The coat of arms of England is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England, and now used to symbolise England generally. The arms were adopted 1200 by the Plantagenet kings and continued to be used by successive English and British monarchs; they are currently quartered with the arms of Scotland and Ireland in the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Historically they were also quartered with the arms of France, representing the English claim to the French throne, and Hanover.
The arms continue to be used in heraldry to represent England, for example in the arms of Canada, although they rarely appear in isolation in royal or government contexts. They have also been adapted by English sporting bodies, forming the basis of the coat of arms of the Football Association, the logo of the England and Wales Cricket Board, England Hockey and England Boxing.
Description
thumb|right|upright|The original royal crest as introduced by Edward III, borne upon a chapeau and with a red mantling lined in [[Ermine (heraldry)|ermine. The steel helm has gold embellishments.]]
The arms have a red background, on which are three gold lions with blue claws and tongues. The lions are depicted striding dexter (heraldic right), with their right front paw raised and their heads turned to face the viewer. The blazon, or formal heraldic description, is Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure. The lions passant guardant were historically referred to as leopards, but this refers to their pose rather than species.
During the existence of the Kingdom of England the arms were usually depicted as part of a full heraldic achievement, the appearance of which has varied over the centuries.
The first example of a crest on the royal arms was on Edward III's third great seal, which shows a helm above the arms, on which is a crowned gold lion standing upon a chapeau. The design has varied little since, and took on its present form in the reign of Henry VIII. At the same time the decorative mantling, which was originally red cloth lined with ermine, was altered to cloth of gold lined with ermine. The supporters became more consistent under the Tudors, and by the reign of Elizabeth I were usually a red Welsh dragon and a gold lion.) and Danes and re-interpreted in a Christian context in the western kingdoms of Gaul and Northern Italy (around the 6th and 7th centuries), as well as by the Normans. Later, during the reign of the Plantagenets (specifically around the end of the 12th century), a formal and consistent English heraldry system emerged.
The blazon of the Plantagenet royal arms is: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langued azure, signifying three identical gold lions (also known as leopards) with blue tongues and claws, walking past but facing the observer, arranged in a column on a red background. Although the tincture azure of tongue and claws is not cited in many blazons, they are historically a distinguishing feature of the arms of England. This coat, designed in the High Middle Ages, has been variously combined with those of the Kings of France, Scotland, a symbol of Ireland, the House of Nassau and the Kingdom of Hanover, according to dynastic and other political changes occurring in England, but has not altered since it took a fixed form in the reign of Richard I of England (1189–1199), the second Plantagenet king.
The earliest surviving representation of an escutcheon, or shield, displaying three lions is that on the Great Seal of King Richard I (1189–1199), which initially displayed one or two lions rampant, but in 1198 was permanently altered to depict three lions passant.
thumb|left|Second [[Great Seal of the Realm|seal of Richard I, c.1197-1199, note the three lions passant-guardant upon the shield. The crest of a lion also mounts his enclosed helmet.]]
Much later antiquarians would retrospectively invent attributed arms for earlier kings, but their reigns pre-dated the systematisation of hereditary English heraldry that only occurred in the second half of the 12th century. while the eldest son, Henry II (1133–1189) used a lion as his emblem, and based on the arms used by his sons and other relatives, he may have used a coat of arms with a single lion or two lions, though no direct testimony of this has been found.
In 1340, following the extinction of the House of Capet, Edward III claimed the French throne. In addition to initiating the Hundred Years' War, Edward III expressed his claim in heraldic form by quartering the royal arms of England with the arms of France. This quartering continued until 1801, with intervals in 1360–1369 and 1420–1422. As a consequence, the royal arms of England and Scotland were combined in the king's new personal arms. Nevertheless, although referencing the personal union with Scotland and Ireland, the royal arms of England remained distinct from the royal arms of Scotland, until the two realms were joined in a political union in 1707, leading to a unified royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
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| 100px|center||1198–1340<br/>1360–1369||The arms on the second Great Seal of Richard I, used by his successors until 1340: Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or.
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| 100px|centre||1558–1603||Elizabeth I restored the arms of Henry IV. the Banner of the Royal Arms, or by the misnomer the Royal Standard of England.