Richard I of England

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the mouth drawn as a semicircular (round) base; the field enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the two lions outlined in the colour of the field and illuminated in Or and Azure; and the whole finished with a watercolour effect.

Lionheart ~ Corazón de León ~ Cœur de Lion.

Escudo de gules, dos leones de oro, afrontados, armados y lampasados de azur.

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the mouth drawn as a semicircular (round) base; the field enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the two lions outlined in the colour of the field and illuminated in Or and Azure; and the whole finished with a watercolour effect.

He was born in 1157, being the third of eight children of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, elder brother of Eleanor Plantagenet. He was king of England between 1189 and 1199, although he spent much of his life far from it; in fact, during his ten-year reign, he was on English soil only twice, which together did not amount even to six months. He died in 1199 in Normandy.

In 1198, during the Battle of Gisors, he supposedly used, as watchword or as motto, the expression «Dieu et mon Droit ~ God and my right». This phrase refers to his refusal to bow before Emperor Henry VI, since by his rank Richard acknowledged only God as superior. Later, Henry V of England adopted it as his motto, and since then it has been used by the British monarchy.

According to [Humphery-Smith, C.; 1983], Richard the Lionheart was the first English king who can be proved to have borne arms, although some of his predecessors may also have had them. He bases his statement on the existence of two seals of Richard I: on one, Richard bears a shield with a rampant lion, and on the other there already appear the three lions that are the forerunners of the arms of England. The use of this second seal does not imply that he stopped using the first.

In contrast, there are also British authors who maintain that his shield actually bore two affronted lions; this hypothesis is based on the lion on his first seal facing to sinister. That latter hypothesis is the one interpreted in this shield, remaining a purely artistic interpretation and without my entering into a complex and open discussion about how, when, and why the three leopards, «leones pasantes ~ lions passant» for the English, appeared —a discussion in which there are various alternatives— ranging from the combination of his hereditary arms to the wish to have more lions than his younger brother, who would later be King John I of England, to possible influences from other European realms.

This version of Richard I’s shield is similar to the imaginary shield of Hector of Troy, Gules with two lions Or affronté, which is a term used when «two things are placed facing each other, like two Lions, two Dogs, or other animals that look at one another» [Avilés, J.; 1725a; page 32].

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Lion, Or, Combatant, Armed, Langued and Azure.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Richard I of England.

John I of England

John Lackland ~ Juan sin Tierra ~ Sans-Terre.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Existing arms interpreted as follows: the mouth of the coat of arms is semicircular (round); the field has been enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the three leopards are outlined in Sable and illuminated in Or and Azure; and the whole is executed with a raised-stroke effect.

Regarding this version of the shield of John I, [Humphery-Smith, C.; 1983] writes that «Richard's younger brother John... bore two lions because he was a junior member of the Plantagenet line», thus showing his belonging to a second level of the ruling family, although, after his brother Richard I of England, he not only ended up being king but it was also his line of succession that continued to reign in England.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: John I of England.

John Lackland

King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1199 to 1216.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Arms of King John interpreted with: a rounded (semicircular) base; the field enamelled with a flat tint of Gules; the leopards illuminated in Or and Azure, outlined in Sable, all three of the same size; and the whole finished with a crystalline effect.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Crystalline.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: John I of England.

Henry III of England

King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine from the year 1216 to the year 1272

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the mouth of the shield is semicircular (round); its field has been enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; its leopards are illuminated in Or and Azure and outlined in Sable; and the whole has a finish of aged parchment.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Old parchment.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Henry III of England.

Edmund Plantagenet

Arms interpreted as follows: the mouth of the shield is semicircular (round); the field enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the label and figures illuminated in Or and Azure and outlined in Sable; and the whole finished with a watercolour effect.

The one with the Cross on his back ~ Crouchback (1245–1296)

Arms of England; overall, a label Azure of three points, each charged with three fleurs-de-lis Or in pale.

Arms interpreted as follows: the mouth of the shield is semicircular (round); the field enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the label and figures illuminated in Or and Azure and outlined in Sable; and the whole finished with a watercolour effect.

He was the second son of King Henry III of England, and took part in the Ninth Crusade, hence the epithet «Cross on the back».

In 1253 he was appointed Earl of Chester, holding dominion, among others, over the county of Cheshire, but the following year Pope Innocent IV granted him the crown of Sicily, so he ceded his earldom to his elder brother Edward I of England, however, he never came to occupy the throne of Sicily.

The label is an honourable ordinary and also «a kind of mark of cadency, and the most noble of all those used to differentiate the Arms of the younger sons of a House» [Avilés, J.; 1725a; page 248] and it can likewise be used by the eldest son while his father's arms are still in use, ceasing to bear the label when he inherits his father’s coat. When both the eldest and the second son bear a label, the latter’s label then has more points or is charged with figures to distinguish it.

The label is constructed with «a fillet, which is one-ninth of the width of the chief, with three pendants in the form of carpentry wedges or ill-shaped triangles, joined to it without any line of separation, falling twice as far as the fillet is wide, two placed at the ends and one in the middle, its usual position being in the centre of the chief’s length, without reaching the edges of the shield» [Avilés, J.; 1725a; page 248].

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Surmounted, Overall (deprecated), Label, Suspended, Charged and Fleur de lis.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Edmund Plantagenet.

Edward I of England

Apodado el Zanquilargo ~ Longshanks.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Escudo de armas que he interpretado con: la boca de medio punto; el campo esmaltado de tinta plana de color gules; los 3 leopardos iluminados de metal oro, color azur y delineados de sable y el que está en punta es algo menor para adaptarse a la forma del escudo; y el conjunto tiene un acabado rugoso.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Rough.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Edward I of England.

Edward Longshanks

King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Coat of arms interpreted with the following features: the mouth is semicircular (round); the field enamelled in a flat tint of Gules; the three leopards illuminated in the metal Or and the colour Azure, outlined in Sable, and the leopard closest to the base has a different shape and size; and the whole finished with a fabric-like texture.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Fabric.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Edward I of England.

Edward II of England

First Prince of Wales from 1301 to 1307, King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 to 1327.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the mouth rounded; the field illuminated Gules; the figures illuminated in Or and Azure, outlined in Sable, and the third leopard slightly smaller; and the whole finished with a plastered effect.

Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Gesso.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet and Kingdom of England.

Bearer: Edward II of England.