College of Arms

Foundation , the College of Arms' founder, his wife Queen Anne Neville, and their son Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, with their heraldic crests and badges from the Rous Roll. A roll of arms painted by John Rous around 1483–1485 for the Earl of Warwick. King Richard III's interest in heraldry was indicated by his possession of two important rolls of arms. While still Duke of Gloucester and Constable of England for his brother (Edward IV) from 1469, he in the latter capacity supervised the heralds and made plans for the reform of their organisation. Soon after his accession to the throne he created Sir John Howard as Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England, who became the first Howard appointed to both positions. Translated as: "the Garter King of Arms of England, the King of Arms of the Southern parts, the King of Arms of the Northern parts, the King of Arms of Wales, and all other heralds and pursuivants of arms". The charter then goes on to state that the heralds "for the time being, shall be in perpetuity a body corporate in fact and name, and shall preserve a succession unbroken." There has been some evidence that prior to this charter, the royal heralds had already in some ways behaved like a corporation as early as 1420. The King empowered the College to have and use only one common seal of authority, and also instructed them to find a chaplain to celebrate mass daily for himself, Anne Neville, the Queen Consort, and his heir, Prince Edward. The house, built by Sir John de Pulteney, four times Lord Mayor of London, was said to be one of the greatest in the City of London. Varying fortunes , c. 1520, depicting the proliferation of lions in English heraldry The defeat and death of Richard III at Bosworth field was a double blow for the heralds, for they lost both their patron, the King, and their benefactor, the Earl Marshal, who was also slain. The victorious Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII soon after the battle. Henry's first Parliament of 1485 passed an Act of Resumption, in which large grants of crown properties made by his two predecessors to their supporters were cancelled. Whether this act affected the status of the College's charter is debatable; however, the act did facilitate the de facto recovery of Coldharbour to the crown. Henry then granted the house to his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, for life. This was because it was supposed that the house was granted personally to John Writhe the Garter King of Arms and not to the heralds as a corporation. As a result, the heralds were left destitute and many of their books and records were lost. Of the reign of King Henry VIII, it has been said that: "at no time since its establishment, was [the college] in higher estimation, nor in fuller employment, than in this reign." Henry VIII was fond of pomp and magnificence, and thus gave the heralds plenty of opportunity to exercise their roles in his court. In addition, the members of the College were also expected to be regularly despatched to foreign courts on missions, whether to declare war, accompany armies, summon garrisons or deliver messages to foreign potentates and generals. , from a tourney roll, made during the reign of King Henry VIII in 1511. The pursuivants to the left are identified by their reversed tabards, while the figure in the right (with the black hat) is probably Garter King of Arms Sir Thomas Wriothesley. Nevertheless, the College's petitions to the King and to the Duke of Suffolk in 1524 and 1533 for the return of their chapter house were rejected, and the heralds were left to hold chapter in whichever palace the royal court happened to be at the time. They even resorted to meeting at each other's houses, at various guildhalls and even a hospital. Furthermore, Henry VIII's habit of raising ladies in the situation of subjects to queens, and then awarding them many heraldic augmentations, which also extended to their respective families, was considered harmful to the science of heraldry. It was also in this reign in 1530, that Henry VIII conferred on the College one of its most important duties for almost a century, the heraldic visitation. The provincial Kings of Arms were commissioned under a royal warrant to enter all houses and churches and given authority to deface and destroy all arms unlawfully used by any knight, esquire, or gentleman. Around the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries this duty became even more necessary as the monasteries were previously repositories of local genealogical records. From then on, all genealogical records and the duty of recording them was subsumed by the College. These visitations were serious affairs, and many individuals were charged and heavily fined for breaking the law of arms. Hundreds of these visitations were carried out well into the 17th century; the last was in 1686. Reincorporation by Sir Thomas Wriothesley, c 1528 The College found a patroness in Mary I, although it must have been embarrassing for both sides, after the heralds initially proclaimed the right of her rival Lady Jane Grey to the throne. When King Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen four days later, first in Cheapside then in Fleet Street by two heralds, trumpets blowing before them. However, when popular support swung to Mary's side, the Lord Mayor of London and his councils accompanied by the Garter King of Arms, two other heralds, and