Kensington Palace has revealed the Duchess of Sussex’s new Coat of Arms.
When former actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19, she became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, and she’s now been granted a Coat of Arms to reflect her new status.
Kensington Palace said Meghan worked closely with the College of Arms to create a Coat of Arms that was “both personal and representative” of her.
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Thomas Woodcock, who is Garter King of Arms, said: “The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design.”
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Meghan paid tribute to her Californian roots by choosing the colour blue for the background of the shield, to represent the Pacific Ocean.
Other nods to California include two golden rays to symbolise the sunshine and a cluster of golden poppies, which are California’s state flower.
The three quills represent communication and the power of words, which has always been important to Meghan.
On either side of the shield are two ‘Supporters’ to represent Meghan and Harry – Meghan’s supporter is a songbird, again with a quill to represent communication.
Prior to marrying Harry, she ran a lifestyle blog called The Tig and has often said she wants to give a voice to women who may not have one otherwise.
Other personal touches include wintersweet, which grows at Kensington Palace, where she now lives with Harry.
Meghan has also been assigned her own Coronet composed of two crosses patée, four fleurs-de-lys and two strawberry leaves.
The Coat of Arms belonging to husband, The Duke of Sussex, is also present; royal tradition decrees the arms of a married woman are ‘impaled’ with her husband’s arms, which means shown side by side on the same shield.
The Queen agreed and approved the design.
Mr Woodcock said: “Heraldry as a means of identification has flourished in Europe for almost nine hundred years and is associated with both individual people and great corporate bodies such as Cities, Universities and for instance the Livery Companies in the City of London. ”
He added: “Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the Arms of The Duchess of Sussex stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British Royal Arms.”
Meghan and Harry married at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19.
They were granted the titles Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the day of the wedding; they are also the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton and the Baron and Baroness of Kilkeel.
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