HONOURABLE
EAST INDIA COMPANY
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The East India
Company (also the East India Trading Company, English East India Company, and
then the British East India Company) was an early English joint-stock company
that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that
ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China. The oldest
among several similarly formed European East India Companies, the Company was
granted an English Royal Charter, under the name Governor and Company of
Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, by Elizabeth I on 31
December 1600. By an act that
was passed in 1698, a new “parallel” East India Company (officially titled
the English Company Trading to the East Indies) was floated under a
state-backed indemnity of £2 million. However, the powerful stockholders of
the old company quickly subscribed a sum of £315,000 in the new concern, and
dominated the new body. The two companies wrestled with each other for some
time, both in England and in India, for a dominant share of the trade.
However, it quickly became evident that, in practice, the original Company
faced scarcely any measurable competition. The two
companies were merged in 1708 to form the United Company of Merchants of
England Trading to the East Indies, commonly styled the Honourable East
India Company, and abbreviated, HEIC, the Company was colloquially referred
to as John Company, and in India as Company Bahadur (Hindustani bahādur,
"brave"). The East India
Company traded mainly in cotton, silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, tea, and opium.
However, it also came to rule large swathes of India, exercising military
power and assuming administrative functions, to the exclusion, gradually, of
its commercial pursuits. Company rule in India, which effectively began in
1757 after the Battle of Plassey, lasted until 1858, when, following the
events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and under the Government of India Act
1858, the British Crown assumed direct administration of India in the new
British Raj. The Company itself was finally dissolved on 1 January 1874, as a
result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act. |
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chartered 1600 |
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Grant of arms to the East India Company Merchants. By Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy, 4 February 1600/1. (Coll. Arms, I 9, fo.84) |
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Coat of arms of the First East India Company,
incorporated by Queen Elizabeth I, 31st of December 1600: Arms: Azure, three ships with three masts, rigged
and under full sail, the sails, pennants and ensigns Argent, each charged
with a cross Gules; on a chief of the second a pale quarterly Azure and
Gules, on the 1st and 4th a fleur de lys, in the 2nd and 3rd a lion passant guardant
Or, between two roses Gules, seeded Or, barbed Vert. Crest: A sphere without a frame, bound with the
zodiac in bend Or, between two split pennons flotant Argent, each charged in
chief with a cross Gules, over the sphere these words: deus indicat. Supporters: Two sea lions Or, the tails
proper. Motto: DEO DUCENTE NIL
NOCET (When God Leads, Nothing Hurts). (Burke) [1] |
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Seal of the Company of
Merchants Trading into the East Indies (National Maritime Museum, London) In this version the
sea lions are guardant. ð There is no coloured version of this achievement of acceptable resolution available. |
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Chartered 1698 |
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Arms: Argent a cross
Gules in the dexter chief quarter an escutcheon of the arms of France and
England quarterly the shield ornamented and regally crowned Or. Crest: A lion rampant guardant Or supporting
between the forepaws a regal crown proper. Supporters: Two lions rampant guardant Or
each supporting a banner erect Argent charegd with a cross Gules. Motto: AUSPICIO
REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIÆ. (By right of the King and Senate of England) (Burke) A woodcarved specimen of this achievement, originally hung above the chairman’s seat in the Directors Court Room at East India House, Leadenhall Street, is preserved in the British Library. [2] ð See illustration in the head of this essay. |
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The achievement did not evoluate very much. On
currency from the end of the 18th century the lambrequines have disappeared
but balls beneath the feet of the supporting lions and of the crests’ lion
have been added.
2 pice, 1804 On a still later version, when the Company
was relieved of the Indian administration in 1858, the helmet and the orbs were omitted altogether and the English
flags were changed for flags of the United Kingdom. We may doubt if this
version was ever official.
Achievement of the Company, about 1860. [3] |
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Two lesser forms of the achievement were
used. The first consisted of the coat of arms with the crest only, the second
of the crest consisting of the lion rampant with the crown.
Lesser achievement and crest on early 19th century coins of the
Company. ËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËËË |
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Next to the
achievement the Company used a bale mark to stamp its goods. It is comparable
with the cypher of the Dutch United East India Company and has its origin in
mediaeval personal- and trade marks used by traders and artisans. It
consisted of the initials of the Company V E I C (Vnited East India Company)
within a heart, crested with a 4. In
what is probably the oldest form, the initials are placed within a heart
tierced by two flaunches, the letters I and C on the dexter and sinister
flaunch, the V and the C per pale. Like this: |
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In a more recent form the heart is parted by a cross saltire, the letters placed in each quarter: |
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One rupee coin with cypher or bale mark of
the United East India Company: VEIC within a heart and the number four. On
the reverse the achievement of the Company, the lambrequines omitted. |
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Both the achievement and the bale mark were conspiciously used in India from the end of the 18th century when they were printed on East India Company currency. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2009-08-14
Heraldry of the World