Union of England and Scotland

1603-1707

House of Stuart

James I

1603-1625

Achievement of King James I

in St. Peter and St. Paul’s church  Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Front cover of Meditation upon the Lords prayer, 1619. STC 14385.

Exhibited in Symbols of Honor: Heraldry and Family History in Shakespeare's England.

Charles I

1625-1649

Trinity Lane entrance to Trinity College, Cambridge

St. Mary's Church, North Creake, Norfolk, 1635

Foto Flickr

Commonwealth and Protectorate

Commonwealth

Protectorate

1649-1660

1649-1653

1653-1659

An Act Declaring and Constituting the People of England to be a Commonwealth and Free-State  19 May 1649

Be it Declared and Enacted by this present Parliament and by the Authority of the same, That the People of England, and of all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging, are and shall be, and are hereby Constituted, Made, Established, and Confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free-State: And shall from henceforth be Governed as a Commonwealth and Free-State, by the Supreme Authority of this Nation, The Representatives of the People in Parliament, and by such as they shall appoint and constitute as Officers and Ministers under them for the good of the People, and that without any King or House of Lords.

The achievement of this Commonwealth and Freestate was on the seal of the County Palatine of Lancaster, dated 1648. It was

Achievement:

Arms: Alliance of England and Ireland

Crest: The head of the goddess Demeter guardant for agriculture

Supporters: Two Pan-gods (half man - half sheep) for cattle-breeding [1]

The Union shield is described in Prestwich’s Respublica  as follows:

The Union Shield of the Commonwealth were two shields, conjoined or united, the first bearing the Cross of St. George for England, and the other bearing the Irish Jarp for Ireland; these shields were placed on a rundle, and the like shields with these bearins was stanped on the current coin of the Commonealth. [2]

Oliver Cromwell

Lord Protector 1653-1658

From 1652 to 1660, Scotland was part of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, under English control but gaining equal trading rights.

The coat of arms was adapted to the new situation by inserting the saltire of Scotland and, as Oliver Cromwall had become a lord protector of the Commnwealth, by inserting his familiy-arms as well.

In a description of the Protecor’s installation by Prestwich’s Respublica (1787) the achievement is described as folows:

‘On a prince-like shield, fashioned as a royal breast-plate, four flags borne quarterly, viz. in the frist and the fourth, the Cross of St. George, the Patron of England, which is blazomed thus, Gules, a plain cross argent (sic!),  2nd, the extended cross, or Saltier, called the cross of St. Andrew, Patron of Scotland or North Britain, blazoned azure, a cross saltire Argent, 3rd, the Harp of Ireland, called King David’s Harp, blazoned arure, a lyre of gold with strings of silver. The fourth quarter as the first above-mentioned: and over all, in fess, on a Saxon-fashioned shield of a knight, the paternal arms of his Highness Oliver Cromwell, viz. Argent a lion rampant Sable (sic!).

The whole timbred with a princely helmet of steel, burnished with gold and mantled Sable on each side, treble lambrequin’d and lined with ermine. At top of this and helmet a princely crown of gold,  on the top of which, the royal crest of Great Britain, which is a lion passant guardant Or, crowned with an imperial crown of gold. Supporters, 1.st, a lion guardant and imperilly crowned, the supporter of England, Or.2d, a dragon in profile, with wings raised and indorsed Vert, purfled with gold, for ancient Britain and Wales, Motto PAX QUAERITUR BELLO, that is, Peace sought by War.[3]

Smaller Achievement of Oliver Cromwell, 1653

On a silver medal of Oliver Cromwell executed by an unknown artist in Geneva as an emulation of Thomas Simon's official medal celebrating Cromwell's elevation to the Protectorate on 16 December, 1653. This medal must have been executed a little later than that of Thomas Simon.

Obverse: Three-quarters bust of Oliver Cromwell in plain falling collar, armour and scarf with fringe and looped on right shoulder. Legend: OLIV . D . G . R . P . ANG . SCO . ET . HIB . PRO. Under the bust - T. S. (for Thomas Simon).

Reverse: A lion sejant, laureate, supporting the shield of the Protectorate:- 1 and 4. Cross of St George, 2. Cross of St. Andrew, 3. Irish harp. On an escutcheon of pretence, the paternal coat of Cromwell. Legend: PAX . QVAERITVR . BELLO. (Peace is sought by war.) See "Medallic Illustrations" vol. I, p. 410/46.

1655 Seal

Arms: ¼: 1&4: Argent, a cross gules (England ); 2. Azure, a saltire argent (Scotland); 3. Azure a harp or stringed argent (Ireland).  In nombril point.: Sable, a lion rampant argent (Cromwell ).

Crest: On a crowned royal helmet lambrequined Sable and ermine, a lion statant guardant imperially crowned or.

Supporters: D.: a lion rampant guardant imperially crowned or for England; S.: a dragon  with wings elevated gules purfled Or, for Wales.

Motto: PAX QUAERITUR BELLO.

Legend: OLIVARIVS DEI GRA REIPVB ANGLIÆ SCOTIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ & PROTECTOR  in golden lettering on a ring Gules

Achievement: The same

Legend: MAGNVM SIGILLVM REIPUB ANGLIÆ SCOTIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ &.

