THE ESCUTCHEONS OF BRITAIN

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1935, Page 10 (Supplement)

THE ESCUTCHEONS OF BRITAIN

Fortunes Of The Nations Are Reflected In Many Changes In Coats Of Arms

’PHE bearings in the Royal Arms to-day represent the kingdoms of England. Scotland and Ireland. Wales is not included for the most probable reason that Wales is a principality and not a kingdom. The Royal Arms, which have been altered on many occasions since their first adoption, are not personal to the Sovereign, and are not, therefore, hereditary (writes P.S. Mowle in the Sydney “Sun”). The ensigns of England, “gules three lions passant guardant in pale or,” were first adopted by Richard I after his return from the Holy Land, in 1194, and these arms remained unchanged during the reigns of his successors, John, Henry 111, Edward I, Edward II and into the 13th year of Edward 111, when, in consequence of his claim to the throne of France, the

i shield was quartered, the arms of France, “azure semee of fluers-de-lys or,”' being placed in the first and fourth quarters, and of England in the second and third. Edward 111 also used the title “Rex Franciae,” which continued to be used by all sovereigns of England down to January 1, 1801. During the latter part of the reign of Edward 111, Charles V of France reduced the number of fluers-de-lys to three, and, thereupon, Henry IV, son of John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward 111, and the immediate successor to his cousin Richard 11, son of the “Black Prince,” who predeceased his father, effected this change in the French quartering of the Royal Arms. These arms then remained unchanged for 155 years. The marriage of Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Arragon, in 1554, with Philip II of Spain, brought' about an imposing escutcheon. The arms of Philip impaled those of France and England, and were used during the period 1554-1558. The arms of Philip were “party per fesse, the chief part quarterly of five pieces, first quarterly of four, Ist and 4th, a castle triple towered, for Castille, 2nd and 3rd, a lion rampant, for Leon; second, four pallets for Arragon, impaling per saltire, Ist and 4th, four pallets (for Arragon), 2nd and 3rd, an eagle dis-. played, for Sicily; third, as the second; fourth, as the first; fifth, on a point in. base, a pomegranate slipped, 'for Granada; the base part of the escutcheon, quarterly of four pieces, first, a fesse, for Austria modern;, second, a semee of fluers-de-lys, within a bordure componee, for Burgundy modern; third three bendlets within a bordure, for Burgundy ancient: fourth, a lion rampant, for Brabaht; over all an escutcheon per pale, charged on the dexter Side with a lion rampant, for Flanders, on the sinister side an eagle displayed, for Tyrole. ■ Mary died in 1558, and upon the

succession of her half-sister, Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, the impaled escutcheon was discarded. The ensigns of France and England, used during the period 1399-1554, again appeared in the royal shield, and sometimes those of Ireland, “azure a harp or stringed argent,” an inclusion no doubt due to the alteration in the title of the sovereign from “Dbminus Hibernie” to “Rex Hibernie,” which had been sanctioned by Acts of Parliaments of Ireland and England respectively. c Elizabeth was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry, Lord Darnley, and grandson of James V of Scotland, and son of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England. He ascended the English throne as James the First, and was crowned on July 25, 1603. ’ Fresh arms were settled. In the first and fourth quarters of the escutcheon were placed the arms of France and England; in the second quarter, for the first time, the arms of Scotland, “Or within a double tressure flory counter-flory a lion rampant gules,” and in the third quarter, now to remain permanently, those of Ireland. These bearings indicate the union of the sceptres of Scotland and England, as well as Ireland, and they were continued in use during the reign of Charles I, the ill-fated son of James 1. After the execution of Charles I, on January 30, 1649, the royal arms fell into disuse. The Commonwealth, however, evolved a coat-of-arms which comprised “the Cross of St. George, argent a cross gules, for England, in the first and fourth quarters; the ' Cross of St. Andrew, azure a saltire argent, for Scotland, in the second quarter; and the harp of Ireland, in the third quarter.” Over all, in the position of an escutcheon of pretence was placed Cromwell’s personal arms, “sable a lion rampant argent.” On the* restoration of Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Charles I to the throne of his ancestors, on May 29, 1660, as Charles the 11, the arms used in the reigns of James I and Charles I—that is to say, in the period 1603-1649—were again brought into use as the royal arms and they were continued in such use until James II abdicated the throne in 1688. ■ . As was Usual at the beginning of the reign of each successive sovereign, an Order in Council decided that the Royal arms should be—“quarterly of four pieces, first, quarterly of four, Ist and 4th, three fluer-de-lys, for France; 2nd and 3rd, three lions passant guardant in pale, for England; second, the bearings of Scotland; third, those of Ireland; fourth as the first; the whole surmounted by an inescutcheon bil—lettee charged with a lion rampant, for Nassau.” Mary died in 1694 and on the demise of William 111, eight years later, the Crown devolved on Anne, the second daughter of James 11. She was crowned on March 8, 1702, and from this year until 1 1707 the Stuart arms were used. Then in consequence of the Act of Union between England and Scotland, which received Royal Assent on March 6, 1707, fresh charges in the escutcheon became necessary. It was decided that the arms should be;—“Quarterly, first, three lions passant guardant in pale, for Eng-

land; impaling a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory, for Scotland; second, three fleurs-de-lys, for France; third, a harp, for Ireland; fourth, as the first.”

Queen Anne married, in 1683, George, Prince of Denmark, and died without surviving issue on August 1, 1714, when the Crown passed by Act of Settlement, to the great grandson of King James I of England— George, Elector of Hanover, who ascended the throne under the title of George the First. George I was crowned on October 20, 1714, and the question of arms was at once considered. It being necessary to include the arms of Hanover, the impaled arms of England and Scotland were removed from the fourth quarter of the “Union” escutcheon, and in that quarter there were placed two lions passant guardant in pale, for Brunswick, impaling semee of hearts, a lion rampant, for Luneburgh; on a point, in point, a horse courant, for Saxony; surmounting the centre of this, the fourth quarter, an inescutcheon charged with the Crown of Charlemagne, being the. badge of the Arch-Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire. These arms were continued in use during the reign of George 11, and also that of George 111 down to January 1, 1801. The Royal Assent to the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland necessitated the settlement of fresh arms. After a long association of 460 years the arms of France were removed from the shield, while the charges of England were placed in the first and fourth quarters, those of Scotland, in the second quarter, and of Ireland, in the third. Over all an escutcheon of pretence, ensigned with the Electoral bonnet, the inescutcheon being divided per pale and per chevron enarched into three compartments, charged with the arms of His Majesty’s dominions in Germany, namely, first, two lions passant guardant in pale, for Brunswick; second, semee of hearts, a lion

rampant, for Luneburgh; third, a horse courant, for Saxony 1 ; in the centre, on an inescutcheon, the Crown of Charlemagne, being the badge of the Arch-Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1816, the electorate of Hanover was elevated to the rank of a kingdom and accordingly a Royal crown took the place of the Electoral bonnet. These arms remained unchanged during the reigns of George IV, the eldest son of George 111, and William IV, the third son of George IH, but were altered when the Crown devolved upon the Princess Alexandrina, Victoria, the daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George 111, who ascended the throne as Victoria the First, on June 20, 1837. Under the Salic law, the Kingdom of Hanover passed from the sovereign of England, with the result that the Hanoverian arms also disappeared from the shield, and from that day to this, through the long reign of Queen Victoria, the reign of her - eldest son, Edward VII, and in succession, his surviving son, his present Majesty King George V, the charges of the Royal shield have represented the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.