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The
Register’s armorial index is
formatted for this web site in a
way which contrasts to that
which is to be used for the
book. Because this web site has
regular additions and is
therefore ever changing it is
indexed per the scheme outlined
below. The book will be laid out
numerically by entry number and
the armigers of each country
will be placed within a scheme
of precedence appropriate to
that country.
The index
of the Armorial Register web
site:
1) Arms of
Royal & Titled Nobility
1.1
Royalty
Regnant
and non regnant families.
1.2 Titled
Nobility
The
Register will attempt to be
guided by the laws, customs, and
heraldic rules of each
individual country. For example
it should be noted that where
one country might accept that
the term “Noble” is a
substantive title in its own
right, this may not
be the case in another country.
The register will record the
holder of a title, if he
is considered to be titled in
the country of origin of that
title. The country
of origin of each
and every entry can be noted by
the small flags shown in the
index.
2) Arms
Granted by Heraldic
Authorities
Those who
have armorial bearings by
authority of:
The Court
of The Lord Lyon
The
College of Arms
The
Canadian Heraldic Authority
The Office
of The Chief Herald of
Ireland
The Office
of the Chief Herald of Malta
(where granted)*
The
armorial bearings of persons
resident in countries with an
existing law of arms
and/or granting authority [or
former Granting Authority] will
only be accepted where they have
been granted, recorded or
matriculated by the
recognised granting authority
and that they are the rightful
arms of the applicant. Where
armorial bearings are being
claimed or used by way of
“ancient usage” the editor may
ask to see a recent
matriculation or exemplification
of the arms before they can be
recorded against the name of the
present bearer.
In cases where,
for example, a citizen of the
United States of America is
using armorial bearings
by descent from an armigerous
ancestor who emigrated to the
USA from, say, England or
Scotland where the arms were
granted to said ancestor, the
editor will expect to see a
recent matriculation or
exemplification of the
arms or genealogical proof of
descent from an armiger. In
the event that the
armiger is not inclined to
matriculate his/her arms with
a heraldic authority or
provide genealogical proof of
descent from an armiger the
arms will be registered as
‘assumed arms’.
3) Arms
Registered/Recorded by
Heraldic Authorities
South
African Bureau of Heraldry
Chronicler King of Arms, Madrid,
Spain pre 2005.
The
Heraldic Registry of The Slovak
Republic – The Heraldic
Commission of The Ministry of
Interior of The Slovak Republic.
The Office
of the Chief Herald of Malta
(where registered)*
4) Private
Registrations/Burgher Arms
This
section is for armorial bearings
which do not fit into the
previous categories but which
are nevertheless, within their
own countries, considered to be
proper arms. These arms must
conform to the accepted norms of
heraldry within their host
nations and although it is not a
requirement of The Armorial
Register they may also have been
recorded in private registers
for example the American
Heraldic Register, The American
College of Heraldry and various
other non official registering
bodies.
The Armorial Register is
intended to be a register of
already existing arms that
conform to the laws, customs,
and traditions of the country
where they originate. Where laws
and customs governing external
additaments are undefined, the
register will record only a
basic achievement.
Acceptance
Policy for the International
Armorial Register of Arms
The
armorial bearings of persons
resident in countries with an
existing law of arms and/or
granting authority [or former
Granting Authority] will only be
accepted where they have been
granted, recorded or
matriculated by the recognised
granting authority and that they
are the rightful arms of the
applicant. Where armorial
bearings are being claimed or
used by way of “ancient usage”
the editor may ask to see a
recent matriculation or
exemplification of the arms
before they can be recorded
against the name of the present
bearer.
In cases
where, for example, a citizen of
the United States of America is
using armorial bearings by
descent from an armigerous
ancestor who emigrated to the
USA from, say, England or
Scotland where the arms were
granted to said ancestor, the
editor will expect to see a
recent matriculation or
exemplification of the arms or
genealogical proof of descent
from an armiger. In the event
that the armiger is not inclined
to matriculate his/her arms with
a heraldic authority or provide
genealogical proof of descent
from an armiger the arms will be
registered as ‘assumed arms’
(see below).
The
“status” of arms in the Register
will be recorded as Granted,
Recorded or Matriculated;
alongside a record of the
relevant granting authority
where there is one. In cases
where there is no lawful
granting authority the arms will
be shown as “assumed” and the
date of assumption recorded. The
College of Arms (England) has
adopted the practice of granting
honorary arms to “foreigners”;
such arms will be recorded as
honorary.
Subject to
the discretion of the editor all
'assumed' arms will be required
to comply with the accepted
norms of heraldic design for the
host nation. The Company intends
the publication to be a register
of already existing arms that
conform to the laws, customs,
and traditions of the country
where the arms originate. Where
laws and customs governing
external additaments are
undefined, the register will
record only a basic achievement.
Where the
applicant uses a title or titles
or their armorial bearings
feature additaments such as
awards and medals,
ecclesiastical hats or
supporters and coronets of rank
the applicant will be expected
to assure the editor that they
are genuinely entitled to them
and that the awards and titles
themselves stem from genuine
authorities. The Editors
decision will be final.
It will be
the aim of the editor to ensure
that all armorial bearings
within the International
Armorial are genuine and the
persons whose names are included
therein will be expected to give
an undertaking that the
information they have furnished
is true in every respect. Where
an armiger uses assumed arms he
will be expected to satisfy the
register that prior to their
assumption every effort was made
to ensure that the blazon could
not be mistaken for any other
coat of arms already in use by
another person, body or
corporation. If, however the
editor should discover, that any
record may not conform to the
information supplied then the
relevant entry may be deleted
from the register until the
point at issue has been
resolved.
Applicants are advised that if
they are in any doubt about the
acceptability of their armorial
bearings they should make prior
enquiries. The Armorial Register
reserves the right not to accept
any application. Where a
substantial amount of work or
research has been undertaken on
any application which proves to
be unsuitable for the register
(i.e self styled (bogus) titles
or no legitimate right to use of
arms or additaments) we reserve
the right to recoup any costs
incurred.
* Malta
N.B. The
Office of the Chief Herald of
Malta has presented us with
some difficulty. Despite the
claims to legitimacy by the
"Chief Herald" in the early
days, there was in fact no
lawful authority until
finally, after complaints had
been lodged (by a Director of
this Company) with the Maltese
Ombudsman, legislation was put
into place giving the office
legitimacy early in 2022. The
Armorial Register Ltd now
accepts Maltese grants and
registrations for registration
however, the present Chief
Herald of Arms of Malta has
set some challenges in his
modus operandi. There is clear
legislation set down in
Maltese law (Gieh
ir-Repubblika Act, Ch. 28-29)
which forbids the Chief Herald
to acknowledge any foreign
title unless it has the
recognition of the original
Sovereign State. It appears
that the Chief Herald of Arms
of Malta is content to ignore
this legislation. We are
uncomfortable with his actions
in recognizing a number of
"foreign" titles that have no
recognition in their
originating Sovereign State.
We will continue to review the
situation.
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