Royal cypher

The use of a royal cypher in the Commonwealth realms originated in the United Kingdom, where the public use of the royal initials dates at least from the early Tudor period, and was simply the initial of the sovereign with, after Henry VIII's reign, the addition of the letter 'R' for or (Latin for "king" and "queen" respectively). The letter 'I' for was added to Queen Victoria's monogram after she became Empress of India in 1877 (or in the case of an emperor). The initialswhich had no set pattern or form of lettering laid downwere usually shown in company with the royal arms or crown as on the king's manors and palaces, such as those of Henry VIII on the gatehouse of St James's Palace. The purpose seems to have been simply to identify an individual sovereign, particularly on certain landmarks that he or she has commissioned, as the royal coat of arms in contrast was often used by successive monarchs and is therefore not distinct. The initials are furthermore used on government papers, duty stamps and similar objects, and are surmounted throughout the United Kingdom (except in Scotland) and the Commonwealth realms by a stylised version of the Tudor Crown or St Edward's Crown; in Scotland, the Crown of Scotland is used instead. Though royal symbols (including, most notably, the coat of arms, royal standards and great seals) differ among the 15 Commonwealth realms, as they are separate monarchies, the one sovereign uses the same cypher throughout all of his or her countries. Distinction continues to be made between the personal cypher and the simpler, more workaday public initials, the former being the sovereign's own monogram and the latter simply a means of identifying a reign. Nowadays, the initials are also called the royal cypher, but, to aid clarification, the monogram is referred to as the royal cypher interlaced and reversed. The royal cyphers have been incorporated by the Canadian Heraldic Authority into the various royal standards of Canada. The use in Canada of the reigning monarch's cypher, which is sometimes uniquely surrounded by a garland of maple leaves, is as a symbol not only of the sovereign him- or herself, but of Canada's full sovereignty. The royal cypher is used on some Australian military uniforms. Charles III 's folder, 2025 On 26 September 2022, Buckingham Palace unveiled the cypher of the new king, Charles III, that is gradually replacing the cypher of Elizabeth II in everyday use. The design was selected by Charles himself from a series of designs prepared by the College of Arms and features the King's initial "C" intertwined with the letter "R" for with "III" denoting Charles III, with a Tudor Crown above the letters. Charles's Scottish cypher uses the Crown of Scotland instead. File:Royal Cypher of Charles III.svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted with a Tudor Crown File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III (Scotland).svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Crown of Scotland File:Canadian Royal Cypher of Charles III.svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Canadian Royal Crown File:Dual Cypher of King Charles and Queen Camilla of Great Britain.svg|Dual cypher of King Charles III and Queen Camilla File:Royal Cypher of Queen Camilla.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Camilla, consort of King Charles III Elizabeth II The cypher for Elizabeth II was '', standing for Elizabeth II'' and was usually surmounted by a stylised version of St. Edward's Crown. Since 1953, new post boxes in Scotland carry only the Crown of Scotland image rather than the ' cypher as a result of the Pillar Box War, in which some post boxes carrying the ' cypher were vandalised due to objections that there had never been an "Elizabeth I" of Scotland. The '''' cypher continued to be used on post boxes in the rest of United Kingdom and some other realms and territories. Charles III cypher will also not be included on Scottish post boxes, despite the fact that Charles II also reigned over Scotland. The production of the cypher was an early step in the preparations for her coronation in 1953 as it had to be embroidered on to the uniforms of the Royal Household and on other articles. Cyphers for other members of the royal family are designed by the College of Arms or Court of the Lord Lyon and are subsequently approved by the monarch. File:Royal Cypher of Elizabeth II.svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by St Edward's crown File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II (in Scotland).svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by the Crown of Scotland File:Dual Cypher of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Great Britain.svg|A dual cypher for Elizabeth II and Prince Philip from a 1972 coin marking their 25th wedding anniversary File:Royal Cypher of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.svg|Royal cypher of Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II ==Elsewhere==