Coat of arms of England
| Royal Arms of England | |
|---|---|
.svg) |
|
| Details | |
| Armiger | Monarchs of England |
| Adopted | High Middle Ages |
| Escutcheon | Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued azure. |
| Supporters | Various |
| Motto | Dieu et mon droit |
| Orders | Order of the Garter |
| Use | Quartered in current royal arms; National symbol of England |
The Royal Arms of England are the armorials (or coat of arms) first adopted in a fixed form at the start of the age of heraldry (circa 1200) as personal arms by the Plantagenet kings who ruled England from 1154. In the popular mind they have come to symbolise the nation of England, although according to heraldic usage nations do not bear arms, only persons and corporations do. The blazon of the Arms of Plantagenet is: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langued azure, signifying three identical gold lions (also known as leopards) with blue tongues and claws, walking past but facing the observer, arranged in a column on a red background. Although the tincture azure of tongue and claws is not cited in many blazons, they are historically a distinguishing feature of the Arms of England. This coat, designed in the High Middle Ages, has been variously combined with those of the Kings of France, Scotland, A symbol of Ireland, Nassau and Hanover, according to dynastic and other political changes occurring in England, but has not altered since it took a fixed form in the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199), the second Plantagenet king.
Although in England the official blazon refers to "lions", French heralds historically used the term "leopard" to represent the lion passant guardant, and hence the arms of England, no doubt, are more correctly blazoned, "leopards". Without doubt the same animal was intended, but different names were given according to the position; in later times the name lion was given to both.
Royal emblems depicting lions were first used by the Norman dynasty, later a formal and consistent English heraldry system emerged at the end of the 12th century. The earliest surviving representation of an escutcheon, or shield, displaying three lions is that on the Great Seal of King Richard I (1189-1199), which initially displayed one or two lions rampant, but in 1198 was permanently altered to depict three lions passant, perhaps representing Richard I's principal three positions as King of the English, Duke of the Normans, and Duke of the Aquitaines. In 1340, King Edward III of England laid claim to the throne of France, and thus adopted the Royal arms of France which he quartered with his paternal arms, the Royal Arms of England. Significantly he placed the French arms in the 1st and 4th quarters of greatest honour, signifying the feudal superiority of France over England (The King of France was the feudal overlord of the Duke of Aquitaine). This quartering was adjusted, abandoned and restored intermittently throughout the Middle Ages as the relationship between England and France changed. When the French king altered his arms from semée of fleur-de-lys, to only three, the English quartering eventually followed suit. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland entered a personal union, the arms of England and Scotland were marshalled (combined) in what has now become the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. It appears in a similar capacity to represent England in the Arms of Canada and on the Queen's Personal Canadian Flag. The coat of three lions continues to represent England on several coins of the pound sterling, forms the basis of several emblems of English national sports teams (although with altered tinctures) and endures as one of the most recognisable national symbols of England.
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