Royal Heraldry in the Stairwell at Government House

One of the heraldically interesting things that they have done at Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Province, in Victoria, British Columbia, is to display the coats of arms of important visitors: kings, queens, princes, princesses, and, of course, Governors General of the nation of Canada.

It is, if you will, an architectural liber amicorum, or "book of friends", whose visits to and overnight stays at Government House are remembered.

Today, we're going to look at the shields of some of their royal visitors which are displayed in the main staircase going from the ground floor up to the next one.

From left to right in this picture, we have the arms of:

His Majesty King George VI;

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, née Bowes-Lyon (more familiarly, to me at least, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother;

Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, daughter of King George V (1897-1965). for those of you less familiar with her, Princess Mary has her own entry on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Princess_Royal_and_Countess_of_Harewood;

Queen Elizabeth II;

and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel; born 25 December 1936) the only daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.

And then we have, also from left to right:

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon;

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who visited in 1951;

Her Royal Highness, the Princess Elizabeth (shortly afterwards Queen Elizabeth II), also in 1951;

Prince George, Duke of Kent. Again, for those of you less familiar with Prince George, he has his own entry on Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_George,_Duke_of_Kent.

What a great way to commemorate the visits of members of the Royal Family over the years!

Smaller Coats of Arms in the Large Stained Glass Window in Government House

You may (or may not) have noticed some other coats of arms to be found in this large armorial stained glass window in Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of British Columbia, Canada.

Well, today we're going to look at those in more detail.

Once again, you will be served best by clicking on the images below to see the full-size version where the real detail in this window can be seen, as these individual panels are very small and hard to make out in the space allowed here.

In the lower left-hand portion of the window, among the panels which commemorate former Governors of the Province and Lieutenant Governors (each placed beneath the cyphers of the Crowns under which they served: Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II), going from left to right we find the arms of:

Frederick Seymour: Governor of the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 1866-1869. Frederick Seymour was born on 6 September 1820 to Henry Augustus Seymour and Margaret Williams, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father was the illegitimate son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Seymour. The arms are: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Or on a pile gules between six fleurs-de-lis azure three lion passant guardant or; 2 and 3, Gules two wings conjoined in lure or; all within a bordure wavy ermine.

And further along:

Sir Henri Gustave Joly de Lotbinière: Lt. Governor 1900-1906. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Gustave_Joly_de_Lotbinière. Per fess Azure and Argent in chief perched on the trunk of a tree fesswise Or two partridges Argent all ensigned by the coronet of a French marquis Or and in base issuant from water three bulrushes proper.

Now, moving to the right-hand side of the window:

Here again, we move from left to right, to find the arms of:

Robert Randolph Bruce, Lt. Governor 1926-1931. Or a saltire on a chief engrailed Gules a beaver statant Argent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Randolph_Bruce

Walter Stewart Owen: Lt. Governor 1973-1978. (I have been unable to find a blazon of his arms. A very rough blazon would be: [Field] a sword erect with a hanging balance at its tip on a chief a crown between a [something round-ish] and a rose.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Stewart_Owen

Henry Bell-Irving: Lt. Governor 1978-1983. Quarterly first and fourth Argent three holly leaves proper second and third Azure on a fess Argent between three bells Argent two dogwood flowers proper leaved Vert seeded Or. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Pybus_Bell-Irving

Col. Robert Gordon Rogers. Lt. Governor 1983-1988. Or an eagle displayed Azure beaked and legged Gules charged on the breast and wings with three escutcheons Or each charged with a pine tree Proper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gordon_Rogers

David C. Lam, Lt. Governor 1988-1995: Gules a Chinese dragon Or reaching for a pearl Argent on a chief Or a Latin cross Gules between two pine trees Vert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lam

Col. Garde B. Gardom, Lt. Governor 1995-2001. Or an open book Argent bound Azure charged with a representation of the Mace of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in bend Or between a chief dancetty of five and in base three barrulets wavy Azure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garde_Gardom

More Arms in the Large Stained Glass Window in Government House

Getting back now to the big armorial stained glass window in Government House in Victoria, British Columbia, we're going to take a closer look at the other coats of arms to be found there.

As a reminder, here's the overview picture of the window in its entirety.

In the lower half of the window, in the second panel from the left, we find this achievement of arms:

These are the arms of Jeanne Sauvé, Governor General of Canada 1984-1990. Her arms are blazoned: Azure the Mace of the House of Commons of Canada Or in bend between in chief an Eagle displayed Or bearing in its beak a bolt of lightning Gules and in base a Lion passant guardant Or imperially crowned proper holding in the dexter paw a Maple Leaf Gules fimbriated Or. We will see these arms again a little later.

