Coat of arms of England

Royal Arms of England
Details
Adopted	1198 (with various interruptions)[1]
Escutcheon	Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure.

The Royal Arms of England^[2] is a heraldic symbol of England, historically pertaining to the Kingdom of England and English monarchs. Since 1707 it has been a component of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. The spread of the British Empire has led to the use of elements of these arms in various other coats of arms of the United Kingdom's former colonies, such as the arms of Canada.

History

Historical Arms of England

Possible arms of Richard I, used c. 1189 Arms of England, used 1198–1340 and 1360-1369.[3] Arms of England quartered with France Ancient, first used by Edward III in 1340 to assert his claim to the French Throne. From 1395 to 1399 Richard II impaled his arms with the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor.[3] The arms of England with the modern French quarterings used, with interruptions between 1406 and 1603. The arms of England, impaled with those of Philip II of Spain, sometimes used by Mary I between 1554 and 1558. Coat of arms of the Commonwealth of England. The present Arms of the United Kingdom features the coat of arms of England in the first and fourth quarters.

Kingdom of England

Various arms have been attributed to the rulers of England prior to the late 12th century. For instance, it has been claimed that the arms of the House of Normandy were two golden lions on a red field.^[3] In fact, during the Norman dynasty, nothing like a consistent heraldic system had yet been developed, and individuals used a variety of symbols based on taste and opportunity. Only toward the middle of the 12th century did some consistency in the use of these symbols appear.

King Richard I ("The Lionheart")'s first Great Seal shows him bearing a charge that may be interpreted either as a lion rampant, or else (if the visible half of the shield is duplicated) of two lions rampant. In 1198, a second Great Seal now shows the familiar three lions.^[1][3]. When Richard's brother John succeeded him in 1199, he used the same arms, which can be blazoned Gules, three lions passant gardant in pale or, i.e., a red field in which three yellow or golden lions, displayed as walking with their heads to the left (or dexter) side of the shield, and looking directly at the viewer, arrayed vertically. The lions are sometimes blazoned as 'leopards', but are never drawn with spots.

In 1340, King Edward III laid claim to the throne of France and quartered the English arms with those of France, the "France Ancient", a blue shield with a tight pattern of small golden fleurs-de-lis of the French royal house.^[3] The quartering was abandoned with the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360, in which Edward III accepted the overlordship of the French king; but it was restored in 1369 with the resumption of war with France.

From about 1395^[4], Richard II marshalled the coat of arms of England with the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor.^[1] This form of arms was abandoned in 1399 on the accession of Henry IV.

In 1405-1406, the French quarterings were updated to the modern French arms, three fleurs-de-lis on a blue field.^[3]

During the joint reign of Mary I and her husband Philip (1554-1558), the arms of England were sometimes impaled with Philip's arms.^[1][3]

Union of Crowns

On the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne, becoming King James I of England. The arms of England were quartered with those of Scotland. A quarter for the Kingdom of Ireland was also added, as the English monarch was also King of Ireland.^[3]

The French arms were dropped from the royal arms of the United Kingdom in 1801 when King George III renounced the claim to the French throne. From that point, the heraldic representation of England reverted to the version used between 1198 and 1340, three golden lions on a red field.^[3]

Commonwealth of England

During the Commonwealth of England (1649–60), a new non-royal coat of arms was created, replacing the three lions with the cross of St. George and the lion rampant of Scotland with the St. Andrew's cross. It also incorporated the Irish Harp and an escutcheon featuring a white lion from Oliver Cromwell's personal coat of arms.^[5]

Current use

The arms of England are not used in any official capacity on their own, although they do feature in the first and fourth quarters of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom and the first quarter of the coat of arms of Canada.

The arms of both the Football Association^[6] and the England and Wales Cricket Board^[7] are based on the three lions design. In recent years, it has been common to see banners of the arms flown at English football matches.

In 1996, "Three Lions" was the official song of the England football team for the 1996 European Football Championship, which was held in England.

Use in other arms

The spread of the British Empire has led to incorporation of the royal arms of England, or elements thereof, in the coats of arms of many other countries and territories.

United Kingdom

• The arms of the Duchy of Lancaster is that of England with a label of three points each containing three fleurs-de-lis. This was the shield of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (1245–96), the younger son of Henry III.
• The royal arms, as used between 1406 and 1603, appear as part of the arms of Westminster Abbey.

Overseas territories and crown dependencies

• Coat of arms of the Cayman Islands
• Coat of arms of Guernsey
• Coat of arms of Jersey

Commonwealth

• Coat of arms of Canada
  • Coat of arms of Quebec
  • Coat of arms of New Brunswick
  • Coat of arms of Prince Edward Island
  • Coat of arms of Saskatchewan
• Coat of Arms of Fiji
• Coat of arms of Malawi

Lions or leopards

French was the language of English government for a few centuries after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and in French blazon a lion, without further description, is always rampant; a lion passant guardant – one that is walking forward and facing outward toward the viewer – is always called a léopard. A lion rampant guardant is a léopard lionné, and one passant but with its head in profile is a lion léopardé. The terms describe the animal's posture, not his species. Whatever the beast is called, the heraldic lion or leopard should always have at least a hint of a mane.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Jamieson, Andrew Stewart (1998). Coats of Arms. Pitkin. ISBN 9-780853-728702. 

See also

• Flag of England
• Royal Standard of England
• Coat of arms of Denmark
• Coat of arms of Norway
• Coat of arms of Estonia

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