Officer of arms

An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:

Traditionally in England, officers of arms are of three ranks: kings of arms, heralds of arms, and pursuivants of arms. Officers of arms whose appointments are of a permanent nature are known as officers of arms in ordinary; those whose appointments are of a temporary or occasional nature are known as officers of arms extraordinary.

The medieval practice of appointing heralds or pursuivants to the establishment of a noble household is still common in European countries, particularly those in which there is no official heraldic control or authority. Such appointments are also still made in Scotland, where four private officers of arms exist. These appointments are all purely advisory.

In England, the authority of the thirteen officers of arms in ordinary who form the corporation of the Kings, Heralds, and Pursuivants of Arms extends throughout the Commonwealth, with the exception of Scotland, Canada and South Africa. In Scotland, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, and the Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records control matters armorial within a strict legal framework not enjoyed by their fellow officers of arms in London, and the court which is a part of Scotland's criminal jurisdiction has its own prosecutor, the court's Procurator Fiscal, who is however not an officer of arms . Lord Lyon and the Lyon Clerk are appointed by the crown, and, with the Crown's authority, Lyon appoints the other Scottish officers. The officers of arms in ordinary who form the College of Arms in England are members of the royal household and receive a nominal salary. The officers of arms in Scotland are also members of the royal household.

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