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Court of the Lord Lyon Petition
for Arms |
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Information Leaflet No. 4
PETITIONS FOR ARMS
Introduction —
Applying for Arms
On behalf of the Sovereign, the Lord Lyon King of Arms exercises the Royal
Prerogative committed to him by the Acts of 1672 cap. 47 and 1867 30 & 31
Vict. cap. 17, to grant Arms to "virtuous and well deserving persons". The
Court of the Lord Lyon is a court of law, and applications for Arms are
made by a formal "Petition". This is done on the initiative of the person
wishing to obtain Arms, who submits a Petition to the Lord Lyon stating
who he is and asking for Arms to be granted to him.
The process is not complicated, and there are three main varieties of
Petition which are listed on the opposite page and are set out in detail
in this leaflet. Advice on any special difficulties or any matters not
covered can be obtained by writing to the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the
Lord Lyon, H.M. New Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YT, and to whom all
completed Petitions should be sent. All such correspondence is
‘CONFIDENTIAL'.
Once Arms have been granted and recorded in the Public Register of All
Arms and Bearings in Scotland, they are protected under the law of
Scotland. Any infringement of a person’s armorial rights in Scotland may
be drawn to the attention of the Procurator Fiscal to the Court of the
Lord Lyon, who may mount any necessary prosecution of the offender.
In return for this permanent legal protection and for the maintenance of
the permanent registration of Arms in the Court of the Lord Lyon, fees are
charged to the Petitioner. These fees are made up of the dues to H.M.
Treasury, Herald Painter’s fees and costs of materials in preparing the
Petitioner’s Letters Patent. This is his title deed to his Arms, written
in a formal script on vellum, illustrating his Arms in full colour, and
sealed with the Seal of the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The fees are fixed by
Statute, and rise from time to time. The current scale is set out on the
separate sheet appended to this leaflet.
All statements made in Petitions must be accompanied by legal proof,
usually Certificates of Birth and Marriage for statements of parentage and
ancestry. It is the Petitioner’s responsibility to provide this proof.
Neither the Lord Lyon nor the Lyon Clerk may take any part in providing
the proof. Petitioners may employ their own genealogists to provide the
proof. They may employ any of them directly, at their own responsibility,
or with the assistance of an Officer of Arms.
Petitioners requiring assistance in preparing the Petition may write to
the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon stating their requirements
and objectives. If an Officer of Arms is engaged he will provide an
advance estimate of his fees for his professional assistance. If required
by the Petitioner he will take charge of any genealogical research needed,
employing the researchers and supervising their work on behalf of the
Petitioner, and will periodically report on its progress as the Petitioner
may require.
Applying for a New Grant of Arms
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The
person wishing to apply for a new Grant of Arms to himself should do so by
submitting a formal Petition to the Lord Lyon King of Arms drawn up as in
the fictitious SPECIMEN on page 3 opposite. At the top, the Petitioner
should state his Christian names in full and his surname, followed by any
rank, decorations, qualifications and profession or occupation, and end
the paragraph with "residing at" followed by his address. Beneath "HUMBLY
SHEWETH" the Petitioner should set out his ancestry, or as much of it as
he wishes to have included in his Grant of Arms and can prove. The
Petitioner should set out the details of his ancestry in numbered
paragraphs, one per generation. The proofs required are Certificates of
Birth or Marriage for each fact stated, or Certified Extracts from
appropriate Registers, Census Records, Wills, Sasines, etc. |
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The Certificates should
be accompanied by a separate "SCHEDULE OF PROOFS", with the Certificates
numbered as per the paragraphs in the Petition and listed according to the
facts they prove. A SPECIMEN SCHEDULE OF PROOFS for the SPECIMEN PETITION
opposite is given on the back page of this leaflet. The Petition should
then be signed and dated and sent with its accompanying Certificates and
SCHEDULE OF PROOFS to Lyon Clerk of the Court of the Lord Lyon. It should
be accompanied by a covering letter from the Petitioner, indicating his
views and wishes on the following subjects.
The Letters Patent, which
the Petitioner will eventually receive when the Arms are granted, is a
formal title deed from the Crown. It is permanent in effect, granting the
Arms for ever and protecting them in the Laws of Scotland. The Arms
granted are heritable property, and will be inherited by the petitioner’s
heir, normally his eldest son, and by his eldest son in turn, and so on
for ever. Younger children inherit only a right to matriculate the Arms
with a slight difference added, and they must petition separately for this
to be done, as is set out on pp. 7 and 8 of this leaflet. The form and
content of the Arms should therefore be very carefully considered before
the Petitioner is permanently committed to them. The Lord Lyon is pleased
to consider the Petitioner’s own suggestions, and will write and discuss
them with him once the Petition has been received.
