The Achievement is blazonned or described as follows:
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. (The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.) The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" , French for "I shall maintain".
The Motto Je Maintiendrai comes from the House of Orange in France (which is why the Motto is in French) which William the Silent (the so-called 'Father of the Fatherland') inherited from a distant cousin. It originally had the connotation of 'maintaining' the land the title was attached to, but that seems to have been lost in time, presumably because of the changes in inheritance. The Dutch Royal Line also inherited the Hunting Horn as a heraldic Charge. This, however, does not appear in the Country's or the Monarch's Coat of Arms but does appear in all Royal Standards and also in the personal Coat of Arms of Members of the Royal Family.
Whilst the country and Government's Achievement is simply the Shield, Supporters, Motto and Crown, the Royal Family put theirs under a Pavilion with another Crown on top. The Monarch's Pavilion is, of course, the most decorated. From 1815 until 1907 (under HM Queen Wilhelmina) the two supporting Lions were natural (or proper) in colour, faced out front and wore full crowns. Queen Wilhelmina also reverted the Crown worn by the Lion in the Shield to an open version as King William I had chosen an arched Crown. |
Máxima had her then future Coat of Arms, as well as her future title, confirmed by Royal Decree on 25th January 2002. Upon the solemnization of her marriage she became Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg.
The Coat of Arms on the Inescutcheon at the centre of the Shield is for the Zorreguieta Family. It is not entirely clear whether this is a traditional Coat of Arms or whether it was created especially for Máxima. It consists of a Castle with three towers flanked by two Cypress Trees and two black Wolves, all standing on what looks like a representation of the sea. Strangely enough (and this will become more evident when we get onto the subject of Royal Standards) the main element is a triple-towered Castle which is exactly the same as Willem-Alexander's Father, though in a different colour.
The Royal Court has apparently decreed that there should be no differentiation between princes and princesses on their Coat of Arms, i.e. they should all show them on a Shield. However, Máxima carries hers on an Oval, mainly to differentiate from her daughters, who presumably have a Shield as Princesses of the Royal Blood and not by marriage. For me, Máxima's Coat of Arms is strange as it does not follow the pattern of previous consorts, i.e. the Netherlands and the Zorreguieta Family quartered, but follows the pattern of a Princess of the Royal Blood in placing the Family Coat of Arms on an Inescutcheon.
Please note that HRH The Princess of Orange does not have any distinction made to her Arms in difference to her sisters and nor do they with each other. This was basically the same for their Father and Uncles, and for their Grandmother and her Sisters, although later developments were made which I will go into later. Previously, the elder daughter of a Dutch Monarch had Arms assigned to her of the Netherlands (Orange-Nassau) only, i.e. the first Quarter of the present Arms, differenced by a red Label charged on the centre Point with a Crown in yellow. The last to carry these Arms was Wilhelmina who came to the Throne in 1890 as a ten-year-old and who made the aforementioned changes in 1907. (I am unaware of Wilhelmina's Coat of Arms after her Abdication in 1948. Did she revert to the Label?)
Also, please notice that the Pavilion for Members of the Royal Family other than the Monarch is progressively plainer.
Before her Accession in 1980, the Coat of Arms of Beatrix and her three sisters, Princesses Irene, Margriet, and Christina (born Maria Christina and until 1963 called Marijke) were all the same, which they fundamentally remain. The Inescutcheon at the centre is a red Rose on a white background. This is the major Coat of Arms of their Father, HRH Prince Bernhard, namely Lippe, which is a Principality in Germany as he was born HSH Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.
By royal decree of 6th January 1937 (my own Father's birth date), the titles Prince of the Netherlands, with the style Royal Highness, and Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld, were created in the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Prince Bernhard and his descendants. The Lippe-Biesterfeld title therefore also became a Dutch one. On the following day, 7th January 1937, Bernhard married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands (who later was the Queen regnant of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980). All four daughters from this marriage hold the title Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld but since the title is only inheritable in male line the title will become extinct although Lippe-Biesterfeld is used as a surname.
One distinction has now been made between Beatrix and her Sisters which somewhat flies in the face of the advice supposedly given by the Royal Court. You will notice that Beatrix's Arms are carried on a Shield whereas her Sisters' Arms are on an Oval. Also, Beatrix's Pavilion has retained some decoration, whereas those of her Sisters remain plain.
As with their Mother and Aunts, Beatrix's sons also share the same personal Arms between them. They are in turn based on the principal Arms of their Father, HRH The late Prince Claus. The Inescutcheon at the centre shows Claus's triple-towered Castle for the family of von Amsberg. As opposed to Queen Máxima's, Claus's Castle is white and shown on a yellow hill against a green background. Whilst basically the same, as Brothers, the Arms have changed slightly over the years for the following reasons:
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- By Royal Decree of 19th March 2004, he was granted the surname 'Van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg', and the hereditary title 'Count of Orange-Nassau', to take effect upon his marriage. He was also allowed to retain the title 'Prince of Orange-Nassau' as a personal and non-hereditary title and the style of 'Royal Highness'.
- Friso differentiated his Coat of Arms as a consequence by dropping the Crown on top of the Shield (although he retained the Crown on top of the Pavillion) and replacing it with the Crest of Oranje-Nassau (the black Wings) and the Crest of von/van Amsberg (a yellow Lion rising out of a Coronet).
- Tragically, this all became academic when Prince Friso passed away in 2014 after failing to regain full consiousness following a skiing accident a year and a half before.
