The Prince of Wales
His Royal Highness is the 21st to hold the title of The Prince of Wales.
As Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness holds a number of titles. The use of these titles and the heraldry associated with them is governed by various rules.
The Prince is strongly identified with his badge The Prince of Wales’s Feathers, the use of which dates back to the 14th Century and the time of Edward, The Black Prince.
The Prince is also one of three members of the Royal Family able to grant Royal Warrants of appointment to companies. The company is then entitled to display The Prince of Wales’s Feathers on their products.
In addition to the feathers, The Prince has a coat of arms with long historical links with the heraldry of his ancestors.
The Prince also has three standards: his Personal Standard, Standard for Scotland and his Standard for Wales. They are used depending on where His Royal Highness is visiting the United Kingdom. In 2011 The Prince of Wales, along with his son The Duke of Cambridge and The Queen were awarded the honour of new Standards for Canada. These were designed by the Canadian Government to further strengthen the links between Canada and the Crown.
In addition to the title The Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness holds a number of other titles. Some are used depending on where he is in the country such as The Duke of Rothesay when he is in Scotland, and The Duke of Cornwall when he is visiting the South West of England. Other titles have been inherited in the same way but are not actively used, such as the Earl of Carrick.
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Prince of Wales is a title historically used by native, independent Welsh princes and –since the 14th century – by the heir apparent of the English and later British throne. Historically, the title was held by native Welsh princes before the 12th century; the term replaced the use of the word king. Wikipedia
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Prince of Wales’s feathers The Prince of Wales’s feathers is the dexter British monarchy heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales. It consists of three white ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet with a ribbon below bearing the German motto “Ich dien”.Wikipedia Armiger: Charles, Prince of Wales
Escutcheon: A plume of three ostrich feathers argent enfiled by a royal coronet of alternate crosses and fleur-de-lys, the coronet – usually studded with emeralds and rubies – can also feature small sapphires.
Motto German: Ich dien (I serve)
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After the battle, Edward rode through the battlefield and found a dead mercenary troop leader. This soldier was German who sold his services to whoever would pay and on his armour was emblazoned the motto Ich Dein, meaning ‘I serve’. So that his men could see him properly in the heat of battle, the German had a helmet with three ostrich plumes. Edward picked up this unusual trophy and adopted it as his coat of arms. Since that day, the Prince of Wales’ emblem has been the three feathers with the legend Ich Dein. Source
The motto is spelt ich diene on the tomb of the Black Prince, Edward Prince of Wales, at the time of his burial at Canterbury in 1376.
Queen Elizabeth II announced on Saturday that she wants Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to be named “Queen Consort” when Prince Charles ascends to the throne.
After hosting a reception at Sandringham Estate on the eve of Accession Day, the Queen, 95, released a statement reflecting on her 70-year reign.
“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service,” she wrote.
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As I was researching the symbolism of the Brooch that was created for the Platinum Jubilee, I found it was all tied very intricately to the Heraldry of the Royals. I pulled a few items that I found very interesting. They follow here. I hope they will help you gain some insight.
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The Welsh Dragon (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch, meaning “The Red Dragon) is a heraldic symbol that appears on the national flag of Wales. The oldest recorded use of the Dragon to symbolise Wales is in the Historia Brittonum, written around AD 829, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders.spacer
The Chivalric Order of the Dragon, the Medieval shield of Christendom – Ancient Origins
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Order of the Dragon – Wikipedia
An example of the certificate that was given to a member of the US military in 1951. The Domain of the Golden Dragon is an unofficial but highly coveted award of the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard. It is given to crew members of ships which cross the International Date Line. (This might be a good time for you to check out my series on the line crossing ritual performed by EVERY naval vessel crossing ANY dateline. Even cruise ships and commercial lines have started practicing it. Below is part one…following the links through all 6 parts.
Are You Having A Mari-time? Part 1 – The Ritual
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Albion ancient name of England, attested in Old English, from Latin, sometimes said to be from the non-Indo-European base *alb “mountain,” which also is suggested as the source of Latin Alpes “Alps,” Albania, and Alba, an Irish name for “Scotland.” But more likely from Latin albus “white” (see alb), which would be an apt description of the chalk cliffs of the island’s southern coast.
Breoton is garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu geara Albion haten. [translation of Bede’s “Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,” c. 900 C.E.]
