KING ALFONSO XIII In most cases, after the medieval period, it can be seen that even in the face of the most violent upheavals there is a deep-rooted desire to maintain some degree of continuity in the Armorial display of the State. There is also a desire to indicate the full extent of that state and to show this a sovereign may include quarterings for all those States which he claims to represent. Quarterings may also be introduced for reasons connected solely with his House. We have already observed the practice adopted by some sovereigns of placing the Arms of their house on a smaller shield ( an escutcheon ) upon the Arms of their State. A glance at the...
SWEDEN NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS The Swedish people renounced their allegiance to King Erik of Pomerania in 1436, as a result a new State Seal was required. The Seal decided upon depicted the patron saint of Sweden, St. Erik, wearing body armor with an open crown on his head; his left hand supports a shield charged with three crowns arranged two above one.The motto around the Seal reads Sanctus Ericus svevorum gothorum rex Sigillum Regnier Svecia “ Eric the Saint, Swedes and Geats King Svea Reich sea “, and this makes it very clear that these are the Arms of Sweden only. They have finally been accepted to represent the country. In 1446 King Karl Knutsson Bonde ( image left...
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...