The Petitioner should
also carefully consider whom he wishes to inherit his Arms or a different
version of them. His wish is set out as a "destination" for the Arms,
destining them to all his descendants, or the descendants of the father,
or to any other such limitation. The Lord Lyon will be pleased to discuss
this too with the Petitioner, and will advise him as need be.
When these matters have
been agreed, the Lord Lyon will pronounce his judgement and instruct Lyon
Clerk to prepare the Petitioner’s Letters Patent. The Petitioner will then
receive from Lyon Clerk a draft text for the Letters Patent for him to
check and approve, and a note of the fees to H.M. Treasury and the Herald
Painter which must now be paid.
Once the draft text has
been approved and the fees paid by the Petitioner, the Lyon Clerk will in
due course send him the Letters Patent granting the Arms. A copy of the
Arms and the text of the Letters Patent Is placed on record in name of the
Petitioner in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland,
and the process is complete.
Applying for a Grant of Arms to an
Ancestor
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This procedure may be
used for nationals of other countries who wish Armorial bearings.
The applicant is called
"The Petitioner", and should submit a formal "Petition" to the Lord Lyon
King of Arms, drawn up as in the fictitious SPECIMEN on page 5 opposite.
At the top, the Petitioner should state his Christian names in full and
his surname, followed by any rank, decorations, academic qualifications,
profession or occupation, ending with "residing at..." followed by his
address in full and the words "for and in memory of" his chosen ancestor
for whom the Arms are being sought. Beneath "HUMBLY SHEWETH" the
Petitioner should set out his ancestry, back to the ancestor for whom the
retrospective Grant is being sought, in numbered paragraphs in the way
explained on page 4 of this leaflet. This account should be accompanied by
Certificates of Birth and Marriage for each fact, and a separate SCHEDULE
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OF PROOFS listing them as
explained on page 4. Beneath the last paragraph of the ancestry,a final
paragraph (No. 4 opposite) should state the Petitioner’s wish in the
wording shown. This Is repeated In the Prayer at the end, after "MAY IT
THEREFORE", in the wording shown opposite.
The Petition should then
be signed and dated and sent with Its accompanying Certificates and
SCHEDULE OF PROOFS to the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon, with a
covering letter setting out any ideas the Petitioner may have about the
form of the Arms to be granted. The Lord Lyon will later write and discuss
these with the Petitioner.
When these matters have
been agreed, the Lord Lyon will pronounce his judgement as to the form of
the Arms, and instruct Lyon Clerk to prepare the Letters Patent which is
the formal title deed to the Arms. The Petitioner will then receive from
Lyon Clerk a draft text for the Letters Patent for him to check and
approve, and a note of the fees due to H.M. Treasury and the Herald
Painter, which must now be paid. Once the draft text has been approved and
the fees paid, the Lyon Clerk will in due course send the Petitioner the
Letters Patent granting the Arms to him. A copy of the Arms and the text
of the Letters Patent is placed on record in name of the Petitioner in the
Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, and the process is
complete.
NOTE:- In the SPECIMEN
opposite, the Arms sought for and in memory of Thomas Augustus Blank will
NOT have descended to the Petitioner, because his father
Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Andrew Blank was NOT the eldest son of Thomas
Augustus Blank. Lieutenant-Colonel Blank was the second son, and the
direct inheritance of the Arms of Thomas Augustus Blank will have gone off
to Lieutenant-Colonel Blank’s elder brother. Thus the Petitioner will have
to apply further for a Matriculation of Arms as set out on pages 7 and 8.
All his male cousins will
be in the same predicament, except the eldest son of the eldest son of
Thomas Augustus Blank. It is not unknown for such groups of cousins to dub
together to share the cost of the retrospective Grant to the ancestor,
because thereafter they are all entitled to Matriculate cadet Arms off the
ancestor’s which is much less expensive as is set out In the Scale of Fees
appended to this leaflet.
Applying for a
Matriculation off existing Arms
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Arms are heritable
property, and on the original owner’s death they descend in terms of the
destination, but usually to his eldest son, and in turn to his eldest son,
and so on for ever. A younger brother may inherit his father’s Arms if the
elder brother dies first and leaves no heirs of his own. Otherwise younger
sons and their descendants inherit a right to apply for a Matriculation of
their ancestral Arms with a small mark of difference added, appropriate to
their place in the family.
