Coronets And Steel

A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does not.

In other languages, this distinction is not made as usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of rank (german: Krone, nl, Kroon, sv, Krona, french: Couronne, etc.)

Today, its main use is not as a headgear (indeed, many people entitled to a coronet never have a physical one created), but as a rank symbol in heraldry, adorning a coat of arms.

Etymology

The word stems from the Old French ''coronete'', a diminutive of ''co(u)ronne'' ('crown'), itself from the Latin ''corona'' (also 'wreath') and from the Ancient Greek ''κορώνη'' (''korōnē''; 'garland' or 'wreath').

Traditionally, such headgear is used by nobles and by princes and princesses in their coats of arms, rather than by monarchs, for whom the word 'crown' is customarily reserved in English, while many languages have no such terminological distinction. As a coronet shows the rank of the respective noble, in the German and Scandinavian languages there is also the term ''rangkrone'' (literally 'rank crown').

Commonwealth usage

In the United Kingdom, a peer wears the coronet on one occasion only: for a royal coronation, when it is worn along with coronation robes, equally standardised as a luxurious uniform.

In the peerages of the United Kingdom, the design of a coronet shows the rank of its owner, as in German, French and various other heraldic traditions. Dukes were the first individuals authorised to wear coronets. Marquesses acquired coronets in the 15th century, earls in the 16th and viscounts and barons in the 17th. Until the barons received coronets in 1661, the coronets of earls, marquesses and dukes were engraved while those of viscounts were plain. After 1661, however, viscomital coronets became engraved, while baronial coronets were plain. Coronets may not bear any precious or semi-precious stones.Cox, Noel (1999)
"The Coronets of Members of the Royal Family and of the Peerage."
''The Double Tressure, the Journal of The Heraldry Society of Scotland''. No. 22, pp. 8–13. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.

Since a person entitled to wear a coronet customarily displays it in their coat of arms above the shield and below the helmet and crest, this can provide a useful clue as to the owner of a given coat of arms. In Canadian heraldry, descendants of the United Empire Loyalists are entitled to use a Loyalist military coronet (for descendants of members of Loyalist regiments) or Loyalist civil coronet (for others) in their arms.

Royal usage

Members of the British royal family often have coronets on their coats of arms, and may wear actual coronets at coronations (e.g., Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the 1937 coronation of their father as George VI). They were made, according to regulations made by King Charles II in 1661, shortly after his return from exile in France (getting a taste for its lavish court style; Louis XIV started monumental work at Versailles that year) during the Restoration. They vary depending on the prince's relationship to the monarch. Occasionally, additional royal warrants vary the designs for individuals. The most recent (and most comprehensive) royal warrant concerning coronets was the 19 November 1917 warrant of George V.1917 royal warrant
/ref>

The coronet of the heir apparent is distinctive in itself as it has a single arch with a globe and cross.

There is evidence to support the wearing of coronets amongst Welsh royalty and nobility, particularly in the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Llywelyn's coronet was for a while kept with the English crown jewels.

File:Crown of a British King of Arms.svg, English King of Arms
Image:Military Coronet of a Loyalist.svg, Loyalists military coronet (Canadian)
Image:Civil Coronet of a Loyalist.svg, Loyalists civil coronet (Canadian)

Municipal usage

Certain types of local government have special coronet types assigned to them.

Danish coronet rankings

File:Crown of a Prince of Denmark.svg, Non-hereditary prince or princess
File:T02 Danish Duke.svg, Duke
File:T03 Danish Marquis.svg, Marquis
File:T04 Danish Count.svg, Count
File:T05 Danish Baron.svg, Baron
File:T06 Danish Nobility.svg, Crown of Nobility

Spanish coronet rankings

All over the world, Spanish heraldry has used these crowns and coronets:

File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Infantes.svg, Infante or Infanta
( Prince or Princess)
File:Crown of Spanish Infantes for the Aragonese Terriories.svg, Infante or Infanta
(Variant for the Spanish territories of the former Crown of Aragon)
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Grandee.svg, Spanish Grandee
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Dukes (Variant 1).svg, Duke
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Marqueses (Variant 1).svg, Marquess
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Count.svg, Count
File:Heraldic Crown of the Spanish Viscounts.svg, Viscount
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Barons.svg, Baron
File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Lords.svg, Lord (señor)
File:Heraldic Crown of Hispanic Hidalgos.svg, Hidalgo (Spanish nobleman)
File:Heraldic Crown of a Spanish King of Arms.svg, Spanish Officer of Arms (Herald and Pursuivant / Persevante)