Shield with the achievement of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, in full color

Coll. Oliver Cromwell’s House, Ely, Cambridgeshire

Richard Cromwell

Lord Protector 1658-1659

On the reverse of the Seal of Richard Cromwell was the same achievement as on the reverse of the seal of his father.

Commonwealth

1659-1660

Union of England and Scotland

1660-1707

HOUSE OF STUART

Charles II

1660-1685

Royal seal of King Charles II, 1661

Seal for the Office of the Lord, Privy Seal [4]

The Tudor- and Commonwealth dragon supporter restored. The motto reading: PRO BREVIBVS CORAM NOBIS (For Short Before Us)

King’s Manor, York

The flags of England and Scotland on spears added

Stern carving of the Royal Charles 1663-‘65

Rijksmuseum Amsterddam

In 1667, flagging English national morale was further depressed by the Raid on the Medway in which a Dutch fleet invaded theThames and Medway rivers and on 12 June captured the uncommissioned Royal Charles, removing her with great skill to Hellevoetsluis in the United Provinces.

James II

*1633-†1701

1685-1688

Achievement of James II,

Date: ca. 1685–88

Medium: Limewood, parcel-silver and gilt

Dimensions:  88.9 x 88.9 x 31.8 cm

Classification: Woodwork-Furniture

Credit Line: Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964

Accession Number: 64.101.1210. Metropolitan Museum of Art [5]

HOUSE OF ORANGE

William III

Mary II

*1650-†1702

Prince of Orange 1650-1702

∞ Mary II Stuart 1677

Knight of the Garter n° 454

King of Engeland 1689-1702

Queen 1689-1695

When William III and Mary II became joint sovereigns, William as Prince of Orange, could have added a complex quartered coat but opted for a little shield of the arms of Nassau, which he placed in the centre of the Stuart coat.

The heraldry of William and Mary is quite complicated as the blasons of England, Scotland, Ireland and Nassau could be arranged in different ways. Also the external ornaments were varied in a way (see: The achievement)

At first William III bore the arms of his father William II. Æ See Orange

Flag of William and Mary with their achievement as a married couple 1677-‘89

From 1688 to 1689 William and Mary's arms did not include Scotland:

Arms: ¼: 1&4: ¼ France and England; 2&3 Ireland. In fess point: Nassau.  

In1689 their joined arms became:

Arms: 1|2 1. ¼: 1&4: ¼ France and England; 2. Scotland; 3. Ireland. In fess point: Nassau; 2. ¼: 1&4: France and England; 2. Scotland; 3. Ireland

Order: Of the Garter

Crown: A royal crown

Supporters: Two putti, the dexter with a palm branch and a rose, the sainister with a palm branch and a thistle

(Quasi-) Achievement of William and Mary

On an engraved  double portrait by R. Whyte, after 1689

Tapestry of King Wiliam III, stadholder of the Netherlands,  and Queen Mary Stuart II, 1689-‘94

292 × 244 cm. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. nr NG-519 [6]

On this tapestry the coat of arms is supported by Hercules and Mars, the lion and the unicorn are at the feet of them. Also, the motto is replaced by IE MAINTIENDRAI, the motto of William

Church of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London

HOUSE OF STUART

Anne

1702-1707

All Saints Church, Helhoughton in Norfolk, 1703

Foto Flickr

Achievement as before, the inescutcheon Nassau removed.

Motto: EXURGAT DEVS DISSIPENTVR INIMICI = Let God arise and His Ennemies be scattered

Great Britain

1707-1801

Anne

1707-1714

(Quasi-) Achievement of Queen Anne

HOUSE OF HANOVER

George I

1714-1727

Achievement of George I.

On a map of the British Isles by George Willdey, 1715.

(Coll. British Library Rec. Nr. 3583)

Shelfmark:

Maps.C.11.a.2

Folio Nr

10

Title

To his sacred and most excellent Majesty George ... King of Great Britain ... this map of Great Britain and Ireland corrected from the newest & most exact observations is most humbly dedicated by... George Willdey 1715

George II

1727-1760

George III

1760-1801

Church of St James, Southreppes (West Sussex).

Great Britain and Ireland

1801-1922

George III

1801-1820

St. Edmund, Acle, Norfolk

Foto Flickr

George IV

1820-1830

St.Margarets church, Burnham Norton, Norfolk

William IV

1830-1837

Victoria         

1837-1901

Painting of the Achievement of Queen Victoria, 1840-‘60

Achievement of Queen Victoria by G.W. Eve (†1914)

HOUSE OF  SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA / WINDSOR

1901-1917

Edward VII

1901-1910

George V

1910-1917

HOUSE OF WINDSOR

1917-PRESENT

George V

1917-1936

Great Britain and Northern Ireland

1922-present

Royal Coat of arms of King George V and Queen Mary

National Trust Collections

Edward VIII

1936

Achievement on crown of King Edward VIII

George VI

1936-1952

Elizabeth II

1952-present

Æ To: The Royal Arms