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The Ancient and Sovereign Dragoncourt and Order
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Archaeology has shown that Neolithic (the earth did not even exist, at least not the earth as we know it. It is possible that it was RECREATED, but then, there would be no archeological evidence of the people that existed prior to the RECREATION. ADAM was the FIRST man and EVE the first woman and that was only 6,000 years ago.) cultures worshiped a female deity, the Creatrix, the Mother of the Gods. Ancient matriarchies embraced a holistic, body-affirming, earth-centered worldview, and considered all life to be sacred. The Goddess was everywhere, within every being, and humanity was just another part of nature. Moving from the Near East to Europe, the pagan creation story is the pre-Hellenic Pelasgian Creation Myth, which depicts the creation of the universe by Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things. (This is what the elite have been working hard to recreate in our world. The worship of the feminine. That is why you will often here women spouting the phrase “Girls Rule” or “The future is Feminine”. They are rewriting history and promoting the idea the True Creator is a feminine entity. They want you to believe that if women ruled there would be no war, be no evil. HA! True history proves that women are just as evil and warlike as men. If you don’t believe that look at the Feminnazis of today. Those women who rejoice in killing babies and want to kill ALL MEN. Our FATHER GOD is not a woman. The Patriarchal society is HIS design. Pagans who did not know our Father, made up all kinds of stories and worship whatever demonic entity ruled over the land they occupied.)
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There is a reason why this NEW BROOCH was commissioned. Everything about it is symbolic and significant. There is a message within it. A message for us the commoners and a message for the ruling elite.
Where I felt it might be helpful I included sources. Otherwise, I employed as man sources as possible and pulled from them what I felt was significant and/or important. Pardon me for not including each and every source. My own thoughts, opinions and/or comments are in green as usual.
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There was more modest symbolism at work that evening, which may not have been obvious to most onlookers. It was powerful symbolism, nonetheless — and it was the Queen’s brooch. This beautiful piece of adornment had never before been seen in public, having been created especially for the occasion of the Jubilee.
t is made up of seven diamond-set bands representing each decade of the Queen’s reign. Decoratively, it features the rose, the thistle, the daffodil and the shamrock – national flowers of the UK’s four nations. A lily of the valley flower also blooms from the bands. Not only is it one of the Queen’s favourite flowers, it was part of her 1953 Coronation bouquet. The lily of the valley stem was a special addition to the original design at the behest of the PalaceThe brooch is made of 18-carat white gold, platinum, 97 round brilliant-cut diamonds (2.50 carat) and seven fancy-cut diamonds (0.40 carat). On its reverse, it is laser-hallmarked with the commemorative Platinum Jubilee mark as well as the Leopard’s Head mark, showing that it has been hallmarked in London. Appropriately, the marks were applied by the 700-year-old Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office. Source
The wrapping of the rings of this brooch are very reminiscent of the wrap on the Queen’s green hat.
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Ok. Let’s BREAK IT DOWN
Lily of the Valley
Why did they add the Lily of the Valley?
One of the meanings of lily of the valley also comes from its bell shape. There’s a belief that its little bells can call spirits. Another symbolism also relates to the shape of the flower. Some of the older people say that the flower can communicate with the outside world. Source
Convallaria majalis or Lily of the Valley –Bell-shaped white blooms with glossy leaves and small orange-red berries. Seen in clusters hanging down around the stems, with six to twelve flowers on each, spreads by means of rhizomes that grow horizontally below the ground and is regarded as invasive in some due to its roots that can crowd out native plants. Though adorable and sweet-smelling, they contain cardiac glycosides that are poisonous when ingested. Can symbolize sweetness, purity of heart, trustworthiness, and humility, modesty, chastity, and purity and this is what makes them a favorite for bridal bouquets.
In Britain, the lily-of-the-valley is worn during the Furry Dance, which is commonly held in Helston, Cornwall, to celebrate the arrival of spring and summer. Source
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Wales
Ancient and Royal Order
of the Golden Dragon
“resurgere a malignis”
translated as
“to rise from adversity”.
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WIkipedia : Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-liketepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shapedcorona. The flowers are generally white and yellow (also orange or pink in garden varieties), with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.
