Founded by royal charter in 1484 by King Richard III, the College is one of the few remaining official heraldic authorities in Europe. (Many other countries place this authority under the Department for Foreign Affairs for some reason.) The College has had its home in the City of London since its foundation, and has been at its present location, on Queen Victoria Street, since 1555. The College of Arms also undertakes and consults on the planning of many ceremonial occasions such as coronations, state funerals, the annual Garter Service and the State Opening of Parliament. Heralds of the College accompany the sovereign on many of these occasions.
The College comprises thirteen officers or heralds: three Kings of Arms, six Heralds of Arms and four Pursuivants of Arms. There are also seven officers extraordinary, who take part in ceremonial occasions but are not part of the College. The entire corporation is overseen by the Earl Marshal, a hereditary office now held by the Duke of Norfolk.
Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk
The Marshal was originally responsible, along with the Constable, for the Monarch's horses and stables including connected military operations. As a result of the decline of chivalry, the position of Earl Marshal has evolved. The current Earl Marshal is His Grace The 18th Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the position in June 2002. There was formerly an Earl Marshal of Ireland and Earl Marischal of Scotland. The Earl Marshal used to have a Deputy called the Knight Marshal from the reign of Henry VIII until the office was abolished in 1846. Prior to an Act of Parliament in 1824, Protestant deputies were required when the Earl Marshal was a Roman Catholic, which occurred frequently due to the Catholicism of the Norfolks. The present Duke was his father’s Deputy during the last two years of the latter’s life (2000-2) |
Quarterly 1st Gules on a Bend between six Cross-crosslets fitchy Argent an Escutcheon Or charged with a Demi-lion rampant pierced through the mouth by an arrow within a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the first (Howard); 2nd Gules three Lions passant guardant in pale Or, Armed and Langued Azure, in chief a Label of three points Argent (Thomas of Brotherton); 3rd Checky Or and Azure (Warenne); 4th Gules a Lion rampant Or, Armed and Langued Azure (Fitzalan).
The title of "Marshal" had passed from William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (whose father had been the first hereditary Marshal in England) to the husband of his oldest daughter Maud, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, in 1219 and later passed to the Mowbray dukes of Norfolk and then to the Howard dukes of Norfolk, becoming "Earl Marshal" along the way.
The Earl Marshal presides over the High Court of Chivalry or the Earl Marshal's Court in England, the first references to which were made in 1348. The Court has jurisdiction over all matters relating to heraldry as it legalises and enforces decisions of the College of Arms. The court considers all cases relating to questions of status, including disputes over social rank and the law of arms, for example complaints on the infringement of the use of another individual's coat of arms. The Court of Chivalry meets on the premises of the College of Arms, however the last time it met was in 1954, the first time in 230 years.
Heralds of the College
The College of Arms is a corporation of thirteen heralds, styled Officers in Ordinary. This thirteen can be divided hierarchically into three distinctive ranks: three Kings of Arms, six Heralds of Arms and four Pursuivants of Arms. There are also presently seven Officers Extraordinary, who take part in ceremonial occasions but are not part of the College. As members of the Royal Household, the heralds are appointed at the pleasure of the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Earl Marshal. The Officers in Ordinary are appointed by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, and the Officers Extraordinary by Royal Sign Manual; all appointments are announced in the London Gazette. All of the Officers in Ordinary of the College were first instituted at different dates (some even before the incorporation of the College), some originating as private servants of noblemen, some being Royal from the start. They take their names and badges from the titles and royal badges of the monarchs of England. The officers Extraordinary, however take their names from the titles and estates of the Earl Marshal. The most recognisable item of the herald's wardrobe has always been their tabards. At first it is likely that the herald wore his master's cast-off coat, but even from the beginning that would have signified that he was in effect his master's representative. The last King of England to have worn a tabard with his arms was probably King Henry VII. Today the herald's tabard is a survivor of history, much like Beefeater uniforms and judges' wigs. |
The three Kings of Arms have a silver-gilt Crown which is now composed of sixteen acanthus leaves alternating in height. The rim is inscribed with a line from Psalm 51 in Latin: Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam (translated: Have mercy on me O God according to Thy great mercy). Within the crown is a cap of crimson velvet, lined with ermine, having at the top a large tuft of gold tassels. In medieval times the Kings of Arms were required to wear their Crowns and attend to the Sovereign on four high feasts of the year, but nowadays, the Crown is reserved for the most solemn of occasions, the last time being the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. Otherwise, Kings of Arms wear a black bicorne trimmed with white ostrich feathers, or a black velvet cap (as shown above), depending on the occasion. |
Garter is the senior King of Arms, his title being a reference to the Order of the Garter, and the office was instituted in 1415 by King Henry V.
Garter is responsible to the Earl Marshal for the running of the College and is principal adviser to the Sovereign on ceremonial and heraldry, with specific responsibility for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and, with the exception of Canada, for Commonwealth realms of which the UK monarch is Sovereign. He serves as the King of Arms of the Order of the Garter, and his seal and signature appear on all Grants of Arms made by the College.
On the death of the British monarch it is Garter's duty to announce the new monarch. Initially, the Accession Council meets at St James's Palace to declare the new monarch from the deceased monarch's line. Once the new monarch makes a sacred oath before the council, Garter steps into the Proclamation Gallery at the Palace to announce the new monarch.
Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of probability that there was a Claroncell rex heraldus armorum in 1334. The title of Clarenceux is supposedly derived from either the Honour (or estates of dominion) of the Clare earls of Gloucester, or from the Dukedom of Clarence (1362).
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the Provincial King of Arms with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent plus Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate, Norroy being the older office with a reference as early as 1276 to a "King of Heralds beyond the Trent in the North". The name is derived from the French meaning 'north king'.
