Duke of Norfolk - Coats of Arms

Coats of Arms

The coat of arms of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk consist of four different elements: the arms (or shield), the crest(s), the supporters, the motto, and the batons of the Earl Marshal. Each will be addressed in turn:

• The Arms: Quarterly 1st Gules on a Bend between six Cross-crosslets fitchy Argent an Escutcheon Or charged with a Demi-lion rampant pierced through the mouth by an arrow within a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the first (Howard); 2nd Gules three Lions passant gardant in pale Or, Armed and Langued Azure, in chief a Label of three points Argent (Thomas of Brotherton); 3rd Checky Or and Azure (Warenne); 4th Gules a Lion rampant Or, Armed and Langued Azure (Fitzalan).
• The Crests: 1st On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant gardant with tail extended Or gorged with a Ducal Coronet Argent (Thomas of Brotherton); 2nd Issuant from a Ducal Coronet Or a pair of Wings Gules each charged with a Bend between six Cross-crosslets fitchy Argent (Howard); 3rd On a Mount Vert a Horse passant Argent holding in the mouth a Slip of Oak fructed proper (Fitzalan).
• The Supporters: Dexter a Lion sinister a Horse both Argent the latter holding in his mouth a Slip of Oak Vert fructed proper.
• The Motto: Sola Virtus Invicta (Virtue alone is unconquered).
• The Batons: Placed behind the shield two gold Batons in Saltire enamelled at the end Sable (black), which represent the Duke of Norfolk's office as Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England.

Often, the coat of arms of the Duke of Norfolk appears with the Garter circlet of the Order of the Garter surrounding the shield, as seen in the arms of Miles Stapleton-Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk. However, this is not hereditary; the 17th Duke did not become a Knight of the Garter until 22 April 1983. The 18th Duke of Norfolk, Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, as of 2012 had not been awarded the Order of the Garter. No order of knighthood is necessarily a component of the coat of arms of the Duke of Norfolk.

The shield on the bend in the first quarter of the arms (shown to the right) was granted as an Augmentation of Honour by Henry VIII to Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Flodden Field. It is a modification of the Royal coat of arms of Scotland. Instead of its normal rampant position, the lion is shown with a rod through its mouth.