News & Grants - College of Arms
Stole Royal
11 May 2023
The Stole with which His Majesty The King was invested during the Coronation on Saturday 6 May was made by the Royal School of Needlework to a design of Timothy Noad, Herald Painter at the College of Arms, created by him under the supervision of Garter King of Arms.
The Stole was commissioned as a present to The King by the Worshipful Company of Girdlers.
The design makes reference to earlier Coronation Stoles and features the Tudor rose, thistle, shamrock and leek together with an eagle beneath a Tudor crown. The symbols of the four evangelists also appear, worked in gold on purple roundels, as do the cross keys of St Peter, the patron saint of Westminster Abbey, and the dove symbol of the Holy Ghost. Additional panels in the design were inspired by the geometric patterns of the Abbey’s Cosmati pavement on which the Coronation Chair sat during the Coronation Service. The gridiron, symbol of St Lawrence, patron saint of the Girdlers Company, also appears.
Coronation
09 May 2023The Officers of Arms of the College of Arms and its Scottish counterpart the Court of the Lord Lyon were proud to take part in the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey alongside the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk G.C.V.O.
Officers from the College of Arms in attendance at the Abbey were:
David White, Garter Principal King of Arms
Timothy Duke, Clarenceux King of Arms
Robert Noel, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
Clive Cheesman, Richmond Herald
Peter O'Donoghue, York Herald
The Hon. Christopher Vane, Chester Herald
John Petrie O.B.E., Windsor Herald
John Martin Robinson, Maltravers Herald Extraordinary
David Rankin-Hunt C.V.O., M.B.E., T.D., Norfolk Herald Extraordinary
Thomas Lloyd O.B.E., Wales Herald Extraordinary
Professor Anne Curry, Arundel Herald Extraordinary
Adam Tuck, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant
Mark Scott, Bluemantle Pursuivant
Dominic Ingram, Portcullis Pursuivant
Thomas Johnston, Rouge Croix Pursuivant
Officers from the Lyon Court in attendance at the Abbey were:
Joseph Morrow C.V.O., C.B.E., K.C., Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Hon. Adam Bruce W.S., Marchmont Herald
Liam Devlin, Rothesay Herald
Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw Bt., L.V.O., K.C., Albany Herald Extraordinary
George Way of Plean, Carrick Pursuivant
John Stirling W.S., Ormond Pursuivant
Roderick Macpherson, Unicorn Pursuivant
Professor Gillian Black, Linlithgow Pursuivant Extraordinary
Colin Russell, Falkland Pursuivant Extraordinary
Philip Tibbetts, March Pursuivant Extraordinary
Officers of the College of Arms and the Lyon Court can be distinguished by their different tabards, the tabards of the Scottish Officers being those of the Royal Arms used in Scotland. The Kings of Arms are wearing their Crowns which were donned the moment St. Edward's Crown was placed upon The King's head by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Coronation is the only occasion when the Kings of Arms wear their Crowns of office and when Officers wear white breeches instead of the usual black.
At Buckingham Palace on 21 February, His Majesty The King granted arms to Her Majesty Queen Camilla by Warrant. This is the first grant of arms made by His Majesty. The arms granted are:
Arms: Within the Garter Our Royal Arms impaling the Arms of Shand surmounted by Our Crown
Supporters: To the dexter A Lion Guardant Or Crowned proper and to the sinister A Boar Azure armed and unguled Or langued Gules and gorged with a Coronet composed of Crosses formy and Fleurs-de-lys attached thereto a Chain reflexed over the back and ending in a Ring all Or
These arms replace those previously granted by Queen Elizabeth II to the then Duchess of Cornwall on 14 July 2005.
Coronation Flag-Flying
17 April 2023This document sets out the official protocol relating to the flying of flags to celebrate the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and Queen. A PDF version can be downloaded here.
All official flags*, including the Union Flag, will be flown at full mast from 08.00 on the morning of Friday 5 May, until 20.00 on Monday 8 May.
The only exception is when The King is present within a building or its precincts, at which time the Royal Standard will be flown.
The flag flown should be clean and in a state of good repair. Approved versions of the Union flag may be downloaded here.
College of Arms
London
*Official flags in this instance are defined as Union Flags, the national flags of the home nations, ensigns and ships’ colours.
The instructions above are not binding on local authorities, public institutions or others. They will need to take their own decisions as to flag-flying; but the protocol may be useful.
The flying of flags in general is governed by planning laws, which state that flags may not be flown without planning consent, unless they fall into certain categories. For details of these categories please see here. It also comes under the general oversight and authority of the Earl Marshal, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; and Lord Lyon King of Arms, in Scotland.
Rouge Croix Pursuivant
21 February 2023By Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 20 February 2023, His Majesty The King has been pleased to appoint Thomas Andrew Johnston to the Office of Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms, vacant by the promotion in 2019 of John Michael Allen-Petrie, now Windsor Herald of Arms. The appointment has been gazetted here.
Thomas Johnston was born in Tasmania, Australia and educated at The Hutchins School and the University of Tasmania, where he read Law and Classics. He previously served as an Infantry Officer in the Australian Army (Royal Australian Regiment).