As a consequence, Margriet's four sons remain the only other Princes in the Dutch Royal Family with their heraldry greatly influenced by their father, Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven, namely a white, six-pointed Star on a blue background marshalled with a red Stag and a green Tree. (The Coat of Arms of the town of Vollenhove is very similar, only there are four Stars between a white Cross on a red background.) As Princes through the female line they are Highnesses rather than Royal Highnesses and the Crown in their Arms has fewer Arches. Their Supporters are the Royal Lion from their Mother and a red Stag from their Father. The supporting Stag has a white-edged blue Collar, presumably to echo the colours of the non-Stag side of the Shield. The crest is a white, six-pointed Star between two blue Wings and, for the Princes, reflects the black Wings of Orange-Nassau.
The arms show a combination of their Grandfather's van Vollenhoven Arms and their Great-Grandfather's Lippe-Biesterfield Arms, including Crest and Supporters, although many elements swap precedence and the only Motto is that of Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven, namely 'Semper Fidelis' or "Always Faithful".
The first is HRH Princess Juliana who reigned as Queen from 1948 till 1980 when she abdicated and reverted to her Coat of Arms as Princess before her accession. (A Dutch monarch who has abdicated is buried as a monarch, by the way, as they see it as a form of retirement rather than shame.) Her Arms follow the general pattern of a prince or princess of the royal blood, i.e. a quarterly Shield of the Netherlands Lion and the Orange Bugle with an Inescutcheon at the centre, here showing the principal charge (a crowned Bull's Head) of her Father's Arms.
Second is the Coat of Arms of Juliana's Consort, HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. His Arms follow the traditional pattern for a prince consort, namely quartering the Netherlands Lion with his personal Arms. Here, Bernhard shows the red Rose and the Bird perched on a Star of Lippe-Biesterfeld. His daughters in turn carry the red Rose on their Inescutcheon. His Supporters were the Dutch Royal Lion and the Lippe-Biesterfeld Angel with a tabbard showing the Rose and carrying a Palm Branch in her hand.
Third is the Coat of Arms of HRH Prince Claus of the Netherlands, husband of Princess/Queen Beatrix. He quartered Netherlands with the Castle of von Amsberg which his sons carry on the Inescutcheon of their personal Arms. Both of his Supporters were the Dutch Royal Lion.
Fourthly and finally here, are the Arms of HRH Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands, husband of Queen Wilhelmina and father of Queen Juliana. He was the German-born youngest son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His main charge was the crowned Bull's Head of Mecklenburg, but he also showed the red and yellow split shield of Schwerin and a yellow Griffin on a blue background. The yellow Griffin also forms his personal Supporter opposite the Dutch Royal Lion. The Order of the Griffin was the principal Order of Chivalry in Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Why then has Máxima followed the pattern of a prince/princess of the Royal Blood instead of following the pattern of previous consorts, admittedly male consorts, though? Surely her Arms should quarter the Netherlands Lion with the Zorreguieta Castle? The problem is that the only difference between her Arms and those of her daughters is that hers are on an Oval and her daughters' are on a Shield...
Those born of Royal Blood are orange with a dark blue Cross and the basic Dutch Arms on an orange circle in the middle. Royals by marriage have a dark blue flag with an orange Cross and the arms at the centre (without the use of a circle). Princes' flags are rectangular and princess's flags are swallowtailed.
Within the arms of the Cross are various elements to identify separate members, mainly the Bugle (Hunting Horn) of the Orange family. However, previous princely consorts (Hendrik, Bernhard and Claus) used the Netherlands Lion instead. The subsidiary Quarter(s) carry a personal symbol, mainly a Charge taken from their Coat of Arms. These are as follows:
- Máxima - a yellow triple-towered Castle
- Beatrix, Irene, Margriet and Christina - a red Rose
- Costantijn - a white triple-towered Castle
- Laurentien - a yellow Lozenge
- Maurits, Bernhard, Pieter-Christiaan and Floris - a six-pointed Star
- Claus - a white triple-towered Castle
- Bernhard - a red Rose on a white background
- Hendrik - a yellow Griffin
At the moment of writing, the King and Queen's daughters have not had Standards assigned to them. This may prove problematic. Their Mother has retained her Standard as a princess by marriage. Her Daughters should have a similar Standard but with the main colours reversed. This means that the yellow Castle from Máxima will be set against an orange background, which isn't ideal as the colours will clash. (A basic rule of heraldry divides colours into Metals - yellow (silver) and white (gold) - and Colours - red, blue, green, black and purple - and advises not to put a Colour on a Colour or a Metal on a Metal. The practicality is that these combinations are not very clear at a distance and recognition at a distance is a basic requirement of heraldry.)
Finally, coming back to the impending State Visit to the United Kingdom later in the year, we should expect Willem-Alexander to be granted the Order of the Garter as HM King Felipe VI of Spain was last year. This will also mean that, as with Felipe and his Father Juan Carlos, there will be a second pair of duplicate Banners in St George's Chapel, Windsor. I was informed by the College of Arms that there is little likelihood of Princess Beatrix changing her banner there now that she has abdicated and Willem-Alexander's will be the same as he has not made any change to the Dutch Royal Arms on the Shield. Felipe changed the colour of the Léon Lion and also changed the Navarre Chains slightly which means that his and his Father's Banners are slightly different.
A Banner is different from a Standard. A Banner is specifically a flag representing the Shield of a Coat of Arms. The UK Royal flag is the only one which is a Banner - whether it is the Monarch or a prince or princess - except for, usually, any spouse other the monarch's consort who all have the undifferenced Royal Coat of Arms within an ermine Border. This one then could be argued to be a Standard. A Standard can be anything else other than a representation of what is on the Shield. Here, the Royal flags of the Dutch Monarch and members of the Royal Family, as with all other European Royal Families, are all Standards.