A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring.
Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.
The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of co(u)ronne 'crown', itself from the Latin
corona (also wreath).
Traditionally such headgear is – as indicated by the German equivalent Adelskrone (literally: crown of nobility) – worn
by nobles, and by princes and princesses, rather than by monarchs, for whom the word crown is customarily reserved in formal English, while many languages have no such
terminological distinction. Other than a crown a coronet shows the rank of the respective noble. Hence, in German language there is also the term Rangkrone. For equivalents, both physical and emblematic,
in other languages and cultures, see under crown (headgear).
Commonwealth usage
The main use is now actually not on the head (indeed, many people entitled to a coronet never have one made; the same even
applies to some Monarchs' crowns, as in Belgium) but as a rank symbol in heraldry, adorning a
coat of arms.
In the United Kingdom, a peer wears his or her
coronet on one occasion only: for a royal coronation, when it is worn along with coronation
robes, equally standardized as a luxurious uniform.
In the peerage of the United Kingdom, the design of a coronet shows the
rank of its owner, as in German, French and various other heraldic traditions.
- The coronet of a duke (a silver-gilt circlet, chased as jewelled but not actually gemmed) has
eight strawberry leaves of which five are seen in two-dimensional representations,
- that of a marquess has four strawberry leaves and four silver balls (known as "pearls", but
not actually pearls), slightly raised on points above the rim, - of which three leaves and two
balls are seen,
- that of an earl has eight strawberry leaves (four visible) and eight "pearls"
raised on stalks, of which five are visible,
- that of a viscount has sixteen "pearls" touching one another, nine being seen in
representation, and
- that of a baron (a plain silver-gilt circlet) has six "pearls" of which four are visible.
Since a person entitled to wear a coronet customarily displays it in their coat of arms
above the shield and below the helm and crest, this can provide a useful clue as to the owner of a given coat of arms. 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 Loyalist civil coronet (for others) in their
arms.
Members of the British Royal Family have coronets on their coats of arms, and may wear them at coronations. They are according to
regulations made by King 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) and Restoration, and vary
depending upon the prince's relationship to the Monarch. Occasionally additional royal warrants vary the designs for
individuals.
There is evidence to support the wearing of coronets amongst the Welsh royalty and nobility, particularly in the
Kingdom of Gwynedd. Llywelyn's coronet
was for a while kept with the English Crown Jewels.
Continental usages
The Holy Roman Empire and consequently its successor states - Austria, Germany and others - had a very similar system to the British, though
the design varied.
- The normal Adelskrone for lower nobility (= Laubkrone) is a golden ring with pearls
and precious stones that features eight tines of which typically only five are visible. Out of those the center and the outer
tines are normally leaves, whereas the others are headed by pearls. In the southern states of Bavaria and Württemberg quite often all tines are headed by pearls.
- The Freiherrnkrone (baron's coronet) shows seven tines with pearls.
- The Grafenkrone (count's coronet) shows nine tines with pearls. Some of the senior houses used coronets showing five
leaves and four pearls (Some mediatized counties and minor principalities had other types of coronets that distinguished them
from normal counts).
- The Fürstenkrone (coronet of a prince; similar in rank to a marchess) is a golden ring with precious stones and five
leaves and a crimson cap, that is surrounded by three visible arches with an imperial globe on top.
- The Herzogskrone (duke's coronet) has five arches, but only four tines. Between the arches crimson cloth is
visible.
Considering the highly religious nature of the Holy Roman Empire, one can say that,
except for the short-lived Napoleonic states, no continental secular system of heraldry historically was so neatly regulated as
under the British crown. Still, there are often traditions (often connected to the Holy Roman Empire, e.g. those in
Sweden, Denmark or Russia),
including the use of crown and coronets. While most languages don't have a specific term for coronets, but simply use the word
meaning crown, it is possible to determine which of those crowns are for peerage or lower level use, and thus can by analogy be
called coronets.
Precisely because there are many traditions and more variation within some of these, there is a plethora of continental
coronet types. Indeed there are also some coronets for positions that don't exist in the Commonwealth tradition, or do entitle to
a coronet.
Such a case in French ('old', i.e. royal era) heraldry, where coronets of rank did not come into use before the 16th century,
is the vidame, whose coronet (illustrated) is a metal circle mounted with three visible crosses (no physical
headgear of this type known).
Often coronets are substituted by helmets, or only worn on a helmet.
See also
Sources, References and External links
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This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.
Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual
inaccuracies. |
http://www.heraldicsculptor.com/gartcres.html The Crowns, Coronets and Crests of the Ladies and Knights of the
Garter.
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