Royal warrant of appointment

Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of the royal warrant; thus lending prestige to the supplier. Royal families of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan among others, allow tradesmen to advertise royal patronage.

Suppliers having a royal warrant charge for the goods and services supplied; a royal warrant does not imply that suppliers provide goods or services free of charge. Royal warrants are typically advertised on company hoardings, letter-heads and products by displaying the coat of arms or the heraldic badge of the royal personage issuing the royal warrant. Warrants granted by members of the British royal family usually include the phrase "By Appointment to…" followed by the title and name of the royal customer, and then what goods are provided; no other details of what is supplied may be given.

Royal warrant holders of the Court of Australia:

In Belgium the title of 'Purveyor to the Court' (Gebrevetteerd Hofleverancier van België/Fournisseur breveté de la Cour de Belgique) is granted to businesses who provide services or goods to the royal court. The list of 'purveyors to the Court' is updated every year. The king himself makes the decision who gets a title or not.

Some of the 'Purveyors to the Court' include:

Purveyors to the Royal House of Bulgaria:

Purveyors to the Royal Danish Court:

Purveyors to the Imperial Household Ministry; after World War II, the permission system was abolished, but purveyors still exist today:

High Patronage of the Monaco Royal Family:

Purveyors to the Royal Court of the Netherlands: the status 'purveyor to the court' (hofleverancier) is awarded to small and medium-sized businesses that have existed for at least 100 years, and who have a good reputation regionally. They need not actually supply goods to the court. The status is renewable every 25 years. At present there are at least 387 companies who can hold this status.

For large, multinational enterprises and for non-governmental organizations the use of the designation koninklijke ("royal" in Dutch) can be awarded. These enterprises are also allowed to incorporate a crown in their logo. Examples are KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, KPN, Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Philips Electronics, and Royal Vopak.

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