thumb|right|The British [[Imperial State Crown viewed from the side with the front facing left (the Black Prince's Ruby, and the Cullinan II are just visible in profile).]]
An imperial crown is a crown worn by an emperor. In the European cultural area, it also symbolizes the power of the empire in heraldic depictions. The craftsmanship corresponded to the king's crown, with precious stones and pearls set into the precious metal frame for decoration. Their external form differed from crowns of the same period and the same reign. The use of Christian symbols to emphasize the divine rule of the emperor is the reason for the deviation.
In East Asia, there are several types of crowns worn by emperors, depending on the ritual or ceremony. Typical examples are the Chinese mianguan and the Japanese benkan. In external form, they are characterized by chains that hide the emperor's face.
Design
Crowns in Europe during the Middle Ages varied in design:
During the Middle Ages the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed (or arched) and open designs. This was in contrast with kings of France who always wore an open crown. However, there is academic debate on how often closed crowns were used in England during this period, as the first unequivocal use of the closed crown was by Henry IV of England at his coronation on 13 October 1399. However his effigy on his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral wears an open crown, so the link in England between the style of the crown and its representation as that worn by a king and an emperor was not established. The use of a closed crown may have been adopted by the English as a way of distinguishing the English crown from the French crown, but it also had other meanings to some. For example, Henry V of England wore a helmet-crown of the arched type at the Battle of Agincourt which the French knight St. Remy commented was "like the imperial crown".
The association of the closed crown with imperial crowns was already established in Continental Europe by the late 14th century, for example the florins minted for Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor) sometimes show him with a closed crown (though on the commoner variety, the crown is open). A miniature picture in the Chronica Aulae Regiae written in the great abbey outside Prague depicts his mother Elizabeth, a queen of Bohemia, wearing an open crown, while his two wives, who had imperial titles, have closed ones.
During the machinations that surrounded the introduction of the imperial crown under Henry VIII (see the section below Legal usage), the closed crown, became associated as a symbolic representation of the English Crown as an imperial crown, and has remained so until this day.
Types of imperial crowns
Roman imperial crowns
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File:Museum of Anatolian Civilizations118.jpg|A mixed type between Diadem and laurel wreath from Anatolia
File:ProbusCoin.jpg|Depiction of the corona radiata or "radiant crown" associated with the cult of Sol Invictus (late 3rd century; Marcus Aurelius Probus).
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Byzantine imperial crowns
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File:Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna 004.jpg|Emperor Justinian with a stemma
File:Monomacho's crown - circa 1042 Budapest.JPG|Crown of Constantine IX.
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Imperial crowns with mitre
thumb|Emperor Maximilian I wearing a crown with [[mitre]]
Imperial crowns with single arch and deployable mitre
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File:Weltliche Schatzkammer Wien (190)2.JPG|Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire - coronation crown of Holy Roman Emperors-elect, the German Kings.
File:Aachen Domschatz Bueste1.jpg|Imperial crown on the head of the Charlemagne reliquary in Aachen
File:Kaiserliche Hauskronen Karls VII. - Augsburger Krone von rechts.jpg|The larger of the Imperial Crowns of Charles VII, made in Augsburg
File:Kaiserliche Hauskronen Karls VII. - Frankfurter Krone von rechts.jpg|The smaller of the Imperial Crowns of Charles VII, made in Frankfurt
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Imperial crowns with single arch and attached mitre
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File:Ströhl - Kaiserkrone Friedrichs III.png|Personal Crown of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III depicted on his tomb.
File:Weltliche Schatzkammer Wien white.jpg|Personal Imperial Crown made for Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, later Imperial Crown of Austria.
File:Ströhl-Regentenkronen-Fig. 03.png|Imperial Crown of Russia — coronation crown of the Russian Tsars/Emperors.
File:Anna of Russia's crown (1730, Kremlin museum) by shakko 04blackened.jpg|Crown of Anna of Russia
File:Entwurf einer Mitrenkrone für Christian IV. von Dänemark (1594).png|Never realized design for Christian IV of Denmark, 1594
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Imperial crowns with high arches
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File:Albrecht Dürer 082.jpg|Dürer's portrait of Emperor Sigismund
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Ottoman imperial crowns
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File:Suleiman Agostino.JPG|Süleyman the Magnificent's Venetian Helmet (likely destroyed)
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Prussian-German imperial crowns
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File:Krone des Preußisch-Deutschen Kaisers (Modell-von-1872).png|German State Crown, wooden model, 1872
File:Krone der Preußisch-Deutschen Kaiserin (Modell-von-1872).png|Empress Crown, wooden model, 1872
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Napoleonic imperial crowns
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File:Crown of Napoleon I.png|Imperial Crown of Napoleon Bonaparte, called the "Crown of Charlemagne"
File:Napoléon-téte-couronnée-Jacques-Louis-David.jpg|Napoleon Bonaparte with the Laurels crown (destroyed in 1819)
File:Baron François Gérard - Joséphine in coronation costume - Google Art Project.jpg|Empress Josephine with empress crowns (destroyed in 1819)
File:Imperial Crown of Napoleon III. (Reproduction by Abeler, Wuppertal).png|Crown of Napoleon III (destroyed in 1871); reproduction displayed at the Abeler collection of crowns and regalia in Wuppertal
File:Crown of Empress Eugenie.png|Crown of Empress Eugénie (damaged in 2025)
File:Imperial Crown of Mexico.svg|Imperial Crown of Mexico, Second Empire, partially modeled on French versions of Napoleon III’s crown and the Crown of Empress Eugénie, as sponsors
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Imperial crowns based on the design of European royal crowns
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File:Emperatriz Ana Maria by Josephus Arias Huerta.jpg|Empress Ana Maria of Mexico with the Crown of the First Mexican Empire
File:Coroa Pedro I 04.jpg|Brazilian Imperial Crown of Pedro I
File:Coroa Imperial do Brasil.jpg|Brazilian Imperial Crown of Pedro II
File:ImperialMexicanCrown1.jpg|Design of the Imperial Crown of Mexico seen in paintings of Maximilian I of Mexico during the Second Mexican Empire
File:ImperialCrownOfIndia2.jpg|Imperial Crown of India — the Imperial Crown worn by King George V at the Delhi Durbar in 1911.
