The Kingdom of Great Britain has a special relationship with heraldry. For example, the capital of a state does not have its own official symbol, unlike the historical and business center of the City and other counties that make up it. Or the so-called coat of arms of Wales, which is not a national coat of arms in the literal sense, but is considered a royal sign.
Wealth and splendor
These are the associations that the royal sign of Wales evokes, thanks to its numerous symbols and color palette. Three primary colors are present on the heraldic symbol - red, gold, emerald.
In addition to them, there are other colors, and they are very rarely used for images of coats of arms and emblems, for example, purple or dark pink. The royal insignia of this region of Great Britain has a very complex compositional structure, several important parts can be distinguished:
- a shield cut into four parts;
- a green ribbon with a motto bordering the shield;
- the crown of St. Edward;
- a kind of wreath of plants known in the English heraldic tradition.
In turn, each of the parts has its own symbolic images. For example, there is a walking lion in each of the four fields of the shield. In the red field, the lion is gold, in gold, respectively, red. Claws and tongues of animals are painted in azure. The motto is written on the emerald ribbon, in its capacity is a line from the anthem of Wales, the main meaning of the inscription is “loyalty to your country”.
The crown is a symbol of the monarchy
The official sign of Wales is crowned with the crown, the symbol of the headdress used in the coronation of new English monarchs. The crown of St. Edward was created in 1661, especially for Charles II.
There is a version that it received such a name, because for the creation they used gold from an older royal headdress, namely the crown of Edward the Confessor. He was revered as a saint, ruled England in the XI century.
Heraldic flora
A rather unusual wreath surrounds the shield on the royal insignia of Wales. But everything becomes much clearer if you know the symbolic connections of the constituent parts of Great Britain with plants.
The wreath contains a thistle that is associated with Scotland. The green shamrock is the world's most famous symbol that unambiguously points to Ireland. The Tudor double rose is, of course, England. Perhaps the funniest thing about this "bouquet" is the symbol of Wales itself - this is the leek.
