Coat of arms of the United Kingdom
The coat of arms of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the royal arms, are the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently. They are used by the Government of the United Kingdom and by other Crown institutions, including courts in the United Kingdom and in some parts of the Commonwealth. Differenced versions of the arms are used by members of the British royal family. The monarch's official flag, the royal standard, is the coat of arms in flag form.
There are two versions of the coat of arms. One is used in Scotland, and includes elements derived from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Scotland, and the other is used elsewhere and includes elements derived from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of England. The shields of both versions of the arms quarter the arms of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, which united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, and the Kingdom of Ireland, which united with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom in 1801. The Irish quarter was unaltered following the division of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1922.
The present arms do not include a representation of the United Kingdom's fourth constituent country, Wales. It is instead represented heraldically by two royal badges, which use the Welsh dragon and the coat of arms of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth respectively.
Description
Outside Scotland
At the centre of the arms is a quartered shield, depicting the three passant guardant lions of England in the first and fourth quarters, the rampant lion and double tressure flory-counterflory of Scotland in the second quarter, and a harp for Ireland in the third quarter. Surrounding the shield is the Order of the Garter, the United Kingdom's most senior order of knighthood. The supporters are a crowned English lion on the dexter, and a chained Scottish unicorn on the sinister. Above the shield is a gold helmet, which has mantling of gold and ermine attached to it. On top of this is the crest, a crown with a crowned lion standing on it. Below the shield is a grassy mound, a type of compartment, on which are thistles, Tudor roses and shamrocks, representing Scotland, England and Ireland respectively. In front of this is the motto cat=no, a French phrase meaning 'God and my right'.In Scotland
The royal arms in Scotland use the same basic elements, but with distinctive Scottish symbolism. In the shield the Scottish arms occupy the first and fourth quarters and the English arms the second, giving the former precedence. The shield is surrounded by the collar and badge of the Order of the Thistle. The crest is a crowned red lion holding a sword and sceptre, facing forward sitting on a crown. Above it is the Scots motto 'In defens', a contraction of the phrase 'In my defens God me defend'. The supporters are a crowned and chained Scottish unicorn on the dexter, and a crowned English lion on the sinister. Between each supporter and the shield is a lance displaying the flag of their respective kingdom. The grassy mound beneath the shield contains only thistles; on it is a second motto, that of the Order of the Thistle: Nemo me impune lacessit. The crowns in the Scottish version of the arms are conventionally stylised to resemble the crown of Scotland.Blazon
Changes to the blazon of the royal arms are in the royal prerogative, presumed to be under ministerial advice.This table breaks down the blazons to enable comparison of the differences between the general arms and the arms used in Scotland.
History
Arms of England, Scotland and Ireland
The present royal arms originated in the separate arms of the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland; Wales had been incorporated into the Kingdom of England in the 16th century. In 1603, James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones, and, to symbolise this union of the crowns, the arms of England and Ireland were quartered with those of Scotland. Within Scotland, the Scottish arms were placed in the first and fourth quarters and those of England in the second, with the English arms taking precedence elsewhere.Except during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate in the mid-seventeenth century, and the use by William III of an inescutcheon of Nassau, the arms remained unchanged until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
Great Britain
The Acts of Union 1707 united the two kingdoms of England and Scotland into one Kingdom of Great Britain. The arms of the new kingdom impaled England and Scotland in the first and fourth quarters, representing their union, with France in the second and Ireland in the third. In 1714, the Elector of Hanover, George I, became king, and the arms of Hanover were placed in the fourth quarter.United Kingdom
In 1801, Great Britain and Ireland were united to form the United Kingdom; the monarch's claim to the French throne was at the same time dropped, and the French quarter removed from the coat of arms. The remaining quarters were rearranged so that, outside Scotland, England occupied the first and fourth, Scotland the second, Ireland the third, and Hanover an inescutcheon topped by an electoral bonnet. Within Scotland, the Scottish and English quarters were reversed. In 1816, the electorate of Hanover became a kingdom, and the bonnet was replaced with a crown.In 1837, Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom, but not of Hanover, as the latter followed Salic law which barred women from the succession. The Hanoverian inescutcheon was therefore removed, and the royal arms reached the form they have retained to the present. The only changes since have been cosmetic, such as altering the depiction of the Irish harp so that it no longer includes a bare-breasted woman.
