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Royal cypher

Monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign

Monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign

In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. Such a cypher as used by an emperor or empress is called an imperial cypher.

Royal cyphers appear on some government buildings, are impressed upon royal and state documents, and are used by governmental departments. They may also appear on other governmental structures built under a particular ruler.

Commonwealth realms

The use of a royal cypher in the Commonwealth realms originated in the United Kingdom, where the public use of the royal initials dates at least from the early Tudor period, and was simply the initial of the sovereign with, after Henry VIII's reign, the addition of the letter 'R' for 'Rex' or 'Regina' (Latin for "king" and "queen" respectively). The letter 'I' for 'Imperatrix' was added to Queen Victoria's monogram after she became Empress of India in 1877 (or 'Imperator' in the case of an emperor).

The initialswhich had no set pattern or form of lettering laid downwere usually shown in company with the royal arms or crown as on the king's manors and palaces, such as those of Henry VIII on the gatehouse of St James's Palace. The purpose seems to have been simply to identify an individual sovereign, particularly on certain landmarks that he or she has commissioned, as the royal coat of arms in contrast was often used by successive monarchs and is therefore not distinct. The initials are furthermore used on government papers, duty stamps and similar objects, and are surmounted throughout the United Kingdom (except in Scotland) and the Commonwealth realms by a stylised version of the Tudor Crown or St Edward's Crown; in Scotland, the Crown of Scotland is used instead.

Though royal symbols (including, most notably, the coat of arms, royal standards and great seals) differ among the 15 Commonwealth realms, as they are separate monarchies, the one sovereign uses the same cypher throughout all of his or her countries. Distinction continues to be made between the personal cypher and the simpler, more workaday public initials, the former being the sovereign's own monogram and the latter simply a means of identifying a reign. Nowadays, the initials are also called the royal cypher, but, to aid clarification, the monogram is referred to as the royal cypher interlaced and reversed.

The royal cyphers have been incorporated by the Canadian Heraldic Authority into the various royal standards of Canada. The use in Canada of the reigning monarch's cypher, which is sometimes uniquely surrounded by a garland of maple leaves, is as a symbol not only of the sovereign him- or herself, but of Canada's full sovereignty.

The royal cypher is used on some Australian military uniforms.

Charles III

On 26 September 2022, Buckingham Palace unveiled the cypher of the new king, Charles III, that is gradually replacing the cypher of Elizabeth II in everyday use. The design was selected by Charles himself from a series of designs prepared by the College of Arms and features the King's initial "C" intertwined with the letter "R" for with "III" denoting Charles III, with a Tudor Crown above the letters. Charles's Scottish cypher uses the Crown of Scotland instead. File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III.svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted with a Tudor Crown File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III (Scotland).svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Crown of Scotland File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III (Canada).svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Canadian Royal Crown File:Dual Cypher of King Charles and Queen Camilla of Great Britain.svg|Dual cypher of King Charles III and Queen Camilla File:Queen Camilla cypher.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Camilla, consort of King Charles III

Elizabeth II

Cypher of Elizabeth II on a Royal Mail van in Northern Ireland

The cypher for Elizabeth II was **, standing for Elizabeth II Regina and was usually surmounted by a stylised version of St. Edward's Crown. Since 1953, new post boxes in Scotland carry only the Crown of Scotland image rather than the ** cypher as a result of the Pillar Box War, in which some post boxes carrying the ** cypher were vandalised due to objections that there had never been an "Elizabeth I" of Scotland. The ** cypher continued to be used on post boxes in the rest of United Kingdom and some other realms and territories. Charles III cypher will also not be included on Scottish post boxes, despite the fact that Charles II also reigned over Scotland.

The production of the cypher was an early step in the preparations for her coronation in 1953 as it had to be embroidered on to the uniforms of the Royal Household and on other articles. Cyphers for other members of the royal family are designed by the College of Arms or Court of the Lord Lyon and are subsequently approved by the monarch. File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II.svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by St Edward's crown File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II (in Scotland).svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by the Crown of Scotland File:Dual Cypher of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Great Britain.svg|A dual cypher for Elizabeth II and Prince Philip from a 1972 coin marking their 25th wedding anniversary File:Royal Cypher of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.svg|Royal cypher of Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II

Elsewhere

British royal cyphers are still visible on several public buildings and old post boxes in the Republic of Ireland.

Other royal houses have also made use of royal or imperial cyphers; Ottoman sultans had a calligraphic signature known as their tughra. An exception to this is Sultan Abdulhamid II, who wrote the initials of his name in the Latin alphabet, creating a monogram in the form of AH.

All the monarchs of Europe's six other surviving kingdoms use cyphers, with royal crowns above them. King Harald V of Norway uses the letter H crossed with the Arabic numeral 5; King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden uses the letters C and G overlapping with the Roman numeral XVI below them; King Felipe VI of Spain uses the letter F with the Roman numeral; and Frederik X of Denmark uses two letter Fs with the Roman numeral X intertwined. King Philippe of the Belgians uses the letters P and F intertwined, referring to the fact that his name is Philippe in French and Philipp in German, but Filip in Dutch, the three main languages in Belgium. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his Queen Maxima share a joint cypher consisting of the letter W entwined with the letter M.

The insignia of "N III" for Napoléon III is seen on some Paris bridges, such as the Pont au Change.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand uses a cypher made up of his initials in Thai script ("ว.ป.ร." V.P.R. th, an equivalent of th Rex).

In Malaysia, the state of Johor is the only state which the royal house, the Temenggong dynasty have made use of royal cyphers. The royal cypher is made up of initials S.I., and it's a customary practice for the Temenggong dynasty to name their heir apparent with any names started with the letter I. The practice was started during the Sultan Ibrahim, the second sultan of modern Johor, and it remains until today.

References

References

  1. The [[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]] (Fifth edition; 2002), Volume 1, p. 1820.
  2. Morley, Vincent. "United Kingdom: Royal Navy". Flags Of The World.
  3. Boutell, Charles. (1931). "Boutell's Manual of Heraldry". F. Warne and Co. Ltd..
  4. (21 July 2008). "The Handbook to English Heraldry". Echo Library.
  5. (2008). "Cof Maples: Constitutional Monarchy in Canada". Department of Canadian Heritage, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada.
  6. Thorpe, Genevieve. (2022-09-13). "Unexpected items to change under the King's reign".
  7. The Royal Household. (2022-09-27). "His Majesty The King's cypher".
  8. (26 September 2022). "New King Charles royal cypher revealed". BBC.
  9. (26 September 2022). "King Charles III's official monogram design released by palace". The Guardian.
  10. (11 August 2017). "Canadian Royal Crown and Royal Cypher - The Royal Cypher". Government of Canada.
  11. (1952-07-18). "Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth ll". [[The Morning Bulletin]].
  12. Dickie, Douglas. (2024-07-12). "Why Scottish post boxes won't have King Charles's cypher as Royal Mail makes big announcement".
  13. "Vintage Reader's Digest 1953: Preparing to Crown a Queen - Reader's Digest".
  14. Palmer, Richard. (2009-01-07). "Prince Harry pays tribute to Diana with royal cypher".
  15. Keenan, Desmond. (March 16, 2016). "The Social History of Ireland: Including the Seamy Side". Xlibris Corporation.
  16. (April 1, 2018). "Royal Ciphers on Postboxes: a Brief Guide".
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