Swedish coronet rankings

File:Coronet of the Crown Prince of Sweden.svg, Heir Apparent
File:Coronet of a Swedish Duke.svg, Duke / Duchess
File:Grevlig rangkrona.svg, Count / Countess
File:Friherrlig rangkrona.svg, Baron / Baroness
File:Obetitlad adel.svg, Crown of Nobility

Former monarchies

Kingdom of France

The hierarchy among the French nobility, which was identical for non-royal titles to the British hierarchy of peers, should not be understood to be as rigid in the ranking of titleholders as the latter. In particular, a title was not a good indication of actual preeminence or precedence: ancestry, marriages, high office, military rank and the family's historical renown counted far more than the precise title. Some distinguished families held a title no higher than count or even baron, but were proud of their ancient origin. Moreover, most of the nobility was legally untitled. Some hereditary titles could be acquired by a nobleman who purchased a "titled" fief, while '' titres de courtoisie'' ('courtesy titles') were freely assumed in the absence of strict regulation by the French crown and became more numerous than titles legally borne. In the 17th and 18th centuries, people assumed and used freely coronets of ranks that they did not have; and, in the 19th and 20th centuries abuse was still made of 'courtesy titles'. Titles continued to be granted until the Second Empire fell in 1870, and legally survive among their descendants.

The only title that was never usurped under the'' ancien régime'', and rarely without some excuse afterwards, was the title of ''duc'', because it was so often attached to the rank peer of France, which carried specific legal prerogatives such as the right to a seat in the Parliament of Paris. As a result, the title of ''duc'' was actually, as well as nominally, at the top of the scale after the royal family and foreign princes, and a cut above all of the other nobility. During the ''ancien régime'', 'prince' was a rank, not a title, hence there was no coronet.

* Roi (sovereign): closed crown of fleurs-de-lis (the crown was open until the early 16th century)
* Dauphin (heir apparent): initially an open crown of fleurs-de-lis; starting with Henri IV's son (1601–10), the crown is closed with dolphins instead of arches
*Fils de France and Petit-fils de France (sons and grandsons of a sovereign): open coronet of fleurs-de-lis
* Prince du Sang (male-line descendants of a sovereign): originally an open coronet alternating fleurs-de-lis and acanthus leaves (called strawberry leaves in English blazon), but the open coronet of fleurs-de-lis was used in the 17th and 18th centuries
* Pair de France (peer of the realm): coronet of the title (usually duke) with a crimson velvet cap, a mantle ''armoyé'' (reproducing the arms) fringed with gold and lined with ermine
* Duc (duke): coronet of acanthus leaves
*Marquis (marquess): coronet of alternating acanthus leaves and groups of three pearls in trefoil (or two pearls side by side in some versions)
*Comte (count): coronet of pearls
* Vicomte (viscount): coronet of four large pearls (three visible) alternating with smaller pearls
* Vidame (peculiar French title, for protectors of the temporal estates of a bishopric): coronet of four crosses (three visible)
*Baron: helm of gold wreathed with a string of small pearls
* Chevalier (knight): helm of gold
* Ecuyer (squire): helm

File:Royal Crown of France.svg, Roi
File:Crown of the Dauphin of France.svg, Dauphin of France
File:Crown of a Royal Prince of the Blood of France.svg, Fils de France et Petit-Fils de France
File:Crown of a Prince of the Blood of France.svg, Prince du Sang
File:Crown of a Duke of France.svg, Duc (Peer)
File:Crown of a Duke of France (variant).svg, Duc
File:Crown of a Marquis of France.svg, Marquis (Peer)
File:Crown of a Marquis of France (variant).svg, Marquis
File:Crown of a Count of France.svg, Comte (Peer)
File:Crown of a Count of France (variant).svg, Comte
File:Old Crown of a Count (France & Belgium).svg, Comte (older variant)
File:Crown of a Viscount of France (variant).svg, Viscount
File:Crown of a Vidame of France.svg, Vidame
File:Crown of a Baron of France.svg, Baron
File:Crown of a Chevalier of France.svg, Chevalier

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire, and consequently its successor states (Austria, Germany and others), had a system very similar to that of the British, although the design varied.