The flowers, which are usually conspicuous and white or yellow, sometimes both or rarely green, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an outer ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The flowers may hang down (pendant), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamenssurrounding a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous blackseeds.[4]
Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically,
As a spring flower and the first to bloom, daffodils are symbols of rebirth and hope. They signify new life and resilience as they are strong little survivors who have weathered the winter storms. Daffodils’ cheerful bright yellow and white colours are a symbol of positivity.
Because of the Greek myth with which it is associated, the flower has historically been associated with excessive self-love, deceitful hopes, uncertainty and unrequited love. In fact, the term narcissism is derived from the name Narcissus.
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Daffodil As A National Flower. The daffodil is the Welsh National Flower. Its flowering coincides with the first of March and St David’s Day, the patron saint of Wales. The flowers’ faithful blossoming year after year is equated to David’s faithfulness to his people. Daffodils Chinese Symbolism (St. David -grandson of Ceredig ap Cunedda, king of Ceredigion)
The Latin name for daffodil is Narcissus. It is believed to be named after the son of the river god from Greek mythology. Narcissus was celebrated for his beauty, but he was arrogant. The goddess Nemesis noticed this and lured him to a pool where he fell in love with his own reflection.
Some sources say while he was staring at his reflection nymphs transformed him into a narcissus flowerto get revenge for how he treated them. Others think he drowned trying to capture his reflection, and the flowers growing along the riverbed were named after him. Some even liken the nodding heads of daffodil flowers to Narcissus bending down and gazing at his reflection.
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Scotland
Order of the Thistle/
Nemo me impune lacessit
translated as
No one provokes me with impunity
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Scotch Thistle
Thistles or Cirsium may be best known for their showy purple and pink flowers and their prickly foliage. But these perennials are also important for pollinators, as well as a source of food and folk medicine. The national symbol of Scotland, Thistles are part of the Cirsium genus, which belongs to the Asteraceae family.
The thistle flower has a distinct prickly touch and grows spiny leaves that keeps it from being eaten by wildlife. Considered one of nature’s toughest flowers, it’s one of the most debated plants by gardeners. Some call it a weed while others view it as an excellent source of medicine and food, as well as a beautiful ornamental plant.
The name Cirsium comes from the Greek word for swollen veins, or kirso. Thistles were once thought to cure vein ailments.
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Greek Monolingual
(A varicose ) permanent pathological enlargement of a vein that occurs most often in the lower extremities .
[ ΕΤΥΜΟΛ. Uncertain etymol. Connected prob. with circus , ring , due to the shape of the veins, so it is reduced to IE root kir – k – ” turn , bend ” and the original t. would be kirk – y – os .
Circe | Greek mythology | Britannica
Circe, in Greek legend, a sorceress, the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and of the ocean nymph Perse. She was able by means of drugs and incantations to change humans into wolves, lions, and swine. The Greek hero Odysseus visited her island, Aeaea, with his companions, whom she changed into swine. Circe was a goddess of Greek mythology. Her father was the sun god Helios and her mother was, depending on the source, either a naiad or the goddess of magic Hecate. She is rarely described as a goddess though. Most people think of Circe as a sorceress, a witch, or even a temptress. She is most famous for her role in the epic story of Odysseus.spacer
To the Victorians, a gift of thistle flowers served as a warning against unwanted meddling. Known as the flower of intrusion, thistles also play symbolic roles in other cultures. As the national flower of Scotland, thistles stand for bravery, strength, and luck, while in France, thistles were believed to offer protection against witchcraft.
Native to Europe and the Mediterranean, but also common in the United States, Scotch thistle (Cynara cardunculus, zones 7-10) is a slow-growing biennial. Identify Scotch thistle by its rich purple blooms and the thick, spiky hairs on its leaves. Scotch thistle was once an ornamental plant, rich with symbolism, but is now considered an invasive weed.
In the Basque region of France, the thistle is considered a symbol of protection. It is also called the “flower of the sun“ and the “herb of witches”. It’s used as protection against evildoersbecause people believe that witches cannot look directly at the sun. The thistle is often seen on the front doors of the homes of this region.The flower’s pink and purple colors The Thistle represents nobility and royalty. It is also a symbol of Intrusion
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The Scottish Thistle: Purple, Powerful and Proud – Highland Titles
Oct 12, 2021
The thistle represented King James and the rose represented Princess Margaret. The thistle features in the name of many Scottish football clubs, most well known is Partick Thistle Football Club, but there are many others that play in lower level leagues too. The Scottish thistle appears on a number of coins.
