The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The order consists of the sovereign and sixteen knights and ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights. The sovereign alone grants membership of the order; they are not advised by the government, as occurs with most other orders.
The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest heraldic court in the world that is still in daily operation.
Sir James Monteith GrantFRHSC (Hon) was Lord Lyon King of Arms of Scotland from 1969 to 1981.
Sir Malcolm Rognvald Innes of Edingight was Lord Lyon King of Arms of Scotland from 1981 until 2001.
Sir Thomas Innes of Learney (1893–1971) was a Scottish officer of arms who was Lord Lyon from 1945 to 1969.
A private officer of arms is one of the heralds and pursuivants appointed by great noble houses to handle all heraldic and genealogical questions.
George Alexander Way of Plean CStJ is a Scottish Sheriff and former Procurator Fiscal of the Court of the Lord Lyon in Scotland. In November 2015, it was announced that he was to be the first Scottish Sheriff to be appointed a member of the Royal Household in Scotland as Falkland Pursuivant Extraordinary at the Court of the Lord Lyon. In December 2017, he was promoted to Carrick Pursuivant in Ordinary and then to Rothesay Herald in 2024. In 2020, he was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Brechin. In June 2021, he was appointed as Genealogist of the Priory of Scotland in the Most Venerable Order of St.John.
Heraldry in Scotland, while broadly similar to that practised in England and elsewhere in western Europe, has its own distinctive features. Its heraldic executive is separate from that of the rest of the United Kingdom.
Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records is a legal and heraldic office in Scotland. The holder of this office is appointed by the Crown, and like the Lord Lyon King of Arms receives an annual salary. Lyon Clerk's duties include heraldic research, the preparation of papers, lectures and conducting and assisting with the preliminary business of application for a grant or matriculation of armorial bearings. This includes scrutiny of documents supporting the application. As Keeper of the Records the duties include maintaining the records of the Court of the Lord Lyon, overseeing the preparation of documents, allowing inspection of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and other records, and issuing certified extracts when required. Until 1867 there was a Lyon Clerk Depute, and in 1986 Elizabeth Ann Roads became the first woman appointed to the office of Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records.
John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little was an English writer on heraldic subjects, and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947, while still a student, Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries, now known as the Heraldry Society and recognised as one of the leading learned societies in its field. He served as the society's chairman for 50 years and then as its president from 1997 until his death in 2006.
Sir Alexander Colin Cole was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Eventually, he would rise to the rank of Garter Principal King of Arms, the highest heraldic office in England and Wales.
Sir Thomas Woodcock FRHSC is a genealogist who served as Garter Principal King of Arms at the College of Arms from 2010 to 2021.
Sir James Balfour Paul was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926.
Sir Francis James Grant (1863–1953) was a Scottish officer of arms who eventually rose to the office of Lord Lyon King of Arms. Grant served in the Court of the Lord Lyon as Carrick Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary beginning on 17 May 1886. This appointment lasted until his promotion to the office of Rothesay Herald of Arms in Ordinary and Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records on 8 September 1898.
Charles John Burnett was a Scottish antiquarian and officer of arms.
In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification.
William David Hamilton Sellar, MVO, FRHistS, FSA (Scot), FRHSC (Hon) was a legal historian who served as Lord Lyon King of Arms from 2008 to 2014.
The Court of the Lord Lyon, or Lyon Court, is a standing court of law, based in New Register House in Edinburgh, which regulates heraldry in Scotland. The Lyon Court maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, as well as records of genealogies.
Angus Herald of Arms in Extraordinary is a current Scottish herald of arms in Extraordinary of the Court of the Lord Lyon.
Joseph John Morrow, is the current Lord Lyon King of Arms. He was appointed on 17 January 2014 and, sworn of office on 27 February before the Lord President of the Court of Session, as Lord Lyon, Morrow took part in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023.
