In British heraldry, a coronet (, ) is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for crown is used irrespective of rank (, , , , , etc.). In this use, the English coronet is a purely technical term for all heraldic images of crowns not used by a sovereign. A coronet is another type of crown, but is reserved for the nobility: dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons. The specific design and attributes of the crown or coronet signifies the hierarchy and ranking of its owner.
Certain physical coronets are worn by the British peerage on rare ceremonial occasions, such as the coronation of the monarch. These are also sometimes depicted in heraldry, and called coronets of rank in heraldic usage. Their shape varies depending on the wearer's rank in the peerage, according to models laid down in the 16th century. Similar depictions of crowns of rank () are used in continental heraldry, but physical headgear has never been made to imitate them.
Due to the extreme rarity of occasions in which peers' coronets are worn (sometimes more than fifty years pass before a new coronation and occasion to wear physical coronets), practical use of the term coronet today is almost exclusively confined to pictorial crowns and rank symbols in heraldry, adorning someone's coat of arms (indeed, many people entitled to a coronet never have a physical one made). Depiction of ordinary crowns or coronets in heraldry, rather than coronets of rank, including a variety of crest coronets sometimes placed under the crest, are not confined to peers, and are often shown in British heraldry outside the peerage.
Etymology The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of co(u)ronne ('crown'), itself from the and from the .
Traditionally, such headgear is used by nobles and by princes and princesses in their coats of arms, rather than by monarchs, for whom the word 'crown' is customarily reserved in English, while many languages have no such terminological distinction. As a coronet shows the rank of the respective noble, in the German and Scandinavian languages there is also the term rangkrone (literally 'rank crown').
Usage in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Royal usage Members of the British royal family often display coronets in their coats of arms and may wear actual coronets at coronations (e.g., Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the 1937 coronation of their father as George VI). Such coronets were made according to regulations instituted by Charles II in 1661, shortly after his return from exile in France (getting a taste for its lavish court style; Louis XIV started monumental work at Versailles that year). They vary depending on the individual's relationship to the monarch. Occasionally, additional royal warrants vary the designs for individuals.
The most recent (and most comprehensive) royal warrant concerning coronets was the 19 November 1917 warrant of George V. The coronet of the British heir apparent is distinctive in itself, as it has a single arch with a globe and cross. Charles III opted against the use of coronets at his coronation in 2023, for both members of the royal family and peers, but he did not abolish the tradition.
Usage by peers In the United Kingdom, a peer traditionally wears a coronet on one occasion only – for a royal coronation, when it is worn along with coronation robes, equally standardised as a luxurious uniform. However, for the 2023 coronation of Charles III and Camilla, on the government's advice, the King forbade the wearing of coronets by those peers who had been invited, except those performing specific ceremonial roles.
In the peerages of the United Kingdom, the design of a coronet shows the rank of its owner, as in German, French and various other heraldic traditions. Dukes were the first individuals authorised to wear coronets. Marquesses acquired coronets in the 15th century, earls in the 16th, then viscounts and barons in the 17th. Until the barons received coronets in 1661, the coronets of earls, marquesses and dukes were engraved, while those of viscounts were plain. After 1661, however, viscomital coronets became engraved, while baronial coronets were plain. Coronets may not bear any precious or semi-precious stones. Since people entitled to wear a coronet customarily display it in their coat of arms above the shield and below the helmet and crest, this can provide a useful clue as to the owner of a given coat of arms.
British coronets traditionally display leaves of the strawberry plant; it is not clear when this traditional began. In one tradition, the strawberry leaf's three parts represent the Trinity; the red fruit represents Christ's blood; and the five-petalled flower represents the wounds of Christ, making the strawberry a symbol of perfection and righteousness. In 1879, John Churchill Sikes wrote that the leaves were originally generic in form and only later became strawberry leaves.Notes and Queries: a Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, Etc. (1879:114). United Kingdom: Bell. In the writings of Benjamin Disraeli, strawberry leaves are often used as a metonym for the Peerage: It had got about that she admired intellect, and, though she claimed the highest social position, that a booby [fool] would not content her, even if his ears were covered with strawberry leaves.Disraeli, B. (1881). Coningsby. United Kingdom: Longmans, Green. Similarly, Saki has a character refer to a duke as a "silly little strawberry-leafed nonentity."
