Tudor Crown

The Tudor Crown, also known as Henry VIII's Crown, was the imperial and state crown used by the monarchs of England and Great Britain from around the time of Henry VIII up to the English Civil War in 1649. It was described by the art historian Sir Roy Strong as "a masterpiece of early Tudor jeweller's art", and its form has been compared to the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

Its date of manufacture is unknown, but Henry VII or his son and successor Henry VIII probably commissioned the crown, first documented in writing in a 1521 inventory of Henry VIII's jewels, naming the crown as "the king's crown of gold". More elaborate than its medieval predecessor, it originally had two arches, five crosses pattée and five fleurs-de-lis, and was decorated with emeralds, sapphires, rubies, pearls, diamonds and, at one time, the Black Prince's Ruby (a large spinel). The centre petals of the fleurs-de-lis had images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and St George, in an effort by Henry VIII to secure his position as head of the new Church of England. The crown was mentioned again in 1532, 1550, 1574 and 1597.

Tudor Crown (heraldry)

The Tudor Crown, also known as the King's Crown or Imperial Crown, is a widely used symbol in heraldry of the United Kingdom. Officially it was used from 1902 to 1953 representing not only the British monarch personally, but also "the Crown", meaning the sovereign source of governmental authority. As such, it appeared on numerous official emblems in the United Kingdom, British Empire and Commonwealth.

While various crown symbols had been used for this purpose for many years previously, the specific Tudor Crown design was standardised at the request of Edward VII. It was never intended to represent any actual physical crown, although in shape it bears a close resemblance to the small diamond crown of Queen Victoria.

Upon the accession of Elizabeth II, she requested the design to be replaced with a representation of the St Edward's Crown (with depressed arches) which she wore at her coronation. Many, though not all, of the derived designs around the world were updated to match.