Coat of arms of Scotland

Royal Arms of Scotland
Versions
Heraldic tabard and caparison
Banner of arms, which serves as the royal standard
Achievement
In My Defens God Me Defend (abbr. In Defens)
Use	Second Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom First and fourth Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom for usage in Scotland Usage granted by the monarch to the First Minister of Scotland Recognised as one of the National symbols of Scotland

The coat of arms of Scotland, colloquially called the Lion Rampant, is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland, and later by monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The coat of arms, or elements from it, are also used in heraldry to symbolise Scotland in general. The arms consist of a red lion surrounded by a red double border decorated with fleurs-de-lis, all on a gold background. The blazon, or heraldic description, is: Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second.

The coat of arms was adopted in the 12th century by

.

The coat of arms rarely appears in isolation in royal or government contexts, as the arms of the United Kingdom are used instead. One exception is the

.

Description

The arms feature a red

.

The arms historically formed part of a full

.

Most of these elements were retained in the Scottish coat of arms after the Union of the Crowns, and in the Scottish versions of the coat sof arms of Great Britain and, later, the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, some changes were made: the sinister supporter was replaced with a crowned lion holding a banner bearing the flag of England, the dexter supporter now bears the flag of Scotland, and the coat of arms changed to reflect that used at the time.

History

Kingdom of Scotland

Lion rampant

on saddle and shield

A form of these arms was first used by

.

Throughout the ages the arms passed from monarch to succeeding monarch with only slight variations in detail. In some early examples the lion holds a sword or wears a crown, and the royal tressure has sometimes been interpreted as an orle or bordure. Many of these relatively minor variations will have resulted from the individual efforts of stonemasons, weavers, artists and sculptors throughout the ages in their attempts to create a facsimile of the arms of the period, as well as mistakes and misinterpretations on the part of foreign heraldic artists.

Until the reign of James I (1406–1437) the Scottish monarchs did not use supporters; James introduced two lion supporters to the depiction of the arms on his privy seal and used a single unicorn elsewhere. The lions continued to be used almost continuously until the Union of the Crowns, the exception being James V, who used two unicorns on his privy seal. His daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, reverted to the lions but used two unicorns on her great seal, the first monarch to do so. When her son, James VI, inherited the kingdoms of England and Ireland he began using one unicorn and one lion supporter, a practice continued to the present day.^[2]

In the reign of James III, the Scottish Parliament made a curious attempt to get rid of the royal tressure, passing an act stating that "the King, with the advice of the three Estates ordained that in time to come there should be no double tressure about his arms, but that he should bear whole arms of the lion without any more". This state of affairs does not appear to have lasted very long, with James III soon re-instating the royal tressure, first without its top, and then in its original form.^[3]

Upon the creation of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland in 1672 Charles II registered the blazon of the achievement of the King of Scots as:

"Or, a Lyon rampant gules armed and langued azure within a double tressur flowered and counter-flowered with flowers de lis of the second, Encircled with the order of Scotland the same being composed of Rue and thistles having the Image of St. Andrew with his crosse on his brest y unto pendent. Above the shield ane Helment answerable to his Majesties high qualitie and jurisdiction with a mantle or doubled ermine adorned with ane Imperiall Crowne beautified with crosses pattee and flowers de lis surmounted on the top for his Majesties Crest of a Lyon sejant full faced gules crowned or holding in his dexter paw a naked sword proper and in the sinister a Scepter both erected paleways supported be two Unicornes Argent crowned with Imperiall and goarged with open Crownes, to the last chains affixed passing betwixt their fore leggs and reflexed over their backs or, he on the dexter imbracing and bearing up a banner of cloath of gold charged with the Royall Armes of Scotland and he on the sinister another Banner azure charged with a St Andrews Crosse argent, both standing on ane compartment placed underneath from which issue thistles one towards each side of the escutcheon, and for his Majisties Royall Motto's in ane escroll over all In defence, and under on the table of the compartment Nemo me impune Lacessit."^[4]

Kingdom of France

When

Following the death of Francis in 1560, Mary continued to use the arms showing Scotland and France impaled, (with a minor alteration of the arms to reflect her change of status from queen-consort to

had for centuries held a historical claim to the throne of France, symbolised by the arms of France having been quartered with those of England since 1340). Following the marriage to Darnley, the arms of Scotland reverted to the blazon which had preceded the marriage to Francis.

Union of the Crowns

Royal coat of arms of Scotland
James VI from 1603 as both the King of Scots and as King James I of England, France, and Ireland.
In My Defens God Me Defend (abbr. In Defens)
Order(s)	The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. (Arms feature the collar of the order)

On the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603,

. (Today, the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom used in Scotland continue to differ from those used elsewhere).

During the reign of

of the Order of the Thistle had appeared on the arms).

The addition by King Charles of Nemo me impune lacessit ensured that the

shield

. Henceforth, the versions of the Royal arms used in Scotland and elsewhere were to include both the motto of the arms of the respective kingdom and the motto of the associated order of chivalry.

From the accession of the

.