Table of coronet rankings
Image Details Princes and Princesses Heir apparent Used by a British heir apparent. Child of a sovereign A coronet of crosses and fleurs-de-lis. Child of an heir apparent A coronet of crosses, strawberry leaves and fleurs-de-lis. Child of a son of a sovereign A coronet of crosses and strawberry leaves. Child of a daughter of a sovereign A coronet of strawberry leaves and fleurs-de-lis. (Non-royal) Peers and Peeresses Duke or Duchess A silver-gilt circlet, chased as jewelled but not actually gemmed, with eight strawberry leaves of which five are seen in two-dimensional representations. Marquess or Marchioness A coronet of four strawberry leaves and four silver spheres (known as "pearls", but not actually pearls), slightly raised on points above the rim, of which three leaves and two balls are seen in two-dimensional representations. Earl or Countess A coronet of eight strawberry leaves (four visible) and eight "pearls" raised on stalks, of which five are visible in two-dimensional representations. Viscount or Viscountess A coronet of sixteen "pearls" touching one another, nine being seen in representation. Baron or Baroness, Lord or Lady of Parliament A plain silver-gilt circlet, with six "pearls", four visible in two-dimensional representations.
Municipal usage Certain types of Scottish local government bodies have special coronet types assigned to them. Image Details Coronet of a Scottish Regional Council (1973–1996) A circlet richly chased from which are issuant four thistles leaved (one and two halves visible) Or. Coronet of a Scottish Island Council (1973–1996) A circlet richly chased from which are issuant four dolphins two and two respectant naiant embowed (two visible) Or. Coronet of a Scottish District Council (1973–1996) A circlet richly chased from which are issuant eight thistle heads (of which three and two halves are visible) Or. Coronet of a Scottish Community Council (1973–present) A circlet richly chased from which are issuant four thistle leaves (one and two halves visible) and four pine cones (two visible).
Other uses In Canadian heraldry, descendants of the United Empire Loyalists are entitled to use a Loyalist military coronet (for descendants of members of Loyalist regiments) or a Loyalist civil coronet (for others) in their coats of arms. This possibility was introduced by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 1989.
Belgian coronet rankings These are the heraldic crowns and coronets as they are in use today in the Kingdom of Belgium. In the past, the systems of the German (Holy Roman Empire), Spanish and Austrian monarchies, as well as those of the First French Empire and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, have also been in use on the current Belgian territory.
Danish coronet rankings
Spanish coronet rankings All over the world, Spanish heraldry has used these crowns and coronets:
Swedish coronet rankings
Former monarchies
Kingdom of France The hierarchy among the French nobility, which was identical for non-royal titles to the British hierarchy of peers, should not be understood to be as rigid in the ranking of titleholders as the latter. In particular, a title was not a good indication of actual preeminence or precedence: ancestry, marriages, high office, military rank and the family's historical renown counted far more than the precise title. Some distinguished families held a title no higher than count or even baron, but were proud of their ancient origin. Moreover, most of the nobility was legally untitled. Some hereditary titles could be acquired by a nobleman who purchased a "titled" fief, while titres de courtoisie ('courtesy titles') were freely assumed in the absence of strict regulation by the French crown and became more numerous than titles legally borne. In the 17th and 18th centuries, people assumed and used freely coronets of ranks that they did not have; and, in the 19th and 20th centuries abuse was still made of 'courtesy titles'. Titles continued to be granted until the Second Empire fell in 1870, and legally survive among their descendants.
The only title that was never usurped under the ancien régime, and rarely without some excuse afterwards, was the title of duc – because it was so often attached to the rank of peer of France, which carried specific legal prerogatives, such as the right to a seat in the Parlement of Paris. As a result, the title of duc was actually, as well as nominally, at the top of the scale after the royal family and foreign princes, and a cut above all of the other nobility. During the ancien régime, 'prince' was a rank, not a title, hence there was no coronet.
Roi (sovereign): closed crown of fleurs-de-lis (the crown was open until the early 16th century) Dauphin (heir apparent): initially an open crown of fleurs-de-lis; starting with Henri IV's son (1601–10), the crown is closed with dolphins instead of arches Fils de France and Petit-fils de France (sons and grandsons of a sovereign): open coronet of fleurs-de-lis Prince du sang (male-line descendants of a grandson of the sovereign): originally an open coronet alternating fleurs-de-lis and acanthus leaves (called strawberry leaves in English blazon), but the open coronet of fleurs-de-lis was used in the 17th and 18th centuries Pair de France (peer of the realm): coronet of the title (usually duke) with a blue velvet bonnet, along with a mantle armoyé (reproducing the arms) fringed with gold and lined with ermine Duc (duke): coronet of acanthus leaves Marquis (marquess): coronet of alternating acanthus leaves and groups of three pearls in trefoil (or two pearls side by side in some versions) Comte (count): coronet of pearls Vicomte (viscount): coronet of four large pearls (three visible) alternating with smaller pearls Vidame (peculiar French title, for protectors of the temporal estates of a bishopric): coronet of four crosses (three visible) Baron: helm of gold wreathed with a string of small pearls Chevalier (knight): helm of gold Ecuyer (squire): helm
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, and consequently its successor states (Austria, Germany and others), had a system very similar to that of the British, although the design varied.