Meghan Markle's coat of arms represents California in a special way
The design was personally approved by the Queen
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Your support makes all the difference.The newlywed Duchess of Sussex has been granted her own coat of arms, Kensington Palace has announced.
The coat of arms was designed to personally epitomise Meghan, as it’s symbolic of both her previous home in California and new residence at Kensington Palace.
The design was approved by the Queen and Thomas Woodcock, garter king of arms and senior herald in England.
Meghan played an important role in conceiving the arms’ final design, ensuring that it represented her as accurately as possible.
The coat of arms consists of a blue background on the right hand side of the shield, which is symbolic of the Pacific Ocean which is situated off of the California coast where Meghan grew up.
The two rays placed across the blue background represent the Californian sun, while the three quills included in the design are meant to depict “communication and the power of words”.
There’s even further reference to California on the coat of arms in the form of the golden poppies, the American state’s official flower, depicted underneath the shield.
The golden poppies on the design are joined by wintersweet, a type of flower that is known to grow at Kensington Palace where Meghan and the Duke of Sussex live in their Nottingham Cottage.
The songbird on the right hand side of the coat of arms, a “Supporter”, has been purposely designed with its wings in flight and an open beak to also be symbolic of the power of communication, something that Meghan no doubt believes strongly in as an experienced orator.
The “Coronet” at the top of the coat of arms, which is a small crown, is the one that is offered to sons and daughters of the Heir Apparent, in keeping with the Royal Warrant of 1917.
Some people on social media have questioned why the songbird that represents Meghan has been illustrated with a crown around its neck.
Acccording to Fleur-de-lis Designs, this particular design feature is supposed to symbolise "high dignity".
A married woman’s coat of arms is placed alongside those of her husband, as stated by Kensington Palace.
That's why the left hand side of the design includes the coat of arms Prince Harry, which he was granted on his 18th birthday.
“The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design,” said Mr Woodcock.
“Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the arms of the Duchess of Sussex stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British Royal Arms.
“Heraldry as a means of identification has flourished in Europe for almost 900 years."
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