College of Arms (London)

 public institution, historical building, heraldic authority

www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1484 by King Richard III, and is a corporate body consisting of the professional heralds who are delegated heraldic authority by the British monarch.

Based in London, the College is one of the few remaining government heraldic authorities in Europe. Scotland has its own heraldic authority in Lord Lyon King of Arms and the Court of the Lord Lyon. The College also grants arms to citizens of other Commonwealth countries that do not have their own heraldic authorities. (Canada and South Africa have their own heraldic authorities, the Canadian Heraldic Authority and the Bureau of Heraldry, respectively.)

In addition to designing and granting new arms, the College fields many requests from people attempting to demonstrate descent from an armigerous (arms-bearing) person; a person descended in the male line (or through heraldic heiresses) from such an ancestor may be reissued that ancestor's arms (with differencing marks if necessary to distinguish from senior-line cousins). To that end, the college is involved in genealogy and the many pedigrees (family trees) in their records, although not open to the public, have official status. Anyone may register a pedigree with the college, where they are carefully internally audited and require official proofs before being altered.

Heralds were originally messengers; and to this day the officers of the College of Arms occasionally step back into that role by publicly reading Royal proclamations, notably at the accession of a new sovereign. They also have a part in planning for and guiding participants through state ceremonies, such as coronations, the introduction of new peers into the House of Lords, and the ceremonies of orders of chivalry. For these public appearances, the officers of the college wear costume representing their place in the Royal Household, either simple red livery or the herald's traditional colourful outfit of a tabard emblazoned with his master's arms (in this case the royal arms). On these occasions they are sometimes preceded by state trumpeters (with whom they should not be confused).

The College of Arms occupies a building on Queen Victoria Street, London in the City of London, not far to the south of St. Paul's Cathedral. The site was granted to the college when it was re-incorporated by Philip and Mary I in 1555, and the present 17th century building dates from after the Great Fire of London in 1666.