An Act of Parliament to establish a College of Arms, to

provide for the grant of arms and the registration of

such grants, and to prohibit the misuse of arms which

have been granted.

Short title.  1.  This Act may be cited as the College of Arms Act.

2.  In this Act -

"arms"  means any coat of arms, crest, seal or other

armorial bearing, other than a specified emblem;

"the College of Arms" means the College of Arms estab-

lished by section 3 of this Act;

"design"  in relation to arms, means the design of the arms and the

nature of any device thereon and any words or signs written thereon;

"specified emblem"  has the meaning assigned to it in the National

Flag, Emblems and Names Act.

3. (1)  There is hereby established a college of arms, to be known as

the College of Arms, which shall consist of -

(a)      the Minister, or the person deputised by him, who shall be the

chairman;

(b)      three persons appointed by the Minister.

(2)      A quorum of the College of Arms shall be three.

(3)      The College of Arms may regulate its own procedure.

(4)      The College of Arms shall have a Registrar, who shall be the

Registrar-General, or a person deputed by him in that behalf.

4. (1) Any person who desires a grant of arms may apply therefore to

the College, submitting full particulars of the design of the arms

applied for, together with the prescribed fee and such further sum as

the College of Arms may stipulate on account of the expense it may

incur in connection with the application.

(2) The College of Arms shall consider any application for a grant of

arms which it receives, and may consult any other person or institution

for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the merit of the application

and may employ any person to render services.

(3) In considering an application for a grant of arms, the College of

Arms shall take into consideration the following matters -

(a)      the propriety of the design;

(b)      whether the design resembles that of any other arms   registered

under this Act or granted by authority in another country or a

specified emblem; and

(c)      whether the design accords with the principles of heraldry and is

of sufficient artistic merit to warrant a grant of arms.

5. (1) The College of Arms may make a grant of arms on application

being made to it under section 4 of this Act, if it is off the opinion

that it is a roper case for a grant.

(2) Before making a grant of arms, the College of Arms shall

ascertain the expenses incurred by it in connexion with the

application, and shall -

(a)      refund to the applicant the unexpended balance of any sum collected

from him under section 4 (1) of this Act; or

(b)      collect from the applicant the remaining balance of its expenses in

connection with the application,

as the case may be.

6. (1)  After making a grant of arms, the College of Arms shall

deliver it to the registrar of the College for registration, and the

registrar shall register it and deliver it to the applicant.

(2) Any person who has received a grant of arms from the proper

authority in another country may apply to the registrar for its

registration, and the registrar, if he is satisfied that the arms do

not resemble any other arms registered under this Act so as to be

likely to mislead, may register the grant accordingly.

(3) When registering a grant of arms under this section, the

registrar shall file a copy of the grant in the register, and that copy

shall form part of the register.

7. (1)  Where arms have been registered under this Act, no person

other than the grantee or his heirs shall display or otherwise use

those arms except with the license in writing of the grantee.

(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section

shall be guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding

five thousand shillings.

8. (1)      Those parts of the register which purport to be copies of grants

of arms shall in all legal proceedings be presumed to be true copies of

those grants until the contrary is proved.

(2) An extract from the register kept under this Act, or a copy of

any part of the register, which purports to be certified under the hand

of the registrar to be a true extract or copy shall in all legal

proceedings be admissible as prima facie evidence of the contents of

the register.

(3) A certificate purporting to be given under the hand of the

registrar that particular arms are registered, or that they are not

registered, shall in all legal proceedings be evidence that the arms

are registered, or are not registered, as the case may be, until the

contrary is proved.

(4) The registrar shall not, in any legal proceedings to which he is

not a party, be compellable -

(a)      to produce any document the contents of which can be proved under

subsection (1) of this section; or

(b)      to appear as a witness to prove the matters recorded in the

register,

unless the court for special cause otherwise orders.

9. The Minister may make rules for the better carrying out of the