Development
Changing styles
The blazon of the royal arms has been changed only three times since the creation of the United Kingdom: in 1801, 1816 and 1837. But how these blazons are depicted has been subject to artistic interpretation and the preferences of the monarch under the royal prerogative.The blazons of the royal arms do not specify any particular heraldic crown to be depicted in the achievement, using only the term "imperial crown proper" to indicate a crown with arches and in its natural colours. The first reference to the "imperial crown" of England was during the reign of Henry VIII in the Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1532, which declared that "this realm of England is an empire... governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial Crown of the same".
The actual form of the crown has varied over time. In England, the heraldic crown is ultimately based on St Edward's Crown, which has four crosses pattée and four fleurs-de-lis around the rim and two arches. However, depictions have varied depending on the artist. Queen Victoria, for example, favoured a crown with rounded arches of "the type of an earlier time" since at least the 1860s, and in about 1880, after she was proclaimed Empress of India, the heraldic crown was altered to give it a more imperial form by making the arches semi-circular.
After the accession of Edward VII, the War Office raised the issue of a standardised design of the crown for use by the British Army, as several crowns of different patterns were in use. In 1901, the king decided on a "Tudor" crown design based on the crown of Henry VII, as "chosen and always used by Queen Victoria personally". This style was used until after the accession of Elizabeth II in 1952, when the design reverted to a style with depressed arches used by Charles II. The design was updated again after the accession of Charles III, to a design similar to that adopted in 1901.
There have also been changes to the depiction of the Irish harp, with the frame variously depicted as a winged woman or as a Celtic harp. The latter became more common in twentieth century.
Usage
Restrictions
The royal arms are the arms of dominion of the British monarch. Unlike ordinary armorial bearings, they are not hereditary. The right to bear them is vested in the reigning sovereign and, by extension, their government as a royal prerogative. Members of the royal family are granted differenced arms.Crown copyright applies in perpetuity to depictions of the royal arms and its constituent parts under the royal prerogative, and The National Archives restricts rights to reproduce them. Although Crown copyright usually expires 50 years after publication, Section 171 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 made an exception for 'any right or privilege of the Crown' not written in an act of parliament, thus preserving the rights of the Crown under the unwritten royal prerogative.
In addition, use of the royal arms and devices for commercial purposes is specifically restricted in the UK under sections 4 and 99 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, and its use is governed by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.
The royal arms may be displayed by holders of a royal warrant but may not be used as a trade mark and should only be displayed for the duration of the grant of a royal warrant. It is an offence under Section 12 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to give a false indication that any goods or services are supplied to the monarch or any member of the royal family.
UK usage
Government
The UK Government generally uses a simplified, or "lesser", form of the arms that omits the helm and mantling, reduces the crest to the crown alone, and has no compartment. Use of the royal arms by government departments and agencies is governed by the Cabinet Office.The royal arms feature on all acts of parliament, in the logos of government departments, on the cover of all UK passports, as an inescutcheon on the diplomatic flags of British Ambassadors, and on The London Gazette. It is also used in the British Overseas Territories, namely on all acts of the Anguilla House of Assembly and by the administrations of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the Pitcairn Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The Scotland Office and the Advocate General for Scotland use the Scottish version of the arms, again without the helm or crest. The simplified Scottish royal arms were used as the day-to-day logo of the Scottish Executive until September 2007, when the body was rebranded as the Scottish Government and began using a logo incorporating the flag of Scotland. The Scottish Government continues to use the arms on some official documents, including acts of the Scottish Parliament.