The Royal Standard represents the presence of The Sovereign in a building, naval vessel, or others. It is never flown at half mast even upon the Demise of the Crown, as there is always a Sovereign on the throne.
Royal Standard of the United Kindgom[]
England, Wales and Northern Ireland[]
In these countries and outside of the United Kingdom, the Standard is composed of four quadrants. The first and fourth contains three gold lions on a red backround, which represent England. The second contains a Lion Rampant on a yellow backround, representing the ancient Kingdom of Scotland. The third represents Northern Ireland (previously Ireland) and it contains a gold harp on a blue backround. The attempts to remove the harp from the Standard by Ireland started in 1937, by that time Ireland dropped out of the Union, but it was kept to symbolize Northern Ireland.
The modern Royal Standard dates back to the reign of Queen Victoria. Earlier Standards had a crowned inestucheon representing the Kingdom (previously Electorate) of Hanover, and the fourth quadrant had the French fleur de lys (representing the claim of the French Throne, dropped in 1800). The Hanoverian Inestucheon was dropped on the accession of Victoria, as a female, she could not acceed in Hanover.
The Scotland Impaled Standard was used by Queen Anne and the Hanoverian version was used by the Georgians.
Scotland[]
In Scotland, the Standard consists of the first and fourth quadrants with the Lion Rampant on the yellow backround, the second quadrant representing England with the gold lions on a red field, and the third quadrant represents Northern Ireland with the gold harp on the blue field.
Other members of the Royal Family also use this Scottish version when in Scotland, with the only exceptions to this protocol being the consort of a queen regnant and theheir apparent, the Duke of Rothesay, each of whom has his own individual standard.
The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom used in Scotland differs from the ancientRoyal Standard of Scotland in that the latter portrays the Lion Rampant in its entirety. As the banner of the Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, the Royal Standard of Scotland remains a personal banner of the monarch and, despite being commonly used as an unofficial second flag of Scotland, its use is restricted under an act passed in 1672 by the Parliament of Scotland.
Other Members of the Royal Family[]
The Prince of Wales[]
Standard | For Use In | Description |
---|---|---|
[1] | England and Northern Ireland | The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is used, defaced with a white label of three points. In the centre, the crowned arms of the Principality of Wales — four quadrants, the first and fourth with a red lion on a gold field, and the second and third with a gold lion on a red field — is superimposed. This is the standard that is used outside the United Kingdom by the prince. |
[2] | Scotland | The Royal Standard of Scotland is used, defaced with a blue label of three points. This is the standard of the heir apparent to the King of Scots.[7] |
[3] | Scotland | The flag is a banner based on two Scottish titles of the heir apparent: Duke of Rothesay and Lord of the Isles. The flag is divided into four quadrants. The first and fourth quadrants include a blue and white checkerboard band in the centre of a gold field. The second and third quadrants include a ship on a white background. In the centre, a gold inner shield bearing the lion rampant of the Kingdom of Scotland defaced with a three point label. |
[4] | Wales | The flag is a banner of the coat of arms of the Principality of Wales and is divided into four quadrants, the first and fourth with a red lion on a gold field, and the second and third with a gold lion on a red field. Superimposed is a green shield bearing a crown. |
[5] | Cornwall | The flag is "sable fifteen bezants Or", that is, a black field bearing fifteen gold coins, which Prince Charles uses in his capacity as Duke of Cornwall. |
Princes(ses) of the Blood Royal[]
Standard | Member of the Royal Family | Description |
---|---|---|
[6] | H.R.H. The Duke of York | The middle point bears a blue anchor, while the first and last points are blank. |
[7] | H.R.H. The Earl of Wessex | The middle point bears a red rose, while the first and last points are blank. |
[8] | H.R.H. The Princess Royal | The first and last point each bear a red cross. The middle point bears a redheart. |
[9] | H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge | Unlike other grandchildren of the sovereign, Prince William uses a label with three points (as he is a direct heir to the Throne). The middle point bears a red shell, while the first and last points are blank. |
[10] | H.R.H. Prince Henry of Wales | The first, middle, and last points each bear a red shell, while the second and fourth points are blank. |
[11] | H.R.H. Princess Beatrice | The first, middle, and last points each bear a bee, while the second and fourth points are blank. |
[12] | H.R.H. Princess Eugenie of York | The first, middle, and last points each bear a thistle head, while the second and fourth points are blank. |
[13] | H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester | White label with five points, three with St George's Cross, two with red lions passant guardant. |
[14] | H.R.H. The Duke of Kent | White label with five points, three with blue Anchor, two with St George's Cross. |
[15] | H.R.H. Prince Michael of Kent | White label with five points, three with St George's Cross, two with blue anchors. |
[16] | H.R.H. Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy | White label with five points, two with hearts, two with anchors, one with St George's Cross. |
Consorts of Monarchs[]
Queens consorts are allowed the use of the Royal Standard impaled with the coat of arms of their fathers. When the consort is male, they cannot use the Royal Standard, but they are granted a personal coat of arms.
