Garter Principal King of Arms

Garter Principal King of Arms

The arms of office of the Garter Principal King of Arms
Heraldic tradition	Gallo-British
Jurisdiction	England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Governing body	College of Arms

The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The position has existed since 1415.

Garter is responsible to the Earl Marshal for the running of the College. He is the principal adviser to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom with respect to ceremonial and heraldry, with specific responsibility for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and, with the exception of Canada, for Commonwealth realms of which the Queen is Sovereign. He also serves as the King of Arms of the Order of the Garter and his seal and signature appear on all grants of arms made by the College.

The current Garter Principal King of Arms is Thomas Woodcock.

William Bruges, the first Garter King of Arms, held the office by 1417. The exact date of his appointment is not known and no record of it survives. John Anstis discovered a royal warrant under the Privy Seal dated 22 May in the fifth year of the reign of Henry V (1417) wherein Bruges is called by his previous title, Guyenne King of Arms; the warrant orders that another be passed under the Great Seal of the Realm protecting Bruges while he travelled abroad with the king. Anstis then outlines two further pieces of evidence: (1) an instrument of 1422 or 1423 by which Bruges settled pension arrangements with the knights in which it is stated that he was appointed Garter at a previous full chapter meeting, and (2) a decree by the Duke of Clarence dated either 3 or 13 September 1417 which mentions "Garretier Roy d'armes des Anghis" As Henry V left for France on 27 July 1417, it can be deduced that Bruges must have been appointed in late July of that year.