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Thistles: Protective Magic and More – PaganSquare – PaganSquare
Jan 30, 2022
Thistles were scattered in grain fields to drive away demons and the seeds were burned to cure illness caused by evil spirits. In addition to warding off evil, a thistle flower carried in the pocket was said to avert melancholy. Thistles were planted in gardens to prevent thieves from entering a house. cer
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Britain
motto Honi soit qui mal y pense
(Middle French for
‘Shame on him who thinks evil of it’
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ENGLAND: TUDOR ROSE
ENGLAND: TUDOR ROSEThe national flower of England is the rose, but not just any rose. The Tudor rose was adopted by Henry VII as England’s emblem of peace at the end of the War of the Roses, the civil wars between the royal house of Lancashire and the royal house of York. The Tudor rose, which combined red and white roses, came to symbolise peace between the houses. A red rose is used by sports teams like the England Rugby Union team, while the stylised image of the tudor rose is seen on the dress uniforms of the guards at the Tower of London and in the royal coat of arms.spacer
The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor rose consists of five white inner petals, representing the House of York, and five red outer petals to represent the House of Lancaster.
In the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485), Henry VII, of the House of Lancaster, took the crown of England from Richard III, of the House of York. (In battle, Henry under the banner of the dragon of his native Wales and Richard III fought under the banner of the boar.[1] )
Richard III thus brought to an end the retrospectively dubbed “Wars of the Roses“. Kings of the House of Lancaster had sometimes used a red or gold rose as a badge; and the House of York had used a white rose as a badge. Henry’s father was Edmund Tudor, and his mother was Margaret Beaufort from the House of Lancaster; in January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York to bring the two factions together.. The white rose versus red rose juxtaposition was mostly Henry’s invention, created to exploit his appeal as a ‘peacemaker king’.[2] The historian Thomas Penn writes:
The “Lancastrian” red rose was an emblem that barely existed before Henry VII. Lancastrian kings used the rose sporadically, but when they did it was often gold rather than red; Henry VI, the king who presided over the country’s descent into civil war, preferred his badge of the antelope. Contemporaries certainly did not refer to the traumatic civil conflict of the 15th century as the “Wars of the Roses”. For the best part of a quarter-century, from 1461 to 1485, there was only one royal rose, and it was white: the badge of Edward IV. The roses were actually created after the war by Henry VII.[2]
On his marriage, Henry VII adopted the Tudor rose badge conjoining the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. The Tudor rose is occasionally seen divided in quarters (heraldically as “quartered”) and vertically (in heraldic terms per pale) red and white.[3] More often, the Tudor rose is depicted as a double rose,[4] white on red and is always described, heraldically, as “proper” (that is, naturally-coloured, despite not actually existing in nature).
Red Roses
It’s almost universally understood that red roses mean love and romance. They are the traditional Valentine’s Day gift between lovers and will pack every florists shop from February 1 until after the holiday.
The meanings and symbolism behind red roses, however, are deep-rooted and ancient. For centuries of human history, the red petals of the rose have sparked relationships and spoken passion and desire.
Roses are sometimes known as the queen of flowers, and they are perhaps the richest in symbolism, whether in Christianity, classical myth, or modern (especially romantic) literature. But the symbolism of roses is a curious topic, because red and white roses have attracted such starkly different connotations.
In Greek myth, roses are closely linked with Adonis, the lover of Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip and died in Aphrodite’s arms as she wept; the first red roses were said to have sprung up from his blood as it soaked into the earth, staining the nearby white roses a deep crimson. This helps to explain how red roses came to be inextricably linked to romantic love (and adorn millions of Valentine’s Day cards every year): the idea is that such love transcends death and lives on beyond the lovers’ own short lives.
The Romans even had a festival named Rosalia, which was celebrated on various days in May and June every year in the Roman calendar and involved paying tribute to the spirits of the dead; roses figured heavily in the festival, as the name suggests. And speaking of festivals, Dionysian festivals in ancient Greece and Rome often featured roses, which were worn as garlands because roses were thought to prevent drunkenness. And if you were knocking back the wine in honour of Dionysus (or Bacchus in Roman times), you probably needed something to ward off a stupor. Greeks and the Romans gave special significance to the red rose particularly, tying it in with their goddesses of love. During banquets commemorating goddesses like Aphrodite and Venus, red roses would festoon the temples and the petals of flowers would cover the floors. Rose petals would also be put into the drinks and were thought to be aphrodisiacs for the occasion of lovers.
