Where to spot them
They appear all over our most famous buildings, from Windsor Castle to Westminster Abbey, giving us invaluable clues as to when they were built
The Royal Arms will be much in evidence during 2022 to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.They will appear on standards, carriages, the Royal Barge and on the tabards of the Heralds who are present at every important Royal Ceremony.
However, before this, we have all come across the Royal Arms in some form nearly every day of our lives:
For the Golden Jubilee in 2002, the Royal Mint designed a set of coins with new backings that celebrated the occation. On the back of each of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 pences and the one pound coin was a section of the shield of the current Royal Arms. You could buy them as a set, but mainly you would come across them in every day change. If you collect one of each coin, you can ‘fit’ the shield together and create the Royal Arms.
Newspapers
Some of our newspapers show the Royal Arms every day, such as the front page of The Times and on the Court and Social page of the Daily Telegraph.
You can even spot whether the Queen is in residence in England or Scotland by the positions of the supporters:
When the Queen is in England, the lion is on the traditionally more important left side of the shield, as you look at it. If she is in Scotland, the supporters swap and Unicorn takes pride of place on the left side. These changes are also reflected on the shield itself: the unicorn if Scotland takes position in the important first and fourth quarters and the three lions of England move to the second quarter.
The Royal Arms has been included in the masthead of The Times since it was founded in 1785. Since 1982 it has abandoned the use of the current Royal Arms and reverted to using the Hanoverian Arms of 1785: the lion and unicorn supporters look particularly nonchalant and are couchant instead of alertly standing up guarding the Arms. This reflected the popular, caricature style of the period.
Pub Signs
There are hundreds of pub signs depicting the King’s Arms along with few depicting the five Queens of England who ruled in their own right.
British Royal Warrants are currently granted by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. Nowadays around 850 companies or trades people can proudly display this prestigious warrant to show that they supply goods and services to certain members of the Royal Family.
One such recipient is Floris London on Jermyn St, London. It has a magnificent Royal Warrant from the period 1815-1837 above its shop. The lion and unicorn are couchant, which was typical during this period. Nowadays Royal Warrants have to be removed within five years of the Royal Family member’s death.
Sports Kits
The three lions of England appear on the outfits of our sporting heroes and will be much in evidence at the London 2012 Olympics.
Stamps
Since April 23rd 2001, the three lions appeared on our second class stamp, which was in circulation for a number of years.