The Team GB coat of arms
28 April 2016
Unveiled yesterday, the kit designed by Stella McCartney for Team GB at the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio is centred on a coat of arms. This coat of arms, which is being granted both by the English kings of arms and by Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland for the use of the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations, combines symbolism for the Home Nations with references to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The initial procedural step leading to the creation of the coat of arms was a formal request to the Earl Marshal from HRH The Princess Royal, President of the BOA, and HRH the Earl of Wessex, Patron of the BPA. The resulting coat of arms was designed by Clive Cheesman, Richmond Herald at the College of Arms, in a process that began over eighteen months ago between the College, adidas UK, and the two grantee Associations.
The principal element on the shield is a unified group of the floral emblems of the four Home Nations. Two of each are shown and arranged so as to avoid ascribing primacy to any individual emblem. Four chain links hold them together at the centre; these links stand for the four years of the Olympic/Paralympic cycle, but their shape is also intended to recall that of an athletics track. This is the only reference in the design to a specific event or group of events, and is sanctioned by the central role of the main stadium in all Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The motto IUNCTI IN UNO (‘Conjoined in One’) makes reference to the union of the Home Nations within the UK, thereby picking up on the central idea of the shield. But it also alludes to the unity of the representatives of separate sports and, more significantly, of the Olympic and Paralympic teams within Team GB.
Peregrine Falcon and Harris Hawks: In March and April this year these birds, long popular in heraldic design, could be seen flying at the College of Arms, in the hope that their presence would deter birds such as seagulls from nesting on the chimneys. The presence of birds' nests can cause damage to the fabric of the historic building, as well as a nuisance to staff and members of the public. The sight of the birds of prey flying in the courtyard, controlled by the falconers, was enjoyed by those who work at the College.
Brussels: flag instructions
22 March 2016As a mark of respect for those that have died and been injured in Brussels today 22 March 2016, the Prime Minister has asked that all Departments of Her Majesty's Government lower their Union Flag to half-mast from 2.05 p.m. this afternoon.
Any other UK national flags flown alongside the Union Flag when it is at half-mast should also be at half-mast. If a flag of a foreign nation is normally flown on the same stand as the Union Flag, it should be removed.
Flags will be raised to full mast no earlier than 10 p.m. on Thursday 24 March but before 7 a.m. on Friday 25 March.
Local authorities are not bound by this request but may wish to follow it for guidance. Devolved administrations are responsible for issuing instructions for the flying of the Union Flag on buildings in their estate and others as necessary.
Queen Mary I of England
19 February 2016Queen Mary I – Mary Tudor – was born 500 years ago, on 18 February 1516. The eldest daughter of King Henry VIII, in 1553 she inherited the throne when her only brother, King Edward VI, died without children. Her inheritance was not a foregone conclusion, as King Henry's efforts to annul his marriage to her mother, Catherine of Aragon, had led to that marriage being declared invalid and therefore Mary herself illegitimate. Mary was also a Roman Catholic coming to the throne of a country whose links with Rome had been severed almost 20 years earlier, and whose previous ruler had been a devout Protestant. However, Mary was able to defeat the attempts of a Protestant faction to put a rival claimant on the throne and had that claimant, Lady Jane Grey, executed. Mary's resolve to return England to the Roman Catholic religion led to the deaths of hundreds of Protestants in her 5-year rule, and earned her the posthumous sobriquet 'Bloody Mary'. In the year after her accession to the throne she married Philip of Spain, and under the marriage settlement they became co-rulers.
Queen Mary was a benefactor of the College of Arms, in 1555 granting it a renewed Charter of Incorporation under which it still operates today. We see here the opening clauses of this charter. Also displayed here are images of manuscripts held in the College's archives relating to Mary's baptism, coronation and funeral, at all of which the Officers of Arms played a significant administrative and ceremonial role. Sixteenth-century paintings of her achievement of Arms are also shown; these were made during her father's lifetime, before the split from Rome and when she was still his sole heir. A contemporary painted pedigree roll sets out Queen Mary's descent from King Harold, the Anglo-Saxon king who was defeated by William the Conqueror, proving her ancient ancestral right to the throne.
This manuscript describes the Christening of the Princess Mary, on Wednesday 20th February 1516, two days after her birth. The volume in which it is found (MS M. 6bis) is an early 16th century compilation of accounts of ceremonial occasions, with many of the entries being in the hand of Sir Christopher Barker, Garter King of Arms (d 1550).