*''Herzogskrone'': the coronet of a '' Herzog'' (duke) displays five visible leaves, with a crimson bonnet on top, surmounted by five visible arches and a ''globus cruciger''.
*''Fürstenkrone'': the coronet of a ''Fürst'' (prince) shows five visible leaves, with a crimson bonnet on top, surmounted by three visible arches and a ''globus cruciger''.
*''Landgrafenkrone'': the coronet of a '' Landgraf'' (landgrave) shows five visible leaves, surmounted by three visible arches and a ''globus cruciger''.
*''Grafenkrone'': the coronet of a '' Graf'' (count) displays nine visible tines with pearls. Some of the senior comital houses used coronets showing five leaves and four pearls (some mediatized counties and minor principalities had other types of coronets that distinguished them from regular counts).
*''Freiherrnkrone'': the coronet of a '' Freiherr'' (baron) shows seven visible tines with pearls.
*''Adelskrone'': the coronet of '' Adel'' members (untitled nobility) displays five visible tines with pearls. Sometimes, the central and outer tines are leaves and the other tines are headed by pearls. In the southern states of Bavaria and Württemberg, usually all tines are headed by pearls.

File:T09 Herzog.svg, ''Herzogskrone''
File:T12 Fürst.svg, ''Fürstenkrone''
File:T10 Landgraf.svg, ''Landgrafenkrone''
File:Rangkronen-Fig. 18.svg, ''Grafenkrone''
File:Rangkronen-Fig. 27.svg, ''Freiherrnkrone''
File:Rangkronen-Fig. 37.svg, ''Adelskrone''

Considering the religious nature of the Holy Roman Empire, one can say that, except for the short-lived Napoleonic states, no continental secular system of heraldry historically was so neatly regulated as under the British crown. Still, there are often traditions (often connected to the Holy Roman Empire, ''e.g.'', those in Sweden, Denmark or Russia) that include the use of crown and coronets. While most languages do not have a specific term for coronets, but simply use the word meaning ''crown'', it is possible to determine which of those crowns are for peerage or lower-level use, and thus can by analogy be called coronets.

Precisely because there are many traditions and more variation within some of these, there is a plethora of continental coronet types. Indeed, there are also some coronets for positions that do not exist or entitle one to a coronet in the Commonwealth tradition. Such a case in French (''ancien'', ''i.e.'', royal era) heraldry, where coronets of rank did not come into use before the 16th century, is the vidame, whos
coronet (illustrated)
is a metal circle mounted with three visible crosses (there is no documentary or archeological evidence that such a coronet was ever made).

Often, coronets are substituted by helmets, or only worn on a helmet.

Kingdom of Portugal coronet rankings

These coronets and crowns were used in Portuguese heraldry:

File:Heraldic Royal Crown of Portugal - Eight Arches.svg, Royal Crown of Portugal
File:Crown of the Heir Apparent of the Kingdom of Portugal.svg, Prince (Heir Apparent)
File:Crown of the Prince of Beira.svg, Prince of Beira
(Heir Apparent's eldest son)
File:Coronet of an Infante - Kingdom of Portugal.svg, Infante (Prince)
File:Coronet of a Duke - Kingdom of Portugal.svg, Duke
File:Coronet of a Marquess - Kingdom of Portugal.svg, Marquis
File:Coronet of Count - Portugal.svg, Count
File:Coronet of a Viscount - Kingdom of Portugal.svg, Viscount
File:Coronet of Baron - Portugal.svg, Baron
File:Coronet of Knight - Portugal.svg, Knight / '' Fidalgo''

See also

* Polos
* Corolla (headgear)
* Tiara
* Crown (heraldry)
* Phra kiao

References

Sources and external links

The Coronets of Members of the Royal Family and of the PeerageHeraldica.org French heraldry
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110809182337/http://www.clanjohnstone.org/AnnandalePeerageCase.html Illustration of the coat of arms of the Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, showing the design of coronetbr>The Crowns, Coronets and Crests of the Ladies and Knights of the Garter

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Crowns (headgear)
Formal insignia
Monarchy
Regalia
State ritual and ceremonies
Types of jewellery
Crowns in heraldry