During Roman times, it became common for peasants to raise roses to give as tribute to their rulers, especially the emperor. Later, roses were often used to pay debts to sovereigns due to their association with wealth and power.
This is probably how the rose came also to symbolise discretion. To this day, the Latin expression sub rosa (literally, ‘under the rose’) denotes something said under the veil of secrecy.
In both Christian and pagan tradition, then, the rose is closely related to the idea of resurrection and rebirth. In ancient Greece, it was a common custom to lay roses upon graves for this reason.
The mystical community known as the Rosicrucians even took its name from the Latin for ‘rose’ and ‘cross’, with its symbol being a cross (specifically, a saltire- A St. Andrew’s cross, or cross in the form of an X, — one of the honorable ordinaries.) with a rose in each of the four corners and a fifth rose in the centre.
Later, as the Virgin Mary became a more central focus of Christian worship, she became associated with the rose, and was often depicted surrounded by them.
Red itself is a profound color of emotion. In the West, it is a color that signifies both danger and love ñ two things that aren’t always separate.
A Swedish King popularized the idea of sending flowers when he used them to send messages in the 1700s, copying from the Persian use of flowers as messenger’s tools to keep the enemy from understanding the true message.
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The spiritual meaning of a white rose represents change, transformation, spiritual growth, and evolution. In some cases, it can represent unconditional love and neutrality. It also represents the intuitive aspect of female energy and trusting your own intuition.
So what is the meaning of a white rose? The most common belief is that a white rose represents purity, innocence, and youthfulness. In alchemy and mysticism, a white rose represents a partner in a sacred union of duality that creates our physical reality; it represents the feminine energy in our feminine/masculine dualistically charged world.
It serves as a placeholder for both spiritual perfection and earthly chaos. It represents the great dualities that exist in life: life and death, time and eternity, masculine and feminine, fertility and virginity.
In the West, the white rose carries the same symbolism as the white lotus in Hinduism. It represents the spiritual center and the concept of primordial birth from the cosmic waters of creation.
Since the Early Bronze Age dating back to 3300 BC, the 8-petaled white rosette was discovered to represent the Goddess Inanna, which is the Babylonian equivalent of the Goddess Ishtar, representing Venus. Her feminine energy represented the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
In alchemy, the white rose represented the dualistic nature of our reality. It appears often in conjunction with a red rose, representing the masculine and feminine energies that are necessary to create our world. White roses represented lunar, feminine, intuitive energy, and was often associated with the metal silver.
Throughout history and the broad symbology that has been assigned to the white rose, the repeated belief is that it represents the law of nature: nothing lasts forever, everything must die in order to be reborn again.
What Is The Spiritual Meaning Of A White Rose?
Spiritually, a white rose holds a great deal of significance, which is why it has such a rich history of symbolism in various religions and cultures around the world.
On an energetic level, roses are said to have one of the in the plant kingdom – and are almost the same vibration that humans resonate with. In the eyes of energetics, roses represent perfection, balance, and harmony.
In many psychic and spiritual practices, visualizing a rose is an energy tool used to transform and move energy out of one’s energetic space. This is because it can pull any unbalanced energy into perfect harmony and send it back to universal consciousness.
Because the rose has such a high vibration, it is a common physical object that Spirit likes to communicate with. This symbol, along with the vibration, can send a strong spiritual message.
In many countries and cultures, white roses are given at funerals and are gifted to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
So, do white roses symbolize death? White roses do not represent the literal act of dying; rather, they convey the spiritual significance of what death represents.
In the Tarot, the Death card is depicted with death holding a flag with a white rose on it. This can confirm the idea of that a white rose represents death; however, that card shouldn’t be interpreted literally.
In the Tarot, the death card is actually a positive card, as it represents the end of something and the beginning of something else. In this way, the card represents change and evolution. You can see the sun rising in the horizon, representing new possibilities that exist when things end.
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Ireland
its motto is Quis separabit?,
Latin for
“Who will separate [us]?”