Changes to the blazon of the arms

• Following the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1558, the blazon of the royal arms of Scotland included elements from the arms of:

The Dauphin of France, (1558–1559)

The

Kingdom of England

, (1558-1560)

The Kingdom of France, (1559–1565)

• Following the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the blazon of the royal arms of Scotland included elements from the arms of:

The Kingdom of France, (1603–1707)

The Kingdom of England, (1603–1707)

The Kingdom of Ireland, (1603–1707)

• Following the reign of Charles II, King of Scots, the blazon of the royal arms of Scotland included upon a blue scroll overlying the compartment, the motto of The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle; Nemo me impune lacessit, and elements from the arms of:

The House of Orange-Nassau, (1689–1702)

• Following the Acts of Union of 1707, the blazon of the royal arms of Great Britain used in Scotland included elements from the arms of:

The Kingdom of France, (1707–1800)

The Kingdom of Ireland (1707–1800)

The Electorate of Hanover, (1714–1800)

• Following the
  Act of Union of 1800, the blazon of the royal arms of the United Kingdom
  used in Scotland included elements from the arms of:

The Electorate of Hanover, (1801–1814)

The Kingdom of Hanover, (1814–1837)

• Following the accession of
  royal arms of the United Kingdom
  were adopted.

• 
  Arms of Scotland
• 
  Arms of England
• 
  Arms of France
• 
  Arms of the Dauphin of France
• 
  France and England quarterly
• 
  Arms of Ireland
• 
  Arms of the House of Orange-Nassau
• 
  Arms of the House of Hanover

Development

The development of the royal arms from 1214 to 1603:

Arms	Dates	Details
	1214-1249	Lion rampant on saddle and shield.
	Before 1558	A red lion, rampant, on a yellow field within a double royal tressure, flory counter-flory.
	1558	Mary, Queen of Scots, Dauphine of France, impaled with arms of Francis, Dauphin of France.[10]
	1558–1559	King consort of Scots.[10]
	1559	King consort of Scots, both halves incorporating the claim to the English throne made for a short time.[11]
	1559–1560	Mary, Queen of Scots and France[10]
	1560–1565	Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen dowager of France.[10]
	1565–1603	Upon her second marriage to King James VI was the last monarch of Scotland to use these arms before the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
	1603–1652 1660-1689	James VI quarted the Scottish arms with those of the kingdoms of England and Ireland after inheriting both in 1603. The arms were not used during the Commonwealth or the Protectorate, which existed in Scotland from 1654 to 1660 and during which the monarchy was abolished.
	1689–1694	In 1689 Mary II and her husband William III, who ruled as co-monarchs. They impaled their arms, which were identical except that William bore the arms with an inescutcheon of Nassau , the royal house to which he belonged: Azure billetty or, a lion rampant of the last armed and langued gules.
	1694–1702	After Mary II's death, William III used his arms alone.
	1702–1707	Anne used the 1603 version of the arms until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
For the later coats of arms of British monarchs, see Coat of arms of Great Britain and Coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

As a banner

Royal Banner of Scotland

Since the formation of the

use a logo based upon the royal arms).

Current uses

The royal arms in their current form were adopted on the accession of

motto In Defens appears as in the original arms, and the Latin motto of the Order of the Thistle, Nemo me impune lacessit, also appears on a blue scroll overlying the compartment. The Scottish unicorn and English lion hold lances flying the banners of St Andrew and St George, in imitation of the two unicorns in the original arms. The unicorn is placed in the dominant position on the dexter side, and the shield is encircled by the collar of the Order of the Thistle instead of the Garter.

The arms of the

.

The coat of arms of the Government of Gibraltar correspond to the British royal arms in that they also feature the Scottish arms in the second quarter of the shield and use the unicorn as the sinister supporter, with the Gibraltar's own coat of arms under the motto Dieu et mon droit.

The

correspond to the British royal arms in that they also feature the Scottish arms in the second quarter of the shield and use the unicorn as the sinister supporter. The Canadian version also mirrors the Scottish version in that each supporter not only supports the shield but also a lance displaying a flag.

Both the

also feature the Scottish arms on an inescutcheon).

The royal tressure appears on the arms of numerous Scottish families and institutions as a mark of royal favour, known in heraldry as an

.

The arms of the Archdiocese of Mechelen used to be the same as those of Scotland. They were quartered with the

The coat of arms of the town of Sankt Wendel in Saarland combines elements of the Scottish flag and the Scottish coat of arms. Four lilies, taken from the Scottish royal coat of arms, on a blue background, are reminiscent of Saint Wendelin. Legendary tradition describes him as a Scottish king's son. In 1465, the parish of St. Wendel sent two parishioners to Scotland to research the legend of Saint Wendelin's royal Scottish origins. After allegedly positive confirmation, the Scottish lion coat of arms was used in the seal of the parish of St. Wendel. The blue-silver/white flag of Sankt Wendel takes up the blue background of the coat of arms of the city and the silver/white of its lilies as well as the colors of the Scottish flag.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Arms of King Charles III used in Scotland	Arms of Prince William, Duke of Rothesay used in Scotland	Province of Nova Scotia	Arms of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels	Coat of arms of the Saarland town of Sankt Wendel in Germany

See also

• Honours of Scotland
• Scottish heraldry
• Court of the Lord Lyon
• Unicorn (coin)

References

External links

• Media related to Royal coats of arms of Scotland at Wikimedia Commons