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Other imperial crowns without European origin or influence
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File:Ethiopian Crown - Treasury Of The Chapel Of The Tablet (2852269410).jpg|Imperial Ethiopian crown
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Imperial Crowns of Iran
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File:Výstava valtice7.jpg|Kiani Crown, Imperial Crown in of the Qajar dynasty (1789–1925)
File:Pahlavi Crown.jpg|Pahlavi Crown, Imperial Crown of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)
File:Imperial Empress Crown 2.png|Empress's Crown, Imperial Crown of Empress Consort Farah Pahlavi
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Imperial Crowns of China
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Portrait de Song Xuanzu.jpg|Imperial Crown for Ceremonial Use by Emperor Xuanzu of the Song Dynasty, China
File:B Song Dynasty Empress of Qinzong.JPG|The ceremonial Fengguan of Empress Renhuai of the Song Dynasty, China
File:Ming dynasty emperor wearing Pibian and Bianfu (皮弁服).jpg|The ceremonial imperial crown used by Ming Dynasty emperors during court assemblies, China
File:Chinese Imperial Mian, Dingling.jpg|Ming Dynasty Emperor Imperial Crown for full ceremonial dress, China
File:Golden Crown Replica of King Wanli.jpg|Ming Dynasty Emperor Gold Funeral Crown, China
File:Ming Black Gauze Cap (9886660863).jpg|Crowns used daily by Ming Dynasty emperors, China
File:Ming Dynasty phoenix crown .jpg|Ming Dynasty Empress Fengguan, China
File:Young Kangxi.jpg|Kangxi Emperor of Qing dynasty wearing Imperial Crown, China
File:Imperial Crown of the Empire of China.jpg|Imperial Crown of the Empire of China — worn by Yuan Shikai when he proclaimed himself emperor in 1915.
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Other Imperial Crowns of Chinese Origin or Influence
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File:Benkan Kōmei Tennō.jpg|Imperial Crown of Japanese Emperor Kōmei, 19th century
File:Korea-Portrait of Emperor Gojong-01.jpg|Emperor Gojong of Korean Empire wearing Imperial Crown
File:Muxungthien1.JPG|Vietnamese Nguyen dynasty Imperial Crown
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Heraldic imperial crowns
A list of prominent examples of depictions of imperial crowns displayed atop heraldic achievements or as heraldic charge includes:
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Heraldic Imperial Crown (Oldest design).svg|Holy Roman Empire<br />Older design<br />(with high arches)
Heraldic Imperial Crown (Gules Mitre).svg|Holy Roman Empire<br />Modern design<br />(with an arch and mitre)<br /><small>Often considered as the generic design of the imperial crowns</small>
Corona_imperial_2.svg |Holy Roman Empire, variant especially common in the Spanish heraldic tradition
Heraldic Imperial Crown of Russia.svg|Russian Empire
Imperial Crown of Austria (Heraldry).svg|Austrian Empire
Imperial Crown of Ethiopia.svg|Ethiopian Empire
Kiani Crown of Imperial Iran (heraldry).svg|Iran (Qajar)
File:Pahlavi Crown of Imperial Iran (heraldry).svg|Iran (Pahlavi)
Heraldic Crown of the First French Empire.svg|First French Empire
Imperial Crown of Napoleon.svg|Second French Empire
Imperial Crown Brazil.svg|Brazilian Empire
Crown of Mexico (I).svg|First Mexican Empire
Imperial Crown of Mexico.svg|Second Mexican Empire
State Crown of the German Empire.svg|German Empire<br /><small>Heraldic representation changed in 1889</small>
1901 pattern Tudor Crown (2D).svg|England/United Kingdom/Commonwealth Realms
Imperial Crown of Bokassa I.svg|Central African Empire
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Legal usage
:
Because Pope Clement VII would not grant Henry VIII of England an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the English Parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533) in which it was explicitly stated that
:Where by divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of England is an empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one supreme head and king, having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial crown of the same.
The next year the Act of Supremacy (1534) explicitly tied the headship of the church to the imperial crown:
:The only supreme head in earth of the Church of England called Anglicana Ecclesia, and shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm.
During the reign of Mary I the First Act of Supremacy was annulled, but during the reign of Elizabeth I the Second Act of Supremacy, with similar wording to the First Act, was passed in 1559. During the English Interregnum the laws were annulled, but the acts which caused the laws to be in abeyance were themselves, deemed to be null and void by the Parliaments of the English Restoration, so by act of Parliament The Crown of England and (later the British and UK crowns) are imperial crowns.
See also
- Consort crown
- Coronation crown
- Royal crown
- State crown