Standard | Consort | Details |
---|---|---|
[17] | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Consort of Elizabeth II (1948–present) |
Standard based on the Duke's Greek and Danish roots. The flag is divided into four quarters: The first quarter, representing Denmark, consists of three blue lions passant and nine red hearts on a yellow field. The second quarter, representing Greece, consists of a white cross on a blue field. The third quarter, representing the duke's surname, Mountbatten, contains five black and white vertical stripes. The fourth quarter, alludes to his title as Duke of Edinburgh, and includes a black and red castle which is also part of the city of Edinburgh's arms. |
[18] | Queen Elizabeth
Consort of George VI (1936–2002) |
The royal standard impaled with the arms of her father, Claude Bowes-Lyon, Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. |
[19] | Queen Mary
Consort of George V (1910–1953) |
The Royal Standard impaled with the arms of her father, Francis, Duke of Teck and the Hanoverian coat of arms as used by her grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. |
[20] | Queen Alexandra
Consort of Edward VII (1901–1925) |
The Royal Standard, impaled with the royal coat of arms of Denmark. |
Other members of the Royal Family[]
Other members of the Royal Family may use the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, but within an ermine border, (a white border with black spots representing the ermine fur). This standard is mainly used for the wives of British princes, or members of the Royal Family who have not yet been granted their own arms.
Usage[]
The Royal Standard is reserved only for the monarch, and is the most used. Most famously it signals the presence of the monarch at a royal residence, and is also used on official vehicles, primarily the Bentley State Limousine, but also on other road vehicles at home or abroad, often a Range Rover. The Royal Standard is also flown from aircraft and water vessels, including HMY Britannia and MV Spirit of Chartwell[12] during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The flag is also draped over the coffin of the Monarch upon his/her death.
The use of personal standards of other members of the Royal Family vary in frequency. The Prince of Wales flies his standard at Clarence House in the same way the Royal Standard is used over Buckingham Palace, but other members of the family tend not to fly theirs from their respective residences (though this may be due to the fact that many share official London Residences, as is the case at Kensington Palace). Family members also do not use their standards on road vehicles, neither privately or during official engagements (when more discrete cars are used, such as Jaguar) or state occasions (when the Liveried cars of the Royal Mews are used), this seems reserved for the Queen only, although when Prince Philip travels alone at state occasions, his standard flies from the roof of his car, as seen with the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales (when the Queen Mother also flew her personal standard from her car) and that of the Queen Mother, also, when a visiting Head of State on a state visit uses a car from the Royal Mews, his/her own flag is displayed.That said, when abroad, the standards of members of the family may well be flown: examples include Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William.In some situations, personal standards are displayed within the UK, such as St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle home of Banners of Knights of the Order of the Garter, at the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant Prince Andrew's standard flew from MV Havengore.
Royal Standard of Canada[]
Sovereign's Standard[]
The Royal Standard, also called The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag, is a heraldic banner that was adopted and proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II in 1962, and is used by her in her capacity as Queen of Canada. With its introduction, red and white became entrenched as the national colours of Canada and it was added to the Canadian Heraldic Authority's Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges on 15 March 2005. Different standards are used by Elizabeth in some of the other Commonwealth realms and she holds another banner for use as Head of the Commonwealth.
