A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various

hereditary title Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often d ...

s (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include:

Australia

* Australian peers

Belgium

* Belgian nobility

Canada

* British peerage titles granted to Canadian subjects of the Crown * Canadian nobility in the aristocracy of France

China

Chinese nobility The nobility of China represented the upper strata of aristocracy in premodern China, acting as the ruling class until , and remaining a significant feature of the traditional social structure until the end of the imperial period. The concepts ...

France

* Peerage of France *

List of French peerages For an explanation of the French peerage, see the article Peerage of France. Note that peerages and titles were distinct, and the date given for the extinction of the peerage is not necessarily the same as that of the extinction of the title. Fo ...

* Peerage of Jerusalem

Japan

* Peerage of the Empire of Japan * House of Peers (Japan)

Portugal

* Chamber of Most Worthy Peers

Spain

* Chamber of Peers (Spain) * List of dukes in the peerage of Spain *

List of viscounts in the peerage of Spain This is a list of present and extant viscounts in the peerage of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain hold by people with Spanish citizenship. Note that some of the titles are only used as subsidiary titles. This list does not include extinct, dormant ...

* List of barons in the peerage of Spain * List of lords in the peerage of Spain

United Kingdom

: : : Coronet of a British Duke

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

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Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

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Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award: *Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement a ...

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List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom) Post-nominal letters are used in the United Kingdom after a person's name in order to indicate their positions, qualifications, memberships, or other status. There are various established orders for giving these, e.g. from the Ministry of Justice ...

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College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

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Garter Principal King of Arms Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior king of arms and officer of arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The position has ...

: King of Arms :

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

Arms_of_the_Most_Noble_Order_of_the_Garter

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

: List of people who have declined a British honour :

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

: Baronage of Scotland :

Substantive title A substantive title, in the United Kingdom, is a title of nobility which is owned in its own right, as opposed to titles shared among cadets, borne as a courtesy title by a peer's relatives, or acquired through marriage. Current monarchies * ...

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Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

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Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

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Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...

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Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

:: :: ::: : Australian peers and baronets : Australian knights and dames :

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

: Table of precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia :

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(''established February 14, 1975) : Canadian peers and baronets : Canadian titles debate :: ::: Order of precedence in British Columbia :: ::: Order of precedence in Newfoundland and Labrador : New Zealand royal honours system : Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand : New Zealand Order of Merit (''established May 30, 1996'') : New Zealand royal honours system : Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom : Dukes in the United Kingdom : List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : List of dukedoms in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : : Marquesses in the United Kingdom :: ::: List of marquesses in the peerages of Britain and Ireland ::: List of marquessates in the peerages of Britain and Ireland :: ::: ::: :Marquessates in the Peerage of Scotland : List of earls in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : List of earldoms :: ::: : List of viscounts in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : List of viscountcies in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : List of barons in the peerages of Britain and Ireland :

List of hereditary baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom #REDIRECT List of hereditary baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom {{R from other capitalisation ...

: List of baronies in the Peerage of England : List of baronies in the peerages of Britain and Ireland : List of life peerages : List of lordships of Parliament : List of peers 1790–1799 : List of peerages created for women : List of peerages inherited by women : Standing Council of the Baronetage :: ::: Baronage of Scotland ::: Lords in the Baronage of Scotland : :Dormant peerages : List of extinct baronetcies : :Extinct dukedoms in the Peerage of England : :Extinct baronies : :Extinct dukedoms : :Extinct earldoms : :Extinct marquessates : :Extinct viscountcies : :Forfeited peerages : :Forfeited earldoms in the Peerage of England :

Peerage law The British peerage is governed by a body of law that has developed over several centuries. Much of this law has been established by a few important cases, and some of the more significant of these are addressed in this article. Peerage dispute ...

: Baronies created by error : Cash-for-Honours scandal : False titles of nobility : Titles Deprivation Act 1917 :

List of fictional nobility This is a list of fictional nobility that have appeared in various works of fiction. This list is organized by Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble rank and limited to well-referenced, notable examples of fictional members of nobility. Dukes a ...

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Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

'' : : : : : : The Scots Peerage : Roll of the Peerage