Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings, as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch of heraldry, concerns the design and transmission of the heraldic achievement. The achievement, or armorial bearings usually includes a coat of arms on a shield, helmet and crest, together with any accompanying devices, such as supporters, badges, heraldic banners and mottoes.
Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established in a royal charter in 1337 by King Edward III. Prince William became Duke of Cornwall following the accession of his father, King Charles III, to the throne in 2022, and his wife, Catherine, became Duchess of Cornwall.
In heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount, or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing. Care must be taken to distinguish true compartments from items upon which supporters are merely resting one or more feet, or, sometimes, mere heraldic badges or pure decoration under the shield, and, conversely, care must also be taken in very unusual cases such as the coat of arms of Belize and Gabon, in which what may be taken to be a crest, trees in both coats of arms rising above the shield, is really part of the compartment. It is sometimes said to represent the land held by the bearer. As an official part of the blazon it is a comparatively late feature of heraldry, often derived from the need to have different supporters for different families or entities, although sometimes the compartment is treated in the blazon separately from the supporters.
The coat of arms of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the royal arms, are the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently Charles III. They are used by the Government of the United Kingdom and by other Crown institutions, including courts in the United Kingdom and in some parts of the Commonwealth. Differenced versions of the arms are used by members of the British royal family. The monarch's official flag, the Royal Standard, is the coat of arms in flag form.
The royal standard of the United Kingdom is the banner of arms of the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Charles III. It consists of the monarch's coat of arms in flag form, and is made up of four quarters containing the arms of the former kingdoms of England, Ireland, and Scotland. There are two versions of the banner, one used in Scotland in which the Scottish quarters take precedence, and one used elsewhere in which the English quarters take precedence.
The coat of arms of England is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England, and now used to symbolise England generally. The arms were adopted c.1200 by the Plantagenet kings and continued to be used by successive English and British monarchs; they are currently quartered with the arms of Scotland and Ireland in the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Historically they were also quartered with the arms of France, representing the English claim to the French throne, and Hanover.
In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name. Shields may be divided this way for differencing or for purposes of marshalling, or simply for style. The lines that divide a shield may not always be straight, and there is a system of terminology for describing patterned lines, which is also shared with the heraldic ordinaries.
An abatement is a modification of a coat of arms, representing a less-than honorable augmentation, imposed by an heraldic authority or by royal decree for misconduct. The practice of inverting the entire escutcheon of an armiger found guilty of high treason has been attested since the Middle Ages and is generally accepted as reliable, and medieval heraldic sources cite at least one instance of removing an honourable charge from a coat of arms by royal decree as an abatement of honour. Other abatements of honour implied by the addition of dishonourable stains and charges, appearing in late 16th-century texts, have never been reliably attested in actual practice. Additionally, as many heraldic writers note, the use of arms is not compulsory, so armigers are more likely to relinquish a dishonored coat of arms than to advertise their dishonor.
In British heraldry, a coronet is any crown whose bearer is less than sovereign or royal in rank, irrespective of the crown's appearance. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for crown is used irrespective of rank In this use, the English coronet is a purely technical term for all heraldic images of crowns not used by a sovereign, and implies nothing about the actual shape of the crown depicted. A Coronet is another type of crown, but is reserved for the lower ranks of nobility like Marquesses and Marchionesses, Earls and Countesses, Barons and Baronesses, and some Lords and Ladies. The specific design and attributes of the crown or coronet signifies the hierarchy and ranking of its owner.
In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way to distinguish arms displayed by descendants of the holder of a coat of arms when those family members have not been granted arms in their own right. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at any time, generally the head of the senior line of a particular family.
A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after the 16th century.
A ged is a heraldic term for the fish known in English as a pike. It is often used in "canting" coats; that is, using coats of arms to make a pun on the last name of the bearer, one of his titles, a nickname, or the name of his estate. The word ged is derived from the Old Norse gaddr (spike). The Norse word is the origin of the terms for pike in the modern North Germanic languages: Swedish: gädda, Danish: gedde, Norwegian: gjedde, and the Faroese and Icelandic: gedda.
In heraldry, an inescutcheon is a smaller escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to a charge. This may be used in the following cases:
Ecclesiastical heraldry refers to the use of heraldry within Christianity for dioceses, organisations and Christian clergy. Initially used to mark documents, ecclesiastical heraldry evolved as a system for identifying people and dioceses. It is most formalized within the Catholic Church, where most bishops, including the Pope, have a personal coat of arms. Clergy in Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches follow similar customs, as do institutions such as schools and dioceses.
A crown is often an emblem of a sovereign state, usually a monarchy, but also used by some republics.
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb to blazon means to create such a description. The visual depiction of a coat of arms or flag has traditionally had considerable latitude in design, but a verbal blazon specifies the essentially distinctive elements. A coat of arms or flag is therefore primarily defined not by a picture but rather by the wording of its blazon. Blazon is also the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, the act of writing such a description. Blazonry is the art, craft or practice of creating a blazon. The language employed in blazonry has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax, which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms.
In the British peerage, a royal duke is a member of the British royal family, entitled to the titular dignity of prince and the style of His Royal Highness, who holds a dukedom. Dukedoms are the highest titles in the British roll of peerage, and the holders of these particular dukedoms are princes of the blood royal. The holders of the dukedoms are royal, not the titles themselves. They are titles created and bestowed on legitimate sons and male-line grandsons of the British monarch, usually upon reaching their majority or marriage. The titles can be inherited but cease to be called "royal" once they pass beyond the grandsons of a monarch. As with any peerage, once the title becomes extinct, it may subsequently be recreated by the reigning monarch at any time.
In heraldry, an achievement, armorial achievement or heraldic achievement is a full display or depiction of all the heraldic components to which the bearer of a coat of arms is entitled. An achievement comprises not only the arms displayed on the escutcheon, the central element, but also the following elements surrounding it :
Most prime ministers of the United Kingdom have enjoyed the right to display coats of arms and to this day, prime ministers have their ancestral arms approved, or new armorial bearings granted, either by the College of Arms or the Lyon Court.
The coat of arms of the Prince of Wales is the official personal heraldic insignia of the Princes of Wales, a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England.