four trumpeters returned to Cheapside to proclaim Mary's ascension as rightful queen instead. The College's excuse was that they had been compelled in their earlier act by the Duke of Northumberland (Lady Jane's father-in-law, who was later executed), an excuse that Mary accepted. The queen and her husband (and co-sovereign) Philip II of Spain then set about granting the College a new house called Derby Place or Derby House, under a new charter, dated 18 July 1555 at Hampton Court Palace. The house was built in 1503 and was given to the Crown by the 3rd Earl in 1552/3 in exchange for some land. The charter stated that the house would: "enable them [the College] to assemble together, and consult, and agree amongst themselves, for the good of their faculty, and that the records and rolls might be more safely and conveniently deposited." around 1595. It depicts the arms of Garter, Clarenceux, Norroy and Ulster. The additional charge in the first quarter of the first two shields, does not appear subsequently. The reign of Mary's sister Elizabeth I saw the college's privileges confirmed by an act of Parliament in 1566. As well as the drawing up of many important internal statutes and ordinances for the College by Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, dated 18 July 1568. The long reign saw the College distracted by the many quarrels between Garter William Dethick, Clarenceux Robert Cooke and York Herald Ralph Brooke about their rights and annulments. Disputes in which the other officers also took part, often occurred among the lesser heralds against each other. Historian Mark Noble wrote in 1805, that these fights often involved the use of "every epithet that was disgraceful to themselves and their opponents." and that "Their accusations against each other would fill a volume." The reason behind these discords were laid on the imperfect execution of the reorganisation of the College in 1568 and the uncertainty over issue of granting arms to the new and emerging gentry of the era. Eventually, these animosities among the heralds in the College ended only after the expulsion of one and the death of another. Nevertheless, the heralds petitioned Parliament in the same year, to protect their: "Books of Record, Registers, Entries, Precedents, Arms, Pedigrees and Dignities." In 1643 the heralds joined the King at Oxford, and were with him at Naseby and followed him on all of his campaigns. Sir Edward Walker the Garter King of Arms (from 1645) was even appointed, with the permission of Parliament, to act as the King's chief secretary at the negotiations at Newport. After the execution of Charles I, Walker joined Charles II in his exile in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, on 3 August 1646 the Committee of Sequestration took possession of the College premises, and kept it under its own authority. Later in October, Parliament ordered the committee to directly remove those officers whose loyalties were with the King and to nominate their own candidates to fill these vacant offices. In spite of this, the institutional College was protected by the Parliamentarians, and their rights and work continued unabated. Edward Bysshe a Member of Parliament from Bletchingley was appointed Garter, thus "Parliament which rejected its King created for itself a King of Arms". During this time the heralds continued their work and were even present on 26 June 1657 at Oliver Cromwell's second installation ceremony as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. Survival , Windsor Herald. On a visitation to Berkshire in 1664–1665, the banners and crests were found at the choir stalls of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. On 8 May 1660, the heralds at the command of the Convention Parliament proclaimed Charles II, King at Westminster Hall Gate. It was said that William Ryley, who was originally appointed Lancaster Herald by Charles I but then sided with Cromwell, did not even have a tabard with the Royal Arms, as his own had been "plundered in the wars". He had to borrow a decorative one from the tomb of James I in Westminster Abbey instead; the garment was duly returned the next day. The Restoration of Charles II annulled all the Acts of the Parliament and all the actions of the Lord Protector, without penalising any of their supporters (except for the regicides). Accordingly, all the grant of arms of the Commonwealth College was declared null and void. Furthermore, all heralds appointed during the Interregnum lost their offices, while those appointed originally by Charles I returned to their places. The exception was Edward Bysshe, who was removed as Garter, but was instead appointed Clarenceux in 1661, much to the chagrin of Garter Edward Walker. The College's library was, however, saved: it was initially stored in the Palace of Whitehall and was susbsequently moved to the Palace of Westminster, where a temporary office was opened in an apartment called the Queen's court. An announcement was also made in the London Gazette to draw public notice to the situation. Due to a shortage of funds, the planned rebuilding of a new College was delayed until 1670. The costs of the rebuilding was financed in stages, and the structure was erected slowly in parts. The heralds contributed significantly out of their own pockets; at the same time, they also sought subscriptions among the nobility, with the names of contributors recorded into a series of splendid manuscripts known as the Benefactors Books. The College consists of an extensive range of quadrangular buildings. To the east and south sides three terraced houses were constructed for leases, their façade in keeping with the original design. In 1699 the hall, which for some time had been used as a library, was transformed into the Earl Marshal's Court or the Court of Chivalry; it remains so to this day. In 1776 some stylistic changes were made to the exterior of the building and some details, such as pediments and cornices were removed, transforming the building to the then popular but austere Neo-Classical style. However, the abrupt end of his reign saw all but one of the heralds taking the side of William of Orange and Mary II in the Glorious Revolution. The period from 1704 to 1706 saw not a single grant of arms being made by the College; this nadir was attributed to the changes in attitude of the times. The Acts of Union 1707 between England and Scotland, in the reign of Anne did not affect the jurisdiction or the rights of the College. The College of Arms and the Court of the Lord Lyon were to exist side by side in their respective realms. However, in the matter of precedence; the Lord Lyon, when in England, was to take immediate precedence behind Garter King of Arms. Comfortable decay The Hanoverian succession to the throne of Great Britain led to reigns with less ceremony than in any since the incorporation of the heralds. The only notable incident for the college in this period, during the reign of George I, happened in 1727 when an impostor called Robert Harman pretended to be a herald. The knave was prosecuted by the College in the county of Suffolk, and was sentenced to be pilloried in several market towns on public market days and afterwards to be imprisoned and pay a fine. This hefty sentence was executed, proving that the rights of the College were still respected. In 1737, during the reign of George II the College petitioned for another charter, to reaffirm their rights and remuneration; this effort proved unsuccessful. Apart from these events the influence of the College was greatly diminished. In 1742 a sugar house was built against the wall of the College. This structure was a fire risk and the cause of great anxiety among the heralds. In 1775 the College Surveyor drew attention to this problem, but to no avail. In February 1800, the College was asked by a Select Committee of the House of Commons to report to them the state of public records; again the heralds drew attention to the proximity of the sugar house. Members of the committee inspected the College premises and reported to the House that the College must either be moved to a new building or secured against the risk of fire. Again nothing was done; in 1812 water seeped through the walls of the College damaging records. The Surveyor traced the leak back to a shed recently erected by Alderman Smith, owner of the sugar house, who declared his readiness to do everything he could, but who actually did very little to rectify the situation. After years of negotiation the College, in 1820, bought the sugar house from Smith for the sum of £1,500. , engraved by W. Wallis. Jones & Co. Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square, London, 17 April 1830 Great financial strains placed upon the College during these times were relieved when the extravagant Prince Regent (the future George IV) granted to the College an annual endowment by Royal Warrant on 29 February 1820. This generous endowment from the crown, the first since 1555, was applied towards the reparation and support of the College. Nash himself was asked by the College to design a new building near fashionable Trafalgar Square but Nash's elaborate plan proved too costly and ambitious for the College. At the same time the College also asked Robert Abraham to submit to them a second plan for the building. When Nash heard that another architect was approached behind his back he reacted vehemently, and attacked the heralds. The College nevertheless continued with their plans. However they were constantly beset by conflicts between the different officers over the amount needed to build a new building. By 1827 the college still had no coherent plan; the Duke of Norfolk ordered the College to drop the matter altogether. By 1842 the heralds were reconciled with their location and once again commissioned Abraham to build a new octagonal-shaped Record Room on the site of the old sugar house. Reform , the official church of the College since 1555, can be seen to the south west. On 18 October 1869, a warrant for a commission of inquiry into the state of the college was established. The warrant, issued on the behalf of the Duke of Norfolk, stated "that it is desirable that the College of Arms should be visited, and an inquiry instituted with the view of ascertaining whether the Rules and Orders for the good government of the said College ... are duly obeyed and fulfilled ... and whether by change of circumstances or any other cause, any new Laws, Ordinances or Regulations are necessary to be made ... for the said College." The commission had three members: Lord Edward Fitzalan-Howard (the Deputy Earl Marshal), Sir William Alexander (a Queen's Counsel) and Edward Bellasis (a Serjeant-at-Law). Sir Bernard Burke (of the famous Burke's Peerage), at the time Ulster King of Arms, gave the commission the advice that the college should "be made a Government Department, let its Officers receive fixed salaries from Government, and let all its fees be paid into the public exchequer. This arrangement would, I am sure, be self-supporting and would raise at once the character of the Office and the status of the Heralds." Burke's suggestion for reform was the same arrangement that had already been applied to the Lord Lyon Court in Scotland by the Lyon King of Arms Act 1867, and was to be applied to his own office in 1871. However unlike the Lyon Court, which was a court of law and part of the Scottish Judiciary, the College of Arms has always been an independent corporate body overseen by the Earl Marshal. While the Lord Lyon depended on the government for its reforms and statutes, the college has always been able to carry out changes from within itself. The commission also drew attention to the fees, annulments and library of the college, as well as the general modernisation of the chapter as a whole. When the commission made its report in 1870, it recommended many changes, and these were duly made in another warrant dated 27 April 1871. Burke's recommendation, however, was not implemented. , KCB, KCVO, MC, TD, was appointed Norroy King of Arms in 1931. In 1943 he became the first Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, when the two titles were merged. He served in this office until 1944 when he was promoted to Garter King of Arms; he retired in 1950. Despite the findings of this inquiry, the issues surrounding the status and position of the college continued. At the beginning of the 20th century these issues were once again brought to the forefront. In 1903 an inquiry was set up at the instructions of Arthur Balfour, soon to be Prime Minister. The committee of inquiry was to consist of eight members; Sir Algernon West was made chairman. They were tasked to investigate "the constitution, duties and administration of the Heralds' College"; the main issues being the anomalous position of the college, who are theoretically officials of the royal household, but actually derive their income from fees paid by private individuals for their services. Some of the members of the committee (a minority) wanted (like Burke thirty-four years earlier) to make officers of the College of Arms into "salaried civil servants of the state". In 1905 the generous endowment from the Crown (as instituted by George IV) was stopped by the Liberal Government of the day as part of its campaign against the House of Lords and the class system. The inquiry was called soon after a secret memorandum, written in 1927, was circulated by the Home Office, criticising the constitution and workings of the heralds. The memorandum states that "They have, as will be seen from this memorandum, in many cases attempted to interfere with the exercise by the Secretary of State of his constitutional responsibility for advising the Crown", The memorandum ended by saying that "the College of Arms is a small and highly organised luxury trade, dependent for its living on supplying the demand for a fancy article among the well to do: and like many such trades it has in very many cases to create the demand before it can supply it." In 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War the College's records were moved to Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, the home of Major Algar Howard (the Norroy King of Arms). Meanwhile, on 10 and 11 May 1941 the College building was almost consumed by fire, which had already levelled all the buildings to the east of the College on Queen Victoria Street. The building was given up for lost, when a change in the wind saved it. At the end of the war, all of the records were returned safely to the College. In 1943 the College was given new responsibilities when the office of Ulster King of Arms was annexed and combined with those of the Norroy King of Arms, creating a new office called Norroy and Ulster King of Arms; Sir Algar Howard thus became the first to hold this office. Although the College building was saved from the war, its walls and roof were left in a perilous state. In 1954 a decision was forced upon heralds, whether to abandon the old building (which would have been profitable financially) or repair it on a scale far beyond the College's resources. Eventually with the help of the Ministry of Works and a public subscription, the building was repaired in time for the College's 4th centenary of being in possession of Derby Place. The present gates to the building were added in 1956, and came originally from Goodrich Court in Herefordshire. The new gates displayed the College's arms and crest. On 5 February 2009 a fire broke out at the west wing on the third and fourth floor of the College building. Eight London Fire Brigade fire engines were able to bring the flames under control, in the meantime 35 people were evacuated from the building and a further 100 from adjacent buildings. No records or books of the College were damaged. Repairs to the smoke-damaged rooms and exterior brickwork were completed in December 2009. ==Roles==

Ceremonial (in the background), for the annual service of the Order of the Garter, 19 June 2006 The College of Arms is a part of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As such they accompany the monarch on various state occasions. As a result, the heralds have a role to perform within every significant royal ceremony. The (usually annual) State Opening of Parliament takes place at the Houses of Parliament. The heralds, including both ordinary and extraordinary officers, form the front part of the Royal Procession, preceding the Sovereign and other Great Officers of State. The procession starts at the bottom of the Victoria Tower, then proceeds up the Norman Porch to the Robing Chamber. Once the Sovereign has put on the Imperial State Crown, the heralds lead the monarch once again through the Royal Gallery into the House of Lords, remain with the monarch during the speech and accompany the monarch to the bounds of the Palace. Garter Service or Garter Day is held in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle every June on the Monday of Royal Ascot week. On this occasion, new Companions of the Order of the Garter are personally invested with their insignia in the Throne Room of Windsor Castle by the Sovereign. All the members then have lunch in the Waterloo Chamber, wearing their blue velvet robes and black velvet hats with white plumes. Afterwards the members walk from the Upper Ward of the castle towards St George's Chapel. During their procession they are led by members of the College of Arms in their tabards, the Military Knights of Windsor and contingents of the Sovereign's Bodyguard. After the service, the members return to the Upper Ward by carriage. This ceremony is especially significant for the Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College, who is an officer of the Order. surrounded by heralds of the College of Arms prior to his only State Opening of Parliament on 3 November 1936 Participation in these two annual ceremonies is considered the least time-consuming part of the herald's roles. However at other times they are involved in some of the most important ceremonies concerning the life of the British monarch. After the death of a Sovereign the Accession Council (made up of Privy Councillors and other officers such as the Lord Mayor of London) meets at St. James's Palace to make a formal proclamation of the accession of the next Sovereign. Traditionally, this proclamation is made by being physically read out. This task is assigned to the various members of the College by way of the Earl Marshal, who receives the text of the proclamation in person from the council. The proclamation is to be read at several locations in London. Traditionally the first reading is made from the Friary Court balcony at St James's Palace. Another reading and ceremony is held at Temple Bar. There a detachment of heralds, accompanied by troops of the Royal Horse Guards, formally demand admission to the precinct of the City of London from the City Marshall and City Remembrancer. The barrier, consisting of a silken rope (in place of the ancient bar), is then removed and the detachment marches forward to meet the Lord Mayor and City Sheriffs, where the proclamation would be read. There are also other readings by members of the College at the corner of Chancery Lane, in Fleet Street, and at the Royal Exchange. During the Coronation Ceremony, members of the College form part of the Royal procession as it enters Westminster Abbey. It is only during this ceremony that the Kings of Arms are allowed to wear their distinctive crowns, the only group of individuals, apart from the King and Queen, authorised to do so. in 1603, depicting some the heralds of the College of Arms, each carrying a piece of the Sovereign's armour At State funerals the heralds once again take their place at the front of the royal procession as it enters the place of worship. Historically during the procession of royal funerals (usually of the Sovereign) the heralds would carry a piece of armour, representing the various marks of chivalry. These included the helm and crest, spurs, gauntlet, target (shield of arms), sword and a literal 'coat of arms' (a heraldic surcoat). This procession of chivalry was an integral part of the heraldic royal funeral. One of the most solemn roles for the heralds during a royal funeral is the reading of the full list of the styles and titles of the deceased monarch. On 9 April 2002, Garter King of Arms Peter Gwynn-Jones read out the full styles and titles of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the end of her funeral service at Westminster Abbey. Granting and proving descent of arms in Berkshire, as issued by the Clarenceux King of Arms, Robert Cooke in 1571. The grant gave him the right to use the arms shown. The blazon reads: Golde, on a ffesse betwene thre Annulettes gules, thre standing cuppes of the felde. , granted in 1596 The granting of armorial bearings (coats of arms) within the United Kingdom is the sole prerogative of the British monarch. However, the monarch has delegated this power to two authorities: the Lord Lyon, with jurisdiction over Scotland, and the College of Arms, over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Under the latter's jurisdiction, the right to arms is acquired exclusively either by proving descent in an unbroken male line from someone registered as so entitled or by a new grant from the King of Arms. Technically, however, arms can also be gained by a grant from the Crown, by prescription (meaning in use since time immemorial), by succeeding to an office, or by marriage. The descent of arms closely follows the Law of heraldic arms, which is a branch of English law, interpreted by civil lawyers in the Court of Chivalry. Sir Edward Coke in his Commentary upon Littleton (1628) wrote that "gentry and armes is the nature of gavelkinde, for they descend to all the sonnes." Arms in England therefore descend to all of the male lines, and not just the most senior alone (unlike in Scotland). When a new grant of arms is to be made, it is granted through Letters Patent. The Crown delegates all of this authority to the King of Arms, however before any letters can be issued they must have a warrant from the Earl Marshal agreeing to the granting of arms. This has been the case since 1673, when the authority of the Earl Marshal, which the heralds had challenged, was established by a royal declaration stating, among other things, that no patents of arms should be granted without his consent. This established the present system whereby royal authority to approve candidates for grants of arms is exercised by the Earl Marshal, and royal authority to grant the arms themselves is exercised by the Kings of Arms. First a petition, called a memorial, is submitted to the Earl Marshal. This memorial will be drawn up for the petitioner by an officer of arms, if it is felt that such a petition would be accepted. Currently there are no set criteria for eligibility for a grant of arms; however the College recommends that "awards or honours from the Crown, civil or military commissions, university degrees, professional qualifications, public and charitable services, and eminence or good standing in national or local life" will be taken into account. When the king found out he had them both imprisoned at Marshalsea; they were freed a few days later. Current procedure The fee for the grant of arms is due when the memorial is submitted; the amount is set out in the Earl Marshal's Warrant. As of 1 January 2025 the fees for a personal grant of arms, including a crest, is £9,200; a grant to a non-profit body is £18,940; and to a commercial company is £28,235. This grant may include a grant of a badge, supporters or a standard, depending on the letters patent. Change of names The College of Arms is also an authorised location for enrolling a change of name. In common law there is no obligation to undergo any particular formality to change one's name. However, it is possible to execute a deed poll, more specifically a deed of change of name, as a demonstration of intention to adopt and henceforth use a new name, and deeds poll may be enrolled either in the High Court or in the College. On being enrolled the deed is customarily 'gazetted', that is published in the London Gazette. The deed poll is not entered on the registers, but is still published, if the name change only affects one's given name. Change of name and arms It is also possible to change one's coat of arms, with or without adopting or appending a new surname, by , that is to say a licence in the form of a warrant from the Crown directed to the Kings of Arms instructing them to exemplify the transferred arms or a version of them to the licensee in his or her new name. Royal licences are issued on the advice of Garter King of Arms and are usually dependent on there being some constraining circumstances such as a testamentary injunction (a requirement in a will) or a good reason to wish to perpetuate a particular coat of arms. A royal licence is of no effect until and unless the exemplification is issued and recorded in the college. Royal licences are gazetted and make a deed poll unnecessary. The College's extensive records within this realm of study dates back over five centuries. All peers receiving such writs were enrolled in the Register of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, a document maintained by the Clerk of the Parliaments. As a result of the Act, the Register of Lords Spiritual and Temporal only records the name of life peers and the 92 hereditary peers left in the House of Lords. This meant that the register was incomplete as it excludes most of the other hereditary peers, who are not part of the House of Lords. On 1 June 2004 a Royal Warrant issued by Queen Elizabeth II states "that it is desirable for a full record to be kept of all of Our subjects who are Peers", this new record would be named the Roll of the Peerage. The warrant was later published in the London Gazette on 11 June 2004. The warrant handed the responsibility of maintaining the roll to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, in 2007 this responsibility was assumed by the Crown Office within the newly created Ministry of Justice. The warrant also stipulated that the Secretary of State would act in consultation with the Garter King of Arms and the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The roll would then be published by the College of Arms; currently an online edition is available. Outside the UK The College of Arms states that it is the "official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand". The position of New Zealand Herald Extraordinary was established in 1978, subordinate to the Garter Principal King of Arms. However, the official status of the college in Australia has not been confirmed by the federal government. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet advised in 2018 that grants from the College of Arms were "well established as one way Australians can obtain heraldic insignia if they wish to do so", but that they had the same status as those by "a local artist, graphics studio or heraldry specialist". The policy of the Australian Heraldry Society is that the College of Arms does not have official heraldic authority over Australia, but that the federal government should establish a national body equivalent to the Canadian Heraldic Authority or South Africa's Bureau of Heraldry. ==Earl Marshal==

The Earl Marshal is one of the Great Officers of State, and the office has existed since 1386. Many of the holders of the office have been related to each other; however, it was not until 1672 that the office became fully hereditary. In that year Henry Howard was appointed to the position by King Charles II. In 1677 he also succeeded to the Dukedom of Norfolk as the 6th Duke, thus combining the two titles for his successors. The Earl Marshal also has authority over the flying of flags within England and Wales, as does Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland. The Officers of Arms at the College of Arms maintain the only official registers of national and other flags and they advise national and local Government, and other bodies and individuals, on the flying of flags. Court of Chivalry The High Court of Chivalry or the Earl Marshal's Court is a specialised civil court in England, presided over by the Earl Marshal. ==Heralds of the College==

The College of Arms is a corporation of thirteen heralds, styled Officers in Ordinary. This thirteen can be divided hierarchically into three distinctive ranks: three Kings of Arms, six Heralds of Arms and four Pursuivants of Arms. There are also presently seven Officers Extraordinary, who take part in ceremonial occasions but are not part of the College. As members of the Royal Household, the heralds are appointed at the pleasure of the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Earl Marshal. The Officers in Ordinary are appointed by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, and the Officers Extraordinary by Royal Sign Manual; all appointments are announced in the London Gazette. All of the officers in Ordinary of the College were first instituted at different dates (some even before the incorporation of the College), some originating as private servants of noblemen, some being Royal from the start. They take their names and badges from the titles and royal badges of the monarchs of England. Wages The College is almost entirely self-financed, and receives no regular public funding. These annual salaries reflected the living costs of the day; however today the amount is merely a nominal payment. In addition to their official duties, the heralds have for many centuries undertaken private practice in heraldry and genealogy, for which professional fees are charged. the payments made to Sir Thomas Woodcock since his appointment as Garter totalled £651,515. John Anstis wrote that: "The Wearing the outward Robes of the Prince, hath been esteemed by the Consent of Nations, to be an extraordinary Instance of Favour and Honour, as in the Precedent of Mordecai, under a king of Persia." but this practice was ended during the reign of James II. Until 1888 all tabards were provided to the heralds by the Crown; however in that year a parsimonious Treasury refused to ask Parliament for funds for the purpose. Ever since then heralds either paid for their own tabards or bought the one used by their predecessors. The newest tabard was made in 1963 for the Welsh Herald Extraordinary. A stock of them is now held by the Lord Chamberlain, from which a loan "during tenure of office" is made upon each appointment. They are often sent to Ede & Ravenscroft for repair or replacement. In addition, heralds and pursuivants wear black velvet caps with a badge embroidered. Apart from the tabards, the heralds also wear scarlet court uniforms with gold embroidery during formal events; with white breeches and stockings for coronations and black for all other times together with black patent court shoes with gold buckles (the Scottish heralds wear black wool serge military style trousers with wide gold oak leaf lace on the side seams and black patent ankle boots; or for women, a long black skirt). The heralds are also entitled to distinctive sceptres, which have been a symbol of their office since the Tudor period. In 1906 new sceptres were made, most likely the initiative of Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty. These take the form of short black batons with gilded ends, each with a representation of the badges of the different offices of the heralds. In 1953 these were replaced by white staves, with gilded metal handles and at its head a blue dove in a golden coronet or a "martinet". These blue martinets are derived from the arms of the College. Another of the heralds' insignia of office is the Collar of SS, which they wear over their uniforms. Within the crown is a cap of crimson velvet, lined with ermine, having at the top a large tuft of tassels, wrought in gold. In medieval times the kings of arms were required to wear their crowns and attend to the Sovereign on four high feasts of the year: Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide and All Saints' Day. Today, the crown is reserved for the most solemn of occasions. The last time these crowns were worn was at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in 2023. Some of the greatest scholars and eminent antiquarians of their age were members of the College, such as Robert Glover, William Camden, Sir William Dugdale, Elias Ashmole, John Anstis, Sir Anthony Wagner and John Brooke-Little. Noted antiquarian William Oldys, appointed Norroy King of Arms in 1756, was described as being "rarely sober in the afternoon, never after supper", and "much addicted to low company". List of heralds Officers in Ordinary Officers Extraordinary ==Armorial achievement of the College==