I came across these arms of the Kings of the Hellenes (Greece) the other day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RoyGrec.png
I thought the escutcheon upon escutcheon upon escutcheon was pretty crazy. I think I count 14 arms represented all together.
Interestingly, I believe these arms would have been inherited by Prince Philip, although I understand he uses arms issued by the College of Arms.
arriano wrote:
I thought the escutcheon upon escutcheon upon escutcheon was pretty crazy.
Very pretentious, aren’t they?
The smaller escutcheon represents the Royal Arms of Denmark, which contributed the first king in the mid-1800s.
There is a distinction made between the arms of dominion and royal arms in the scandinavian countries, with the royal arms bearing the arms of all the lesser included titles of the monarch, IIRC.
As Prince Philip was a Prince of Greece and Denmark, he still bears quarters for both of those countries in his arms. The second quarter of his arms represent Greece and the first quarter comes from Denmark. The third and fourth are Mountbatten and Edinburgh, I believe.
The first Greek king of the modern era was not Danish, but Bavarian. Otto became king in 1832 at the Convention of London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_of_Greece
I have been told that the Greeks’ blue and white came from the Bavarian "Weissblau" on the Bavaian coat of arms, Paly Bendy Argent and Azure (or vice versa it is different in each emblazonment, and i do not know which color is actually listed first, although the Bavarians themselves call their flag the "Weissblau.")
Well, I stand corrected.
Hugh Brady was, however, correct about the arms. The arms of the Kings of the Hellenes of the Glücksburg dynasty, which are the ones to which Arriano has linked, do indeed include the Royal Arms of Denmark, as they appeared from 1819 to 1908. The various quarters reflect the (then) dominions and/or titles of the King of Denmark (the ones did not necessarily correspond to the others). They have been revised a number of times through the history, most recently in 1972 on the accession of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II, who adopted a much simplified version of the arms.
The reason the arms of Denmark appear in the Royal Arms of Greece is of course that Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, younger son of King Christian IX, was (s)elected King of the Hellenes in 1863, following the ouster of King Otto. The Princes and Princesses of the Greek Royal House (of Glücksburg) still carry the title of Prince of Denmark but are no longer in the line of succession to the Danish Throne.
Indeed, the present Duke of Edinburgh, before his marriage to the then Princess Elizabeth, was a Prince of Greece and Denmark. He did actually, at least at the beginning of his marriage, use a version of the Royal Arms of Greece, differenced with he arms of Princess Alice, second daughter of Queeen Victoria (the Royal Arms of Great Britain, differenced by a label of three points argent, the centre point charged with a rose gules and each of the others charged with an ermine spot sable). The arms of Princess Alice are also included in a similar way in the arms of Mountbatten, to which they are presumably meant to refer in the former arms of the Duke of Edinburgh. These were the arms that the Duke used, when he was made a Knight of the Danish Order of the Elephant in 1947 (I have a photo of these arms, but am apparently not able to upload it) – but I believe that he changed them to his present arms one or two years later, still carrying references to Denmark, Greece and Mountbatten but in a manner that is probably heraldically fore fortunate.
I believe that the Royal arms of England differenced by a label are included in the Mountbatten arms not because of the the Duke of Edinburgh but because of the marriage of the Princess to the Marquis of Milford Haven whose name was Battenburg and changed during WWI to Mountbatten. See these arms of the late Earl Mountbatten of Burma:
http://excoboard.com/forums/18883/user/133625/194748.gif
Prince Philip indeed did use the complicated arms but found it far too complicated so when he was created Duke of Edinburgh the College of Arms created a simpler version of his own arms which he uses to this day.
http://excoboard.com/forums/18883/user/133625/194751.jpg
His original arms (as of May 11, 1948 ) were blazoned as:
Azure: a cross Argent superimposed by the Royal Arms of Denmark viz . quarterly, 1st Or, seme of hearts Gules, three lions passant in pale Azure, ducally crowned of the field—for Denmark; 2nd Or, two lions passant in pale Azure—for Schleswig; 3rd per fess, in chief Azure three ducal crowns Or—for Scandinavia, in base to the dexter Gules a stockfish Argent ducally crowned Or—for Iceland, to the sinister per fess in chief Azure a ram passant Argent—for Faroe Islands, in base Azure a bear sejant Argent—for Greenland; 4th per fess, in chief Or a lion passant Azure above nine hearts four three and two Gules—for Gothland, in base Gules a wyvern passant ducally crowned Or—for Wenden; over the four quarters and separating them a cross pattee throughout Argent fimbriated Gules being the cross of the Danebrog, the cross superimposed by an (in)escutcheon quarterly; 1st Gules, and (in)escutcheon per fess Argent and of the fiels betweent three passion nails in pairle points to the centre and as many nettle leaves alternately of the second—for Holstein; 2nd Gules, a swan wings elevated Argent ducally gorged Or—for Stormarn; 3rd Gules, a knight in armour upon a white horse forcene grasping in his dexter hand a sword all proper—for Ditmarsches; 4th Gules, a horse’s head couped Or—for Lauenburg; over all an inescutcheon en surtout Or two bars Gules—for Oldenburg, impaling Azure a cross pattee humettee Or—for Delmenhorst; the foregoing charged in the dexter chief point with an (in)escutcheon of Her late Royal Highness Princess Alice Maud Mary Grand Duchess of Hess, viz . quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules, three lions passant guardant Or; 2nd Or, a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counter flory of the second; 3rd Azure, a harp Or stringed Argent; over all a label of three points Argent, the centre point charged with an Imperial crown proper and the two outer points charged with a spot of Ermine Sable.
Someone with nothing to do some rainy day should draw that!
gselvester wrote:
I believe that the Royal arms of England differenced by a label are included in the Mountbatten arms not because of the the Duke of Edinburgh but because of the marriage of the Princess to the Marquess of Milford Haven whose name was Battenburg and changed during WWI to Mountbatten.
This was precisely my point (if less well expressed): that Prince Philip included the arms of Princess Alice to show his descent from her, in the same way that the Mountbattens show the same descent.
Princess Alice, by the way, married the Grand Duke Louis of Hesse, and it was their daughter, Victoria, who married Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg, the later 1st Marquess of Milford Haven. Their daughter, also named Alice, the sister of Lord Louis Mountbatten, later the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and the two became the parents of Prince Philip.
The shield of Prince Philip’s former coat of arms display the Royal Arms of Greece, as shown in the link provided by Arriano, with the arms of Princess Alice on an inescutcheon in dexter chief point as mentioned. Crest (reflecting Battenberg/Mountbatten) and supporters (reflecting both Greece and Battenberg/Mountbatten, with naval crown added) are unchanged in the current arms. As mentioned, I have a photograph of the former arms, and If anyone is able to upload it, I am pleased to provide it (as a guest, I believe that I am not able to do it directly).
I rather like all of the designs I’ve seen here and the one at wicki.
Good Father, why is the escutcheon so high up on the earl’s design? Was this artistic license, or was there some heraldic reason for this. I thought that an escutcheon was placed in the middle and that subsequent escutcheons were placed above, below and to the sides of the middle one. Where did I go wrong?
Does anyone perhaps have an image of the arms HRH The Duke of Edinburgh previously used?
