CRESTS & COATS OF ARMS INDEX
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The British royal arms are probably the. best known in the world.
They have been unchanged since Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837,
but they had many variations before that. The first king whose arms are known
was Richard I (1189).
In 1340 Edward III quartered them with the lilies of France to stake his claim to the French throne.
He used France ancient — multiple lilies; from 1405 the shield bore France modern — three lilies only. The Stuarts, from 1603, quartered these arms with those of Scotland and Ireland. George I added his family arms of Hanover in 1714, and in 1801 the French lilies were finally dropped.