Up until the end of the 13th century the arms used by the Swedish rulers, those of Knutt the Tall and the Folkunga dynasty were of Swedish origin and were family Coat of Arms converted through regal and official use into the Arms of the State. A different situation arose in 1363 when Duke Albrecht I of Mecklenburg ( left with his son ), who had married a sister of Magnus Eriksson, attacked his brother in law and the next year secured the proclamation of his own son as King of Sweden. The choice of what Arms to bear as king of Sweden was one fraught with difficulty. Although he had a claim on the Folkunga Arms through his mother,...
COAT OF ARMS OF THE PRINCIPALITIES OF EUROPE Arms of the United Kingdom admirably illustrates the way in which National Arms can reflect territorial representation in addition to showing the effects of changes both in dynasty and regime. The Royal Arms of Sweden illustrate the subject in an even clearer light. Sweden has had more changes in dynasty than most and the stages are clearly indicated in its Arms.The seal of King Erik Knutsson ( 1208 – 16) presents heraldic decoration in the form of two crowned leopards facing each other, but are probably not intended as real heraldic charges; no arms are known for him or for his successor John Sverkersson, who was succeeded in 1222 by the six...
QUEEN ANNE Queen Anne succeeded to the throne upon the death of William II in 1702. She bore the Arms of her father James II. Within a few years of her accession to the throne the Union with Scotland in 1707 enacted a constitutional change which in turn required a change to the Royal Arms. Remarshalling the contents of the shield indicated the change. These then continued to display four quarters, but the first and fourth quarters now bore the impaled Arms of England and Scotland, France was relegated to the second quarter, and the third quarter remained as before containing the Harp of Ireland.In 1714 the House of Hanover , in the person of George I, succeeded to the...
NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS IRELAND National Arms, or Arms of Sovereignty and Dominion as they are correctly known, differ from other armorial bearings in many respects, and their precise significance should be kept carefully in mind. National Coats of Arms stand, not for any particular area of land, but for the intangible sovereignty vested in the rulers of the land. They properly belong to kingdoms and states and are annexed, as it were, to these but are borne by their representative rulers or heads of state. They are ensigns of public authority and they are not hereditary. They pass by conquest. If a subject should ascend a throne, he would customarily lay aside those arms that had previously been his...