A descendant applying for
Arms is called the Petitioner, and he should submit a formal Petition to
the Lord Lyon King of Arms, drawn up as in the fictitious SPECIMEN on page
7 opposite. In it he should set out his descent from the ancestor who had
recorded Arms and ask for the Arms to be "matriculated" in his own name
with a suitable mark of difference. |
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At the top, the
Petitioner should state his Christian names in full and his surname,
followed by any rank, decorations, academic qualifications and honours,
profession or occupation, and "residing at" followed by his address in
full. Beneath "HUMBLY SHEWETH" the Petitioner should set out his ancestry,
back to the ancestor who had recorded Arms. This should be done in
numbered paragraphs, one to each generation, in the way explained on page
4 of this leaflet and shown opposite. Proof of each fact stated is
required in the same way as on page 4 and accompanied by a SCHEDULE OF
PROOFS as shown on page 11. Beneath the last paragraph of the ancestry, in
a separate paragraph (No.4 opposite) the Petitioner should set out the
record of his ancestor’s Arms in the Public Register of All Arms Bearings
in Scotland in the way shown. Finally he should formally state his wish in
the wording shown on paragraph 5 opposite, and repeat this wish in the
formal Prayer at the end in the wording shown opposite.
The completed Petition
should then be signed and dated and sent with its accompanying
Certificates of Birth and Marriage and the SCHEDULE OF PROOFS (see pages 4
and 11) to the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon. While the Arms
will resemble the ancestor’s, the Crest and Motto can vary considerably
from the ancestor’s, perhaps reflecting the Petitioner’s own occupation
and outlook on life. The Lord Lyon will welcome the Petitioner’s own
views, and will discuss them with the Petitioner.
When these matters have
been agreed, the Petitioner will receive for his approval a draft text for
his Matriculation of Arms document, which is his title deed to the Arms,
and a note of the fees due at this point.
Once the draft text has
been approved and the fees paid by the Petitioner, the Lyon Clerk will in
due course send him his Extract of Matriculation. A copy of the Arms and
the text of the document is placed on record in name of the Petitioner in
the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, and the process
is complete.
Applying for a Grant
of Arms to a Company |
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Corporate Bodies, such as
local authorities, corporations, companies, limited companies,
partnerships, schools or any other formally established group of people
banded together for a common purpose, may apply for Arms. When granted,
the corporate body may then use its Arms in the same way as a private
person, to signify its identity and to mark its property or its products.
The Arms are the visual equivalent of the corporate body’s name, and may
be used wherever the written name would be appropriate, either instead of
the name or accompanying it. Guidance on the correct usage of corporate
Arms may be obtained from the Court of the Lord Lyon.
The application for Arms
should be made as a formal Petition to the Lord Lyon King of Arms, drawn
up as in the fictitious SPECIMEN on page 9 opposite. At the top, the
Petition |
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should state the full
Christian name and surname of an office bearer or official of the
organisation concerned, then "for and on behalf of" and the corporate
body’s name, ending with "having Head Office at" and the address. Beneath
"HUMBLY SHEWETH" a brief account of the corporate body’s history
activities and standing should be given in numbered paragraphs, one fact
per paragraph. The Petition should be accompanied by proofs of these
facts, such as Articles of Association and Annual audited Accounts. The
proofs should be listed and numbered as they are in the paragraphs setting
out the facts they prove in a separate SCHEDULE OF PROOFS, as shown in the
genealogical SPECIMEN on page II of this leaflet. Beneath this account, a
final paragraph (No. 4 opposite) should state the Petitioner’s plea in the
formal wording shown. This is repeated in the Prayer, after "MAY IT
THEREFORE", in the wording shown. |
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The completed Petition
should be signed and dated by the Petitioners and sent with its proofs and
SCHEDULE OF PROOFS to the Lyon Clerk at the Court of the Lord Lyon. Arms
are granted only to proven reputable corporate bodies, and generally they
are required to have been successfully in existence for at least three
years before they can be granted Arms. Arms are not granted to transient
bodies or associations.
A covering letter with
the Petition may set out the Petitioners’ own ideas of the form of the
Arms preferred, which should be relevant to the corporate bodies'
activities, and which the Lord Lyon King of Arms will discuss with them.
The Petition may be withdrawn at any time if this agreement is not
achieved. |
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When these matters have
been agreed, the Lord Lyon will pronounce his judgement and instruct the
Lyon Clerk to prepare the Letters Patent. The Petitioners will then
receive from Lyon Clerk a draft text for the Letters Patent for them to
check and approve, and a note of the fees to H.M. Treasury and the Herald
Painter, which must now be paid.
Once the draft text has
been approved and the fees paid, the Lyon Clerk will in due course send
them the Letters Patent granting the Arms. A copy of the Arms and the text
of the Letters Patent is placed on record in the Public Register of All
Arms and Bearings in Scotland in name of the Petitioners, and the process
is complete. |
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© The Society of Scottish
Armigers last Update
26 Feb 2014
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