Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor | |
---|---|
Details | |
Armiger | Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I as King of Spain |
Adopted | 1530 |
Crest | Imperial Crown of Austria |
Torse | Cross of Burgundy |
Escutcheon | His maternal inheritance quartering his paternal inheritance |
Supporters | Imperial Eagle and the Pillars of Hercules |
Motto |
Plus Ultra (Latin areas) Plus Oultre (German and Burgundian areas) |
Orders | Order of the Golden Fleece |
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, or Charles I of Spain, was the heir of four of Europe's leading royal houses. Charles was the first sole monarch of Spain, inheriting the kingdoms first united by his maternal grandparents, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic Monarchs). From his father, Philip I of Castile, he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands, which came from his paternal grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. Finally, on the death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, he inherited the Habsburg lands in Austria. His coat of arms, representing much of the land he inherited, is blazoned as follows:
Supporters: A bicephalous eagle displayed sable imperially crowned proper in front of a saltire ragulée gules, the whole between two columns argent issuing from the sea proper in base, the one to dexter crowned imperially proper, the one to sinister crowned with the Royal Crown of Spain proper. The motto, PLVS VLTRA or PLVS OVLTRE, wraps around the columns.
The first and fourth quarters represents holdings derived from the Spanish crowns: that is, the quartered arms of Castile and Leon themselves quartered with the quartered arms of Aragon and Sicily. After 1520 the Aragon/Sicily quartering also incorporated the arms of Jerusalem, Naples, and Navarre.