Shakespeare Documented: this significant online Shakespeare resource launched on 20 January 2016, aiming to be 'the largest and most authoritative resource for learning about primary sources that document the life and career of William Shakespeare.' This free and publicly accessible online exhibition is curated by Dr Heather Wolfe of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., and includes images, descriptions, and transcriptions of all known references and allusions to Shakespeare and his works during his lifetime and shortly thereafter, as well as additional references to his family. More than 30 institutions have contributed to the project.
Six documents in the archive of the College of Arms are included. Three of these relate to the grant of Arms by William Dethick, Garter King of Arms, to John Shakespeare, father of William; whilst three relate to the actions of Ralph Brooke, York Herald, in contesting twenty-three grants of Arms made by Dethick, including that to John Shakespeare. Illustrated right is the defence by Garter and Clarenceux Kings of Arms against Brooke's accusations, dated 1602. College reference: Coll Arm Ms WZ f.276v.
Paris attacks: flag instructions
14 November 2015As a mark of respect for those that died in Paris on 13 November, the Prime Minister has asked that all Departments of Her Majesty's Government fly the Union Flag at half-mast from 8.00 a.m. on Sunday 15 November 2015.
There will be a Europe-wide minute's silence at 11.00 a.m. UK time on Monday 16 November 2015. Her Majesty's Government will observe this silence and other organisations may wish to follow suit. Flags should be kept at half-mast until after sunset on Monday, and raised to full mast thereafter.
Local authorities are not bound by this request but may wish to follow it for guidance. Devolved administrations are responsible for issuing instructions for the flying of the Union Flag on buildings in their estate and others as necessary. Any questions regarding the flying of flags should be directed in the first instance to the Officer in Waiting.
Arundel Ms 29 is a small manuscript volume with miscellaneous contents dating from the fifteenth century. It was part of the library of manuscripts collected by Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel (died 1646), part of which came to the College of Arms later in the seventeenth century.
This page, headed 'bell'm de Agencowrt', shows a list of noblemen taken prisoner by Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. It is one of the relatively few sources for casualties on the French side at that conflict, the 600th anniversary of which is commemorated this year.
An online exhibition of documents from the archives of the College of Arms relating to Agincourt can be seen here.
The Battle of Agincourt
07 October 2015
The Battle of Agincourt took place on 25th October 1415, one of a series of engagements between England and France in what would later be known as the Hundred Years' War. The English King Edward III in 1337 claimed the throne of France as his inheritance through his mother, sister of Charles IV, the last Capetian King of France. The level of conflict rose and fell over the ensuing century or more; the reign of Henry V saw France divided by civil war, and the opportunity for gains was apparent.
The English army under Henry V landed in France in August 1415 and besieged the port of Harfleur, which surrendered in late September. The English army left Harfleur on 8 October, heading for the English port of Calais. The French blocked the way several times, forcing the English to deviate from their route, so that their food supplies ran very low. When the two armies prepared to face each other in countryside outside the town of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, the English army had marched 260 miles in recent weeks, and its numbers were probably dwarfed by those of the French. However, the English army made great use of the longbow, with archers making up about five-sixths of the English fighting force. Large numbers of French crossbowmen and infantry did not deploy. The French attack, constricted by the English archers and the terrain, was ineffectual, and many men at arms became bogged down. The result was a victory for the English and a disaster for the French.
The reign of Her Majesty The Queen - flag instructions
08 September 2015To mark the day on which Her Majesty The Queen becomes the longest-reigning sovereign in British history, instructions have been issued by the office of the Prime Minister that all buildings of Her Majesty's Government should fly the Union Flag at full mast on Wednesday 9 September 2015.
Local authorities and others are not bound by this request but may wish to follow it for guidance. Devolved administrations are responsible for issuing instructions for the flying of the Union Flag on buildings in their estate and others as necessary.
This design for a ceremonial collar for the Duke of Wellington was prepared under the direction of Garter King of Arms, Sir George Nayler, at the request of King George IV. It was first commissioned when the King was Prince Regent, according to Nayler's later account, in 1814. Ten battles in which he led the army were commemorated on ten 'Union Badges' as they were termed, although as one is Waterloo the design must only have been completed after June 1815. The names of four more battles are engraved on the cross pendant from the collar. A letter written by Nayler some time after 1820 (when the Prince Regent had inherited the throne and reigned as King George IV) describes how, having had the collar made, the King could not decide how best to present it to Wellington without offending other commanders who might feel slighted at not having also received a similar honour, and still at the time of writing had not actually given it to the Duke. It was presented in around 1825 and is now on display at Apsley House, formerly 'No. 1, London'.
For more examples of College of Arms records relating to Waterloo and to Wellington, see our online exhibition here.