Looking again, still in the lower half of the window but in the second panel from the right, we see this achievement of arms:

These are the arms of Col. Robert Gordon Rogers, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia 1983-1988. His arms are blazoned: Or an eagle displayed azure beaked and legged gules charged on the breast and wings with three escutcheons or each charged with a pine tree proper. Crest: Issuant from a wreath of trillium flowers argent seeded or barbed vert a demi-eagle displayed azure gorged of a ducal cornet or. Motto: Aquila alte volat (The eagle flies high). Supporters: Two catamounts or semy-de-lys azure each gorged with a chaplet of maple leaves gules. We will see these arms again, too.

Coming up next time: More coats of arms from this amazing stained glass window.

It's International Heraldry Day!

Today is June 10, 2025, and once again it is time to celebrate International Heraldry Day!

Others have probably said it better than I could:

International Heraldry Day  focuses on one day each year when heraldry in all its forms is celebrated worldwide. Regardless of jurisdiction, geographic area, customs, favored styles and favored period, the community focuses on wider enjoyment of heraldry. The goal of the organizers is that eventually all heraldry enthusiasts will acknowledge the event in the years to come. The celebration was started in 2013 within the International Association of Amateur Heralds (IAAH). Tomasz Steifer (Poland), a Fellow of the IAAH described the effort:

“….We propose that this international day of heraldry at 10 June. On that day, in the year 1128, in Rouen was knighted, by his future father in law, Henry I Beauclerc, Godfrey Plantagenet. Suspended during the ceremony on the neck of [the] young knight [a] shield [of] blue decorated [with] six golden lions, [which] is recognized by most of the heralds, for the first time in history, [as a] fully formed coat of arms.”

Are we enthusiastic about this annual celebration of all things heraldic?

Why, yes. Yes, we are.

Though maybe not quite as much as some: "It’s like lions and unicorns and sinisters and rampants and shit and we’re like all over the slogans in Elvish and that yeah."

Anyway, Happy International Heraldry Day to you and yours!

An Armorial Stained Glass Window

During my recent trip to Victoria, British Columbia, the members of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada were treated to a visit to Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

And one of the treats that we saw while there was this large heraldic stained glass window:

I recommend clicking on the image above to see the full-size version of this picture.

At the center of the upper part of the window you can see the achievement of arms of Canada, above which is the arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland within the garter of the Order of the Garter and royally crowned, between the initials "E R", for Queen Elizabeth II.

The arms of Canada are flanked on the left by the arms of the United Kingdom, and on the right by the arms of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Here's an image of the Hudson's Bay Company arms that I took on my previous trip to Victoria way back in 2007.

But I digress.

In the center of the lower part of the window we find the achievement of arms of British Columbia, flanked on the left by the old arms of the Dominion of Canada (which are a shield combining the arms of the then-seven Provinces), and on the right by the arms of Canada as established in 1921 and as they are now.

Once again, I highly recommend that you click on the picture of the window to get to the larger version where you can see all of these arms more clearly.

Later, we'll look at some of the other coats of arms that are to be found in this lovely work of stained glass.

A Great Display of National and Provincial Heraldry

While wandering the streets of Victoria, British Columbia, I found myself walking by Confederation Garden Park which, in addition to having a lot of tourists (including me) and a large attractive fountain, has a great display of Canadian heraldry.

The central coat of arms is, of course, the full achievement of the arms of Canada:

And then, flanking the central achievement of arms, we find the coats of arms of the thirteen provinces of Canada:

On the left side, from left to right, the arms of Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario:

And on the right, from left to right, the arms of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut:

As you can see, although it took a bit of patient waiting and some careful timing, I did manage to get photographs of all of these shields without any tourists blocking the view.

And please feel free to click on any of the images above to go to a larger, more detailed picture to get the full effect of the detail in these coats of arms. They are well worth the look!

Anyway, it was nice to see such a great display of heraldry, right out there in the open for anyone walking by to enjoy!

Can You Guess Where I Went on My Most Recent Trip?

I recently came back from my first trip in two years. If I give you a heraldic clue, can you guess where I went?

Okay, not the clearest clue, I will admit. Is this one better? 

Here's another hint: here are the arms of the country I went to:

Many of you will recognize where I was now.

That's right! I was off in the "wilds" of British Columbia, Canada.

Specifically, I had returned to Victoria, British Columbia, for the annual general meeting of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. (Jo Ann and I had gone to Victoria in 2007 for that year's annual general meeting of the RHSC. Alas, this trip had to be made on my own owing to her death from cancer last October.)

I didn't happen to run across any depictions of the arms of the city of Victoria, but as you can see below, there are plenty of portrayals of the arms of British Columbia to be found, especially in Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor, which we visited while we were there:

The arms of British Columbia are blazoned as: Argent three bars wavy Azure issuant from the base over all a demi sun in splendour Or a chief of the Royal Union Flag charged in the centre with an antique crown Or.

That blazon is taken from the website of the CHA, hence the British spellings of “centre” and “splendour”.*

Victoria is a lovely city in a beautiful setting, and it was