The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the

Great Officers of State Government in medieval monarchies generally comprised the king's companions, later becoming the royal household, from which the officers of state arose. These officers initially had household and governmental duties. Later some of these offic ...

in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest heraldic court in the world that is still in daily operation. The historic title of the post was the ''High Sennachie'', and he was given the title of Lord Lyon from the lion in the

coat of arms of Scotland The coat of arms of Scotland, colloquially called the Lion Rampant, is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland, and later used within the coat of arms of Great Britain and the present co ...

. The post was in the early nineteenth century held by an important nobleman, the Earl of Kinnoull, whose functions were in practice carried out by the Lyon-Depute. The practice of appointing Lyon-Deputes, however, ceased in 1866.

Responsibilities

The Lord Lyon is responsible for overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, for the granting of new

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

to persons or organisations, and for confirming proven pedigrees and claims to existing arms as well as recognising clan chiefs after due diligence. The Lyon Register (officially the ''Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland''), on which the Lord Lyon records all Scotland's coats of arms, dates from 1672. The Lord Lyon formerly also registered and recorded clan tartans, only upon request from the

clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard ci ...

, but this function has been taken over by the Scottish Register of Tartans. As Lyon Court is a government department, fees paid for granting coats of arms are paid to the Treasury. The misuse of arms is a criminal offence in Scotland, and treated as tax evasion. Prosecutions are brought before Lyon Court, Lord Lyon being the sole judge. Appeals from the Lyon Court can be made to the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

in Edinburgh. There is no appeal if the Lord Lyon refuses to grant a coat of arms, as this is not a judicial function, but an exercise of his ministerial function, although an appeal by way of judicial review may succeed if it can be shown that the Lord Lyon acted unreasonably.

Equivalents

The Lord Lyon has several English equivalents: * Being responsible for Scottish state ceremonies he parallels the

Earl Marshal Earl Marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...

in England. * The Lord Lyon is the heraldic authority for Scotland, much as the English Kings of Arms are responsible for granting arms in England. England has three "Kings of Arms", or high heraldic officers (Lord Lyon is Scotland's only one): Garter Principal, Clarenceux (responsible for southern England), and Norroy and Ulster (responsible for northern England and Northern Ireland). Unlike the English Kings of Arms, who cannot grant arms without a warrant from the (English) Earl Marshal, Lyon does not need permission, but grants by his own power. * Whilst in England the Court of Chivalry (which last met in 1954) is a civil court, in Scotland the Lyon Court meets often and has criminal jurisdiction. Lord Lyon is empowered to have assumed coats of arms, and whatever they are affixed to, destroyed. As an example, when Leith Town Hall, now used as a police station, was renovated during the 1990s, several of the coats of arms decorating the Council Chamber were found to be attributed to the wrong person. The police were given special permission to retain the display, on condition that the tourist guides pointed out the historical anomalies. The Lord Lyon is also one of the few individuals in Scotland officially permitted to fly the "Lion Rampant", the

Royal Banner of Scotland The Royal Banner of the Royal Arms of Scotland, also known as the Royal Banner of Scotland, or more commonly the Lion Rampant of Scotland, and historically as the Royal Standard of Scotland, (, ) or Banner of the King of Scots, is the royal ban ...

Symbols of office

A new collar of state was made in 1998 – a chain with 40 gold links, replacing the item that went missing after the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

. In 2003 a new crown was made for the Lord Lyon, modelled on the Scottish royal crown among the

Honours of Scotland The Honours of Scotland (, ), informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, are the regalia that were worn by List of Scottish monarchs, Scottish monarchs at their Coronation_of_the_British_monarch#Scottish_coronations, coronation. Kept in the ...

. This crown has removable arches (like one of the

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

's crowns) which will be removed at coronations to avoid any hint of lèse majesté.