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The Shamrock has heart-shaped leaves that grow in variable shades of green and purple tones, three leaves each. Shamrock plants bloom periodically, with small delicate five-petal clusters of light pink or white flowers which peek out from clusters of leaves throughout their growing season.
Shamrocks can be found with purple leaves instead of green, or with leaves that are purple in the center. Oxalis species may have green, purple or patterned leaves. The five-petaled flowers are borne on long stalks. Different species have white, yellow, pink or red flowers.
We do know that shamrocks have three leaves. In other words, shamrocks and four-leaf clovers (pictured) are not the same. A four-leaflet clover (speaking of true clover) is a mutation of common three-leaflet white clover (Trifolium repens) that grows in lawns and is notable for its spherical white flowers. It takes a rare genetic mutation (1 in 10,000) to get that extra leaf which is why it’s so difficult to find a four-leaf clover.
For four-leaf clovers, their luck has a history. Druids believed that the four leaves represented the four elements of alchemy: earth, fire, water, and air. They used them as charms against bad spirits.
The shamrock was a meaningful symbol to the Irish pagans before the arrival of Christianity, due to its connection to the number three. The Triskelion Ancient Celtic cultures used the three-sided theme as a powerful representation of several ideas, including nature, man, and spirit. The triskelion, a three-wheeled design, shows up frequently in their carvings, artwork, armor, and in the knot-work typical of their people.
In light of the outfits worn by the Queen for the Celebration, I found this next species of the Shamrock very interesting.
Tip of the Week: Four-leaf clover is a myth, since this classic good luck symbol actually has four-leaflets on a single leaf. Oxalis tetraphylla (tetra = four, phylla = leaf or leaflet) does exist and is called iron cross on account of the markings at the base of its leaflets. But it is still an Oxalis species, not in any way related to true clover. (Source)
Now we have determined that one type Shamrock can actually have four leaflets though most have three and only three. But on the Brooch they used the blossom or bloom from the Shamrock. The flower on the shamrock only has five petals. So, why did they give it six?
Note in the photo above the Oxalis tetraphylla, does indeed have for leaflets. The center of each are purple and the form the maltese cross. Also note the pink and white flower. Now look at the outfits the Royals are wearing.
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A large statue of the sacred bull Apis (left)
Ox or Bull is a rugged symbol of strength and sacrifice. When faced with hard tasks, Ox provides endurance
ox definition: 1. a bull (= male cow) that has had its reproductive organs removed, used in the past for pulling. The average weight of the ox is a mighty 1,500 to 3,000 pounds! When two oxen are yoked together for pulling a wagon or plow, one is the older and more experienced one who leads the other.
The Ox is also associated with the Earthly Branch and the hours 1-3 in the morning. Oxen are the hard workers in the background, intelligent and reliable, but never demanding praise.
Assyrian soldiers of Ashurbanipal worshiped a statue of Adad (also known as Ramman), the god of tempest and thunder The bull was also associated with the storm and rain god Adad, Hadad or Iškur. The bull was his symbolic animal.
Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the “bull of Utu“. In Hinduism, Shiva‘s steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India, is the subject of various other cultural and religious incarnations as well as modern mentions in New Age cultures.—
Celts
Tarvos Trigaranus (the “bull with three cranes”) is pictured on ancient Gaulish reliefs alongside images of gods, such as in the cathedrals at Trier and at Notre Dame de Paris. In Irish mythology, the Donn Cuailnge and the Finnbhennach are prized bulls that play a central role in the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (“The Cattle Raid of Cooley”). Early medieval Irish texts also mention the tarbfeis (bull feast), a shamanistic ritual in which a bull would be sacrificed and a seer would sleep in the bull’s hide to have a vision of the future king.[20]
Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, describes a religious ceremony in Gaul in which white-clad druids climbed a sacred oak, cut down the mistletoe growing on it, sacrificed two white bulls and used the mistletoe to cure infertility:[21]
Bull sacrifices at the time of the Lughnasa festival were recorded as late as the 18th century at Cois Fharraige in Ireland (where they were offered to Crom Dubh) and at Loch Maree in Scotland (where they were offered to Saint Máel Ruba).[23]
The following article was so interesting and well composed that I felt it would benefit you to see it as posted. Skip it if you like, but you will miss some very good information.
