Coat of arms of England

. The steel helm has gold embellishments. The arms have a red background, on which are three gold lions with blue claws and tongues. The lions are depicted striding dexter (heraldic right), with their right front paw raised and their heads turned to face the viewer. The blazon, or formal heraldic description, is Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure. The lions passant guardant were historically referred to as leopards, but this refers to their pose rather than species. During the existence of the Kingdom of England the arms were usually depicted as part of a full heraldic achievement, the appearance of which has varied over the centuries. The first example of a crest on the royal arms was on Edward III's third great seal, which shows a helm above the arms, on which is a crowned gold lion standing upon a chapeau. The design has varied little since, and took on its present form in the reign of Henry VIII. At the same time the decorative mantling, which was originally red cloth lined with ermine, was altered to cloth of gold lined with ermine. The supporters became more consistent under the Tudors, and by the reign of Elizabeth I were usually a red Welsh dragon and a gold lion. After the Union of the Crowns the Stuart monarchs swapped the dragon for a Scottish unicorn, and the lion and unicorn have remained the supporters of the royal arms since. The English royal arms were often shown encircled by the Order of the Garter, England's highest order of chivalry, a blue circlet bearing the order's Old French motto Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Shame be to him who thinks evil of it"). A motto has also been shown on a scroll under the arms since at least the reign of Henry IV, who used Sovereyne ('Sovereign'). The current motto, ("God and my right"), was first adopted by Henry V, but did not become standardised until 1714. == History ==

in Historia Anglorum and in the 1250s. Some of the earliest Royal Emblems depicting lions were first used by the Saxons (Lions were adopted in Germanic tradition around the 5th century) and Danes and re-interpreted in a Christian context in the western kingdoms of Gaul and Northern Italy (around the 6th and 7th centuries), as well as by the Normans. Later, during the reign of the Plantagenets (specifically around the end of the 12th century), a formal and consistent English heraldry system emerged. The blazon of the Plantagenet royal arms is: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langued azure, signifying three identical gold lions (also known as leopards) with blue tongues and claws, walking past but facing the observer, arranged in a column on a red background. Although the tincture azure of tongue and claws is not cited in many blazons, they are historically a distinguishing feature of the arms of England. This coat, designed in the High Middle Ages, has been variously combined with those of the Kings of France, Scotland, a symbol of Ireland, the House of Nassau and the Kingdom of Hanover, according to dynastic and other political changes occurring in England, but has not altered since it took a fixed form in the reign of Richard I of England (1189–1199), the second Plantagenet king. The earliest surviving representation of an escutcheon, or shield, displaying three lions is that on the Great Seal of King Richard I (1189–1199), which initially displayed one or two lions rampant, but in 1198 was permanently altered to depict three lions passant. of Richard I, c.1197-1199, note the three lions passant-guardant upon the shield. The crest of a lion also mounts his enclosed helmet. Much later antiquarians would retrospectively invent attributed arms for earlier kings, but their reigns pre-dated the systematisation of hereditary English heraldry that only occurred in the second half of the 12th century. while the eldest son, Henry II (1133–1189) used a lion as his emblem, and based on the arms used by his sons and other relatives, he may have used a coat of arms with a single lion or two lions, though no direct testimony of this has been found. In 1340, following the extinction of the House of Capet, Edward III claimed the French throne. In addition to initiating the Hundred Years' War, Edward III expressed his claim in heraldic form by quartering the royal arms of England with the arms of France. This quartering continued until 1801, with intervals in 1360–1369 and 1420–1422. As a consequence, the royal arms of England and Scotland were combined in the king's new personal arms. Nevertheless, although referencing the personal union with Scotland and Ireland, the royal arms of England remained distinct from the royal arms of Scotland, until the two realms were joined in a political union in 1707, leading to a unified royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. After the formation of Great Britain On 1 May 1707 the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to form that of Great Britain; to symbolise this their arms were impaled in the first and fourth quarters of the royal arms. The claim to the French throne continued, albeit passively, until it was mooted by the French Revolution and the formation of the French First Republic in 1792. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Under King George III of the United Kingdom, a proclamation of 1 January 1801 set the royal style and titles and modified the royal arms, removing the French quarter and putting the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland on the same structural level, with the dynastic arms of Hanover moved to an inescutcheon. Development ==Royal banner of England==

When the royal arms take the form of a heraldic flag, it is variously known as the Royal Banner of England, the Banner of the Royal Arms, or by the misnomer the Royal Standard of England. This royal banner differs from England's national flag, the St George's Cross, in that it does not represent any particular area or land, but rather symbolises the sovereignty vested in the rulers thereof. Because the royal banner depicted the royal arms of England, its design and composition changed throughout the Middle Ages. It is variously known as the royal banner of England, the banner of the royal arms, the banner of the king of England, or by the misnomer of the royal standard of England; Arthur Charles Fox-Davies explains that it is "a misnomer to term the banner of the royal arms the Royal Standard", because "the term standard properly refers to the long tapering flag used in battle, by which an overlord mustered his retainers in battle". The archaeologist and antiquarian Charles Boutell also makes this distinction. ==Contemporary use==

Royal heraldry As the arms of England have been superseded by the arms of the United Kingdom the former are rarely seen alone in contemporary contexts. One exception is the Duchy of Lancaster, the monarch's private estate, which uses the arms of England differenced by a 'label of France', i.e. a blue label of three points with three fleurs-de-lys in each. These arms originated with Edmund Crouchback, the second son of Henry III, whose descendants were created dukes of Lancaster. The duchy merged with the Crown when Henry Bolingbroke became king in 1399. The arms also make a standalone appearance at coronations, when banners of the individual quarterings of the royal arms are processed through Westminster Abbey. Non-royal heraldry Local government Several English towns display adapted versions of the arms of England, often derived from seals which showed the full arms. The most common alterations are to change the tinctures (colours); Dorset County Council, for example, uses a silver field and red lions, and Hereford a red field with silver lions. The arms of Berkshire County Council bore arms with two golden lions, referencing the attributed arms of the Norman kings and their early influence upon the county. In 1997 and 2002 the Royal Mint issued a one pound coin featuring three lions passant to represent England. File:Kings Arms, Blakney, Norfolk.jpg|The royal arms of England as depicted on the Kings Arms pub in Blakeney, Norfolk File:British one pound coin 1997 Lions Passant.jpg|A British one pound (£1) coin, issued in 1997, featuring three lions passant, representing England File:Royal Banner of England.jpg|A modern, commercially available royal banner of England, printed on polyester fabric File:England Cricket Cap Insignia.svg|The arms worn by England cricket team, the national football team removed the original crown to distinguish it from the cricket team in 1949. ==See also==