The flag, in a 1:2 proportion, consists of the escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Canada in banner form and defaced with the distinct device of Queen Elizabeth II used on her Head of the Commonwealth flag: a blue roundel with the initial E crowned, all within a wreath of roses, all gold-coloured.The standard is protected under the Trade-marks Act; section 9(a) states: "No person shall adopt in connection with a business, as a trade-mark or otherwise, any mark consisting of, or so nearly resembling as to be likely to be mistaken for... the Royal Arms, Crest or Standard."
[21]The personal standard of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada
A similar version of the standard was used only once, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It was a banner of the arms of Canada, which then used green maple leaves in the escutcheon, in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement.
[22]Version used at the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953
Other members of the Royal Family[]
Variants of the Queen's royal standard are used by four other members of the Canadian Royal Family: H.R.H. The Prince of Wales; H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge; H.R.H. The Princess Royal; and H.R.H. The Duke of York. All were created by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, the first two, other than the sovereign's, being the banners for the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge, which were developed over a three-month period and revealed on 29 June 2011, just prior to that year's royal tour by the Duke of Cambridge.[7] The Duke of Cambridge's flag was first used when unfurled from the cockpit window of the Royal Canadian Air Force airplane that he and his wife travelled on to Canada in 2011, as it taxied after landing at Ottawa.[8]Prince Charles' flag was first used when unfurled from the cockpit window of the Royal Canadian Air Force airplane that he and his wife travelled on to Canada, as it taxied after landing at CFB Gagetown, on 20 May 2012, at the beginning of his royal tour marking his mother's Diamond Jubilee.[9] The Princess Royal's banner was unfurled on her October 2013 visit to CFB Borden, Barrie, Ontario, and CFB Kingston.
All are in a 1:2 proportion and consist of the escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Canada defaced with both a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath and a white label of three points. The wreath on Prince Charles' banner is of gold maple leaves, the roundel depicts the Prince of Wales' feathers, and the label is not charged, signifying the eldest son of the monarch. Prince William's flag has a wreath of gold maple leaves and scallop shells, the roundel bears a depiction of his cypher (a Wsurmounted by a coronet of his rank), and the label is charged with a red shell, reminiscent of the coat of arms of his mother,Diana, Princess of Wales. The royal standard of Anne, Princess Royal, shows a wreath of gold maple leaves, the roundel bears Anne's cypher (an A surmounted by a coronet of her rank, a child of the monarch), and the label is charged with a red heart at centre and the other two with red crosses, taken from the Princess' coat of arms.[10] The wreath on the royal standard of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is of gold maple leaves, the roundel bears Andrew's cypher (an A surmounted by a coronet of his rank, a child of the monarch), and the centre label is charged with a blue anchor, taken from the Prince's coat of arms.
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Use and protocol[]
The Queen's personal Canadian flag is employed only when the Queen is in Canadaor is attending an event abroad as the Canadian head of state; for example, the flag was unfurled at Juno Beach in France when the Queen was present there for commemorations of the Normandy Landings. The flag must be broken immediately upon the sovereign's arrival and lowered directly after her departure from any building, ship, aircraft, or other space or vehicle. On land, as per Department of National Defence protocol, the Queen's standard must be flown from a flagpole bearing as a pike head the crest of the Canadian royal arms. As the monarch is the personification of the Canadian state, her banner also takes precedence above all other flags in Canada, including the national flag and those of the other members of the Canadian Royal Family, and is never flown at half-mast.
Protocol is sometimes, though rarely, officially broken. On 9 August 1902, the day of the coronation of King Edward VII, the monarch's royal standard (then the same in Canada as in the United Kingdom) was raised on a temporary flag pole at His Majesty's Dockyard in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Similarly, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, the sovereign's royal standard was broken atop the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Sixty years later, on 6 February 2012, the Queen's personal standard for Canada was unfurled at her Ottawa residence, Rideau Hall, and on Parliament Hill, as well as at other legislatures across the country to mark the monarch's diamond anniversary of her accession to the throne; permission to do so was granted by the Queen.