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I am including the following to demonstrate that initially the symbol used to verify the authenticity and quality of gold or silver in the British realm was a lion walking or a lion’s head. I propose that we can see the evidence that the kingdom changed headship, both physically and spiritually by looking at the changes in the symbol of the lion’s head. Which apparently had a major change right before the reign on Queen Victoria.
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Queen’s Jubilee: The ‘Thank You’ Brooch
On its reverse, it is laser-hallmarked with the commemorative Platinum Jubilee mark as well as the Leopard’s Head mark, showing that it has been hallmarked in London. Appropriately, the marks were applied by the 700-year-old Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office
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In 2022, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, seventy years of service, having acceded to the throne in 1952. To celebrate the occasion, the body which oversees UK hallmarking, the British Hallmarking Council, has sanctioned a commemorative component mark. Designed by Thomas Fattorini Ltd, the mark depicts an orb, and can 
be applied to precious metal, alongside a hallmark, by any one of the four UK Assay Offices.
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This mark tells you which Assay Office tested and hallmarked the article. The historic image of the leopard’s head, the town mark for London, and the mark of the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, continues to be internationally recognised as the stamp of approval and guarantee of quality from the renowned home of hallmarking. (This Leopard head replaced the Lion they used to use.) Leopards are the symbol of fearlessness. They represent survival, mystery, and transformation. Aided by a keen sense of sight and hearing, it can stalk its prey almost inconspicuously, thereby suggesting silence, sensitivity, mystery, secrecy and nocturnal magic. The Lion was the symbol of Royalty and Authority. The Royals claim blood right to the throne and the Bible says “the scepter shall not depart from Judah. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is Christ. Interestingly, the switch to the Leopard occurred just before Victoria’s Reign. Source
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Note that the current symbol shown above left, is very clearly not friendly. It looks very evil and it has a vector on it’s forehead. Certainly it looks very little like a lion’s head. And thought the “Leopard” was meant to mean the Lion/Leo pasant, people have begun to see it as a leopard and refer to it that way.
Here you can clearly see that is a LION. Both the walking version and the head. It is a Royal lion with the CROWN. As ordained by God.
Here you see the more evil and cat link version. It seems to have lost it’s crown in the later part of 1820.
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Here are three of the earliest versions on the Lion’s head. Clearly a lion and clearly wearing the crown.
LEOPARD’S HEADIn the reign of Edward I it was decided that the fineness of silver for both coin and wrought plate should be standardised and thus the statute of 1300, titled “Vessels of Gold shall be essayed, touched, and marked. The King’s Prerogative shall be saved” , was enacted making sterling (11oz 2dwt in the troy pound) that standard for all English silver. This statute was originally written in old Norman French, in which language the following directive is given: “E qe nul manere de vessele de argent ne parte hors des meins as overers tant qe ele soit assaie par les gardiens du mester e qu ele soit signee de une teste de Leopart“.
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The statute went on to say: “…..and that all the good towns of England, where any goldsmith be dwelling, shall be ordered according to this statute as they of London be;…..” and “…..and that one shall come from every good town for all the residue that be dwelling in the same unto London; for to be ascertained of their touch.“). A passage in the Goldsmiths’ Company’s charter of 1327 contains similar wording, although the word “fetch” instead of “ascertained” is used, with the addition of the sentence (“….also the punch with the leopard’s head with which to mark their work as was ordained in times past….”).
It can be seen from this that not only was the leopard’s head a standard mark but also that its use applied to all goldsmiths throughout the land and not just those working in London. It was not until 1856, when the statute of 1300 was repealed by the statute 19 & 20 Vict. c. 64, that the leopard’s head mark could have been used for any purpose other than a fineness mark.
There appears to be no evidence that representatives from any town did go to London to receive a punch of the Leopard’s head or that any Royal Commissioners, “responsible for assaying and marking in cities throughout the realm” in accordance with a statute of 1363 and an ordinance of 1379, were ever appointed. This has caused some authorities to attribute, quite erroneously, a dual purpose to this mark. Although it was designated as a standard mark and applied rigorously at the London Assay Office it appears not to have been so at other towns until the 18th century and has thus been said to be the London mark whereas, in fact, London had no distinguishing mark of its own at this time. This has led to some confusion since, in its capacity as the standard mark, it was later required to be stamped on plate assayed at the offices at Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Norwich, York and Newcastle when these were established at the beginning of the 18th century.
