The Tudor Crown... 'NATO standard' of Commonwealth Heraldry
The
Tudor Crown, also known as the
King's Crown or
Imperial Crown, is a widely used symbol in heraldry of the
United Kingdom. Officially it was used from 1902 to 1953 representing not only the
British monarch personally, but also "
the Crown", meaning the
sovereign source of governmental authority. As such, it appeared on numerous official emblems in the United Kingdom,
British Empire and
Commonwealth.
[1]
While various crown symbols had been used for this purpose for many years previously, the specific Tudor Crown design was standardised at the request of
Edward VII. It was never intended to represent any actual
physical crown, although in shape it bears a close resemblance to the
small diamond crown of Queen Victoria.
Upon the accession of
Elizabeth II, she requested the design to be replaced with a representation of the
St Edward's Crown (with depressed arches) which she wore at her
coronation. Many, though not all, of the derived designs around the world were updated to match.
In Canada, the Tudor Crown has been used since 1907 in the Canadian Government Inspection Legend on inspected meat products. The inspection legend (or symbol) consists of two concentric circles: the outer ring has the word "Canada" at the top and a number at the bottom identifying the place of production; the inner circle contains a black and white rendering of the Tudor Crown.[
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