whereas a confirmation of arms confirms an existing right; and a private registration of arms is a record which does not purport to create or confirm any legal right. However a governmental registration of arms by an official government agency, (e.g., Bureau of Heraldry in South Africa) does create and confirm new legal rights.
A grant of arms or government registration of arms typically takes the form ofletters patent, which provide self-contained proof, upon production of the letters patent, of the right conferred. For example, a grant or patent[1] of arms from officers of theCollege of Arms in London, as well as related letters patent such as a grant of anaugmentation, acrest, orsupporters,[2] will begin with the words "To all and singular to whom these presents shall come..." or variations thereof,[1][3][4] thereby showing that the grant is addressed to anyone in the world to whom it may be presented; this applies equally to grants made to private individuals[2][1][3][5][6] and to grants made to corporate bodies,[7][8][4][9] and also applies to grants made to entities in Australia or any other Commonwealth realm in which the College has heraldic jurisdiction.[10][11][12]
It is a common misconception that arms or grants of arms are always associated withnobility. This is only the case in theUnited Kingdom, where a grant of arms by theCollege of Arms orLord Lyon confirms the state ofgentility, which is equivalent to Continental untitled nobility, and is thusde facto a patent of nobility.[13] Continental grants of arms do not ennoble unless it is explicitly stated in the letters patent.
TO all and Singuler as well Kinges Herauldes and officers of Armes as nobles gentlemen & others whiche thes presentes shall See or Heare [sic]
To all and synguler aswell nobles and gentills as others to whom these presents shall come [sic, original spelling] [...] To all and singular, as well nobles and gentlemen as others, to whom these presents shall come [Officially modernised spelling]
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