With the exception of Chester and Exeter, both of which offices had already ceased to use the leopard’s head by 1856 and Norwich and Bristol which had gone into decline by then, these towns continued to strike this mark on their plate throughout the 19th century. The last of these was Newcastle which closed its office in 1883.
London continued to use the leopard’s head on both gold and silver of sterling standard into the 20th century and by then was the only office so doing. It was not until 1975 however that they first struck this mark on silver of Britannia standard so that technically it is from that year that the leopard’s head can be truly said to be the London mark although, of course, it can be treated as if it were the London mark for the period between 1300 and 1697 and again between 1883 and 1975
(the author of the information about Leopard’s Head is David McKinley. A wide article about this matter written by David McKinley is available at http://www.silvercollection.it/ASCASMCKINLEYLEGAL.html )LEOPARD OR LION? SMP PUBLICATIONS
| Author | Topic: Why a lion? Why a leopard? |
| mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003 |
 posted 12-06-2005 12:13 AM   
A young friend who is interested in minutae asked me why the symbols for London silver are a lion and a leopard. How is it, she asked, that these tropical and far eastern animals came to symbolize the sterling of the realm, as early as the 14th century (anyone know because I don’t)? I can’t imagine that many, even educated, Londoners in the 1300s had even heard of lions or leopards, never mind seen one.Even more peculiar, the crowned and fierce leopard suddenly, in 1821, was reduced to a small, hatless (and one might say hapless) cat face, bearing more than a casual resemblence to a chimp or George Bush in some date cycles. What a let down. What gives? In skimming the usual sources I can’t find any answers, or even any suggestions of answers, but I surmise that those more informed than I, which would be most of the other members of these Forums, likely have an informed opinion to share. md [This message has been edited by mdhavey (edited 12-06-2005).] IP: Logged |
| tmockait Posts: 963 Registered: Jul 2004 |
 posted 12-06-2005 10:41 AM
As I understand it the “leopard’s” head is actually a lion, so we are talking about one question not two. The reason these symbols were chosen has little to do with silver and much to do with royalty. The lion as a symbol of royalty has roots as old as the book of Genesis. “Judah is a lion’s whelp . . . the scepter shall not depart from Judah.” Richard I, one of England’s most famous warrior monarchs, was dubbed “lion hearted.” The lion was the symbol of the English crown, so it became the logical mark for royal assayers to put on silver. The lion passant also graces the royal standard flown over Buckingham palace when the queen is in residence. Since Westminster was emerging as the capital, using a lion’s head as the hallmark for London also made sense.Because England was a unified monarchy long before its European counterparts, it had unifrom standard coinage and silver markings much earlier. I know the silver books all point to the 14th century as the origin of hallmarks, but I did find a curious reference to an official called the Knight of the Sterling who attended the court of the Exchequer when taxes were collected in the 12th c. Cheers, |
| swarter ModeratorPosts: 2920 Registered: May 2003 |
posted 12-06-2005 12:29 PM
My interpretation, which may be at variance with established tradition, is that Lions were exterminated from England long ago and that it is possible that with the loss of familiarity, people did not realize that female and young male lions lack the mane; in fact, only adult males of some populations have the large, full manes depicted on the earlier lion punches. By the time the crown was eliminated from the lion’s head, shortly before Victoria’s reign, only the whiskers remained. People may have interpreted the maneless lion head as that of a leopard, which they knew has no mane. |
| Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000 |
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| tmockait Posts: 963 Registered: Jul 2004 |
posted 12-08-2005 11:32 AM
I am not sure that the quote proves they meant a real leopard. The language of law at that time would still have been Latin, and the heraldic term “leopard” would have been widely understood. Clive’s observation that leopard (Leo pasant) meant lion in this case probably holds. I suspect that either the statue used the term “leopard’s head” as it would have been understood at the time or that Jackson or whatever source he used just translated the orignal statute using the understood term leopard’s head.By the way, Tardy notes that the London Gold and Silversmiths Guild used the leopard’s head as early as 1180. This date corresponds with “knight of the sterling” reference I found. Tom |
I submit to you that in the early stages the Royals were the rightful heirs of the throne. At some point in history, EVIL USURPERS took the crown by the power of the evil one who currently rules over the earth.