The office of Ulster Principal King of Arms for All-Ireland was established in 1552 by King Edward VI to replace the older post of Ireland King of Arms, which had lapsed in 1487. Ulster was not part of the College of Arms and did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Earl Marshal, being the heraldic authority for the Kingdom of Ireland (the jurisdiction of the College of Arms being the Kingdom of England and Lord Lyon's Office that of the Kingdom of Scotland). Ulster was Registrar and King of Arms of the Order of St Patrick.
The titles were merged in 1943 under Sir Algar Howard, who had been Norroy King of Arms since 1931. However, the Arms for the office were not merged until 1980.
Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland are now handled by the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland (a part of the Genealogical Office in the National Library).
Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary - Originally Lancaster, whether as herald of arms or as a king of arms, was retained by the earls and dukes of Lancaster. The title first appears in 1347 when Lancaster Herald made a proclamation at the siege of Calais. On the then Duke of Lancaster's accession as Henry IV, he was put on the Crown establishment and made king of the northern province. That arrangement was continued under Henry V and VI, but ceased by 1464. Thereafter, Lancaster reverted to the rank of herald. Since the time of Henry VII, Lancaster has been one of the six heralds in ordinary.
Lancaster's Badge is the red Rose of Lancaster royally crowned.
Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary - This title has been successively private, royal, at once private and extraordinary, and again royal. In 1448-9 Somerset was herald of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, but he must have been a royal officer in 1485, when he was the only herald to receive coronation liveries. In 1525, when Henry Fitzroy was made Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the then Somerset herald was transferred to the duke's household and as such he must be counted a private officer, although he was appointed by the King and shared the heralds' fees as a herald extraordinary. On Fitzroy's death in 1536 the then incumbent returned to the Crown establishment, and since then Somerset has been one of the heralds in ordinary.
Somerset's Badge is a portcullis or royally crowned, the Tudor version of the Beaufort badge.
Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary - Richmond occurs from 1421 to 1485 as herald of John, Duke of Bedford, George, Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, all of whom held the Honour of Richmond. Henry Tudor, on his accession to the throne in 1485, made Roger Machado, the then Richmond, a king of arms, since whose death in 1510 Richmond has been one of the six heralds in ordinary.
Richmond's Badge is the red Rose of Lancaster and the white Rose en soleil of York dimidiated per pale and royally crowned. (Although this device has all the characteristics of a Tudor invention, it is likely to be of fairly recent derivation.)
York Herald of Arms in Ordinary - It has been suggested that York herald was originally the officer of Edmund of Langley, created Duke of York in 1385, but the first reliable reference to York is in a patent of 1484 granting to John Water alias Yorke herald, as fee of his office and for services to Richard III, his predecessors and ancestors, the manor of Bayhall in Pembury, Kent, and £8 6s. 8d. a year from the lordship of Huntingfield, Kent.
York's Badge is the Yorkist white Rose en soleil royally crowned.
Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary - Chester is said to have been instituted by Edward III as herald of the Prince of Wales. The title was in abeyance for a time under Henry VIII, but since 1525 Chester has been one of the heralds in ordinary. In 1911, when the future Edward VIII was created Prince of Wales, Chester was one of his retinue.
Chester's Badge is a Garb (or Wheatsheaf) or [from the arms of the Earl of Chester] royally crowned.
Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary - It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as early as 1338. However, it is more likely that it dates from 1364, when a pursuivant of Edward III, on bringing the king news of the victory at Auray, was rewarded by promotion to the rank of herald with the title Windsor. Thereafter there is little mention of the office before 1419, when Windsor Herald was sent to the Duke of Brittany.
Windsor's Badge is Edward III's (Edward of Windsor) Sun-burst, that is golden sun rays shooting upwards from a bank of white cloud, royally crowned.
Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary - Instituted by Henry VII on 29th October 1485, the eve of his coronation, in reference to the royal badge, the 'red dragon of Cadwallader'. One of the four pursuivants in ordinary.
Rouge Dragon's Badge is not surprisingly a 'rouge' Dragon passant on a green Mount.
Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary - The office is reputed to have been created by King Henry V to serve the Order of the Garter, but there is no documentary evidence of this. There is, however, mention of an officer styled Blewmantle going to France in 1448. The first Bluemantle to be mentioned by name is found in a record from around 1484.
Bluemantle's Badge is a blue Mantle (probably derived from the original blue material of the Order of the Garter) lined ermine and with gold Cords and Tassels.
Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary - The office is named after the Portcullis chained Or Badge of the Beauforts, which was a favourite device of King Henry VII. King Henry's mother was Lady Margaret Beaufort. The office was instituted around 1485, probably at the time of Henry's Coronation.
The Badge of office is very similar to that of Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary, the latter being ensigned with the Royal Crown.
Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary - Rouge Croix or Red Cross took his name from the red cross of St. George, badge of the Order of the Garter and sometime national flag of England. He is said to be the oldest of the four pursuivants in ordinary, but the earliest known mention of the title is in the sixth year of the reign of Henry V, 1418/19, when Rouge Croix was at Caudebec.
Rouge Croix' Badge: is a red Cross, couped (or cut short) at ends.
I have to make mention of Mr. Robert Noel who, as Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary, was the agent for the Grant of my Father's Coat of Arms back in September 1996 ahead of my Father's 60th Birthday. Mr Noel was promoted to Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary in September 1999 and on 1st April this year was appointed Norroy and Ulster King of Arms. My very special thanks therefore go to Mr Noel in this special year both for him with his new appointment and also the 25th Anniversary of my Father's Grant, which can be seen in the About section of this website. The College of Arms has an excellent website at www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/ covering a wealth of information and advice, including a quarterly newsletter. |