HERALDRYAt formal occasions, members wear a
distinctive blue velvet mantle featuring
the St George Cross sewn into the left hand
shoulder; a black velvet Tudor bonnet adorned
with a white ostrich feather; a weighty collar
with a Tudor rose bordered by the garter (the
beady eyed may spot a representation of it on
Buckingham Palace’s gates); and the garter
itself, worn around the left leg. St George’s Chapel,
Windsor, remains its official mother church, and
members meet at Windsor Castle each June, where
new investitures take place in the Throne Room.
On its original, highly exclusive and elite list were the
king himself and the Prince of Wales (thereafter known
asa Royal Knight Companion of the Garter); all other
members were required to already be knights, and eachone is represented in portraits in the Bruges Garter Book,
which today resides in the British Library. To be made
a member is a significant honour; they take precedence
over all other knights in the land and above baronets too.
There are a number of legends that surround its origins,
the most attractive of which is that, at a ball in Calais, the
King gallantly retrieved the Countess of Salisbury’s
garter when it slipped, admonishing those who expressed
shock with the words that would become the order’s
motto. However, less game historians have suggested
this is unlikely to have been the case; since in the 14th
century, garters were more typically worn by men.
Other theories have it that the foundation of the Order
is in homage to Richard I, who tied garters around the
legs of his knights during the Crusades. King Edward
wrote, “...some afferme that this order began fyrst by
kynge Rycharde, Cure de Lyon, at the sege of the citye
of Acres; where, in his great necessyte, there were but
26 knyghtes that fyrmely and surely abode by the kynge;
where he caused all them to were thonges of blew leyther
about theyr legges. And afterwarde they were called the
knyghtes of the blew thonge.” [sic]
If it was indeed Richard who began the tradition, it was
Edward who imbued it with ceremony and splendour.
Wi i l r IIIalso appointed ‘Ladies of the
Garter’, a tradition that unhappily
ceased with Henry VII, although
was later reinstated. In 1987,
a statute enabled women to be
named Ladies Companion of the
Garter, and today, male members
of the Order are titled “Knights
Companion” and female members
are called “Ladies Companion”.
All this enshrined medieval
radition may sound impossibly
istant, but while most people may
ot be able to trace an original coat
f arms for their family, most will
e able to identify one with familial
nnections to their name. Websites
ch as http://www.4crests.com allow you
search your name and yield
ick results. However, for a more
-depth search, you can register
th The National Archives
ww.nationalarchives.gov.uk),
on-ministerial government
partment that holds the greatest
lection of heraldry in the country.
eanwhile, for those who wish
reate their own coat of arms, the
r esare ess r cae han for age-old heraldry but by no
means non-existent; applicants must first apply to the Earl
Marshal for approval. Heraldry is traditionally associated
with the grand, but new developments have made it far
easier to trace your own family’s heritage, meaning
that it has at least partially shaken off its aristocratic
associations to become a more universal pursuit.
A sign of the times indeed. nClockwise,
from left: The
Procession of the
Garter Knights
and Ladies to St
George’s Chapel
at Windsor Castle;
Queen Elizabeth
II in attendance;
The Most Notable
Order of the
Garter, bestowed
by Henry VII on
Maximilian I in 1489©NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/JAMES AUSTIN/DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ALAMY/© DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE ARCHIVE