Crown and coronets
A crown or coronet above a shield shows rank. The royal crown has arches, an orb and a cross; the coronets of British peers are told apart by the strawberry leaves and silver balls, or pearls, on their rims.
Meaning
In heraldry a coronet set above the shield shows that the bearer is a peer, and of what rank: the Court of the Lord Lyon’s guide puts it simply, “The rank of a Peer is shown by the Coronet”. The coronets of the peerage have a post-medieval form, Oswald Barron wrote in 1911: silver-gilt, without jewels, on a cap of crimson velvet turned up with ermine, with a gold tassel. The arches of a crown are a separate matter: Fox-Davies notes they were taken as the mark of independent sovereignty.
Origin and history
Charles Boutell traced the English crown through the royal effigies. Until Henry IV it was a jewelled gold circlet set with stylised strawberry leaves; Henry IV’s effigy at Canterbury shows fleurs-de-lis alternating with the leaves. From Henry V the circlet carries four crosses patée and four fleurs-de-lis, and Henry V was the first to arch it with jewelled bands, with an orb and cross where they meet. Coronets of rank came in from about the middle of the fourteenth century, Boutell says, without marks of grade at first; the viscount’s coronet, he notes, was granted by James I.
The coronets of the peerage
Barron’s list of 1911:
| Rank | Coronet |
|---|---|
| Duke | Eight gold strawberry leaves |
| Marquess | Four gold strawberry leaves and four silver balls |
| Earl | Eight silver balls on points, with gold strawberry leaves between them |
| Viscount | Sixteen silver balls on the circle |
| Baron | Six silver balls |
Barron calls the balls silver; Boutell calls them pearls, and gives the viscount a row of sixteen small pearls.
The Canadian Royal Crown
The Canadian Royal Crown, the Canadian Heraldic Authority says, is a heraldic emblem and not a physical object; the King approved its design in April 2023. It keeps the arches and the red cap lined with ermine of other heraldic royal crowns and adds maple leaves and a stylised snowflake, for Canada’s place in the north. Each new use of it needs the King’s permission.
On the crown’s rim
The flower on the crown’s rim, introduced by Henry IV, has its own page: Fleur-de-lis.
Read next
- Next in HeraldryCoat of armsWhat people call a coat of arms is properly an achievement: a shield of arms with a helmet, mantling, a wreath and a crest above it, and sometimes supporters, a motto and a compartment. The shield is the essential part; the rest are accessories.
- The same shape in Adinkra symbolsAkoma NtosoAkoma Ntoso, “linked hearts”, is the adinkra symbol of understanding and agreement.
See also
Fleur-de-lis, Family crest, Tinctures (heraldic colours), Ordinaries, Marks of cadency, Crosses in heraldry.
Sources
- The Handbook to English Heraldry, Charles Boutell, 11th edition, revised by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, 1914 (Project Gutenberg ebook 23186), Reeves & Turner, via Project Gutenberg, Chapter XVIII, The Crown; Chapter X, Glossary: Coronet, Duke, Earl, Marquess, Viscount
- Heraldry (1911 Encyclopædia Britannica), Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition (1911), vol. 13, article by Oswald Barron, Encyclopædia Britannica, via Wikisource, Coronets of Rank
- A Complete Guide to Heraldry, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, 1909 (Project Gutenberg ebook 41617), T. C. & E. C. Jack, via Project Gutenberg, Chapter XXII, Crowns and Coronets: the crown of Scotland
- Blazoning: the language of heraldry, Educational sheet, Court of the Lord Lyon, Helm, crest, torse and mantling
- Royal Crown, Royal and Viceregal Emblems, The Governor General of Canada (Canadian Heraldic Authority), page text
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from circles or crosses.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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