King of arms is the senior rank of anofficer of arms. In manyheraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grantarmorial bearings and sometimes certify genealogies and noble titles. In other traditions, the power has been delegated to other officers of similar rank.
In England, the authority to grant acoat of arms is subject to the formal approval of theEarl Marshal in the form of awarrant. In jurisdictions such as theRepublic of Ireland the authority to grant armorial bearings has been delegated to a chief herald that serves the same purpose as the traditional king of arms. Canada also has achief herald, though this officer grants arms on the authority of thegovernor general as theking's representative through theherald chancellor's direct remit. Scotland's only king of arms, theLord Lyon, exercises the royal prerogative by direct delegation from the Crown and like the Chief Herald of Ireland and the old Ulster King of Arms needs no warrant from any other office bearer.
In theKingdom of Spain, the power to certify coats of arms has been given to theCronistas de Armas (chroniclers of arms).
The English and Scottish kings of arms are the only officers of arms to have a distinctivecrown of office, used for ceremonial purposes such as atcoronations (as opposed to peers, who instead wear acoronet). At thecoronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the kings of arms used a crown trimmed with sixteenacanthus leaves alternating in height, and inscribed with the wordsMiserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam ('Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy great mercy';Psalm 51). When this crown is shown in pictorial representations, nine leaves and the first three words are shown. Recently,[when?] a new crown has been made for the Lord Lyon, modelled on the Scottish Royal crown among theHonours of Scotland. This crown has removable arches which will be removed at coronations to avoid any hint oflèse majesté.[citation needed]
Garter King of Arms is the herald of theOrder of the Garter as is in Scotland Lord Lyon King of Arms the herald of theOrder of the Thistle. TheNorroy and Ulster King of Arms is the herald of the (now dormant)Order of St Patrick. Other British orders of chivalry have their own kings of arms:
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