In the Renaissance, gold chains tended to replace collars, and
portrait miniature of the donor tended to replace the earlier badges with symbolic devices, although "picture boxes" containing miniatures could be highly extravagant pieces of jewellery. The Elizabethan artist
Nicholas Hilliard was both a goldsmith and miniaturist, and so produced the whole of pieces like the
Armada Jewel, given by
Elizabeth I of England to a courtier. When the
Earl of Rutland returned from an embassy to Denmark, sixteen members of his party were given chains of gold with the
James I of England's picture, and others received just a picture. During the sixteenth century collars became marks of a specific office or Order, and subsequently remained so.
Mayoral collars , Canada from 2000 to 2014, pictured wearing a modern mayoral collar Most English, Welsh and Irish
mayors, and Scottish
provosts, wear a collar/chain of office, and new ones are still designed for new municipalities. The mayor's or provost's spouse may have a much smaller version. These are worn over normal clothes when on official duties. Following British practice, most
Canadian, Australian and New Zealand mayors also wear chains of office. The custom also spread outside the Commonwealth, to Germany (originally only Prussia) in 1808, to the Netherlands by royal decree in 1852 and to Norway after the mayor of Oslo received one as a gift in 1950, and most Norwegian mayors now have mayoral chains. The design of modern mayoral chains mimics the ancient gold collar of Esses worn by the
Lord Mayor of London which was bequeathed to his successors by Sir John Aleyn (who died in 1545) and which has a large jewelled pendant added in 1607.
Collars of orders of knighthood Collars of various devices are worn by the knights of some of the European
orders of knighthood. The custom was begun by
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, who gave his knights of the
Golden Fleece, badges of a golden fleece hung from a collar of flints, steels and sparks. Following this new fashion,
Louis XI of France, when instituting his
order of St. Michael in 1469, gave the knights collars of scallop shells linked on a chain. The chain was doubled by
Charles VIII, and the pattern suffered other changes before the order lapsed in 1830. At the end of the 18th century, most of the European orders had only one rank—that of knight—and although they usually had collars the cross or badge was now worn on a ribbon around the neck or over the right shoulder. When the orders became more democratic, several ranks were introduced and only the highest grade, the Grand Commanders or Grand Crosses, wore collars. The Netherlands never had collars, but several Belgian, most of the Austrian and Prussian orders and several Portuguese orders had collars. In Portugal all the members of these orders of knighthood wore a collar, but the collars of the Grand-crosses were more elaborate. In England, until the reign of Henry VIII, the
Order of the Garter, most ancient of the great knightly orders had no collar. But the
Tudor king in all things with continental sovereigns, and the present collar of the Garter knights, with its golden knots and its buckled garters enclosing white roses set on red roses, has its origin in the Tudor age. Knights of most of the British orders have collars which are worn on special occasions, but not the Knights Bachelor or holders of decorations such as the
Distinguished Service Order, the
Order of Merit, the
Order of the Companions of Honour and the
Imperial Service Order. The
Royal Victorian Chain is a collar and there are no other insignia. In France, Emperor
Napoleon I introduced the "Grand aigle" collar as the highest rank in his
Légion d'honneur. It did not survive his downfall. Sometimes the collar is the insignia of office of the
Grand Master of the order; the French president therefore wears the collar of the Order of the Légion d'honneur. In other countries such as Brazil the collar is a rank above that of a Grand Cross and it is reserved for the president and foreign heads of state. Image:Schatzkammer Wien Collane Orden vom Goldenen Vlies.jpg|Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, shown in the
Schatzkammer in
Vienna,
Austria Image:Andrea Solario 003.jpg|
Charles d'Amboise in the cockleshell collar of the Order of Saint Michael, 1507 Image:GarterInsigniaBurkes.JPG|The insignia of a knight of the Order of the Garter
Collars of Freemasonry Collars also have a long history within
Freemasonry. Collars are often worn by officers of high rank. Nearly all Grand Lodge officers wear collars as an emblem of their office. In history, many such collars are quite valuable, featuring gold and precious jewels. Collars vary widely among Masonic Grand Lodges. While those Lodges working under the Grand Lodge of England have fairly uniform designs, Grand Lodges in the United States vary widely, employing collars made from metal chains backed by velvet, to those made of velvet and embroidered with gold and silver bullion thread. Today, English lodge officers wear a fabric collar with a simple jewel of their office pendant to it. Each jewel represents a skill or virtue which he possesses and instructs the brothers of Masonry in. In some jurisdictions, these jewels are silver-plated for the Craft or Blue Lodges under 100 years old, or gold-plated for lodges older than 100 years. The collars generally sit on the wearer's shoulders and fall over the chest, ending in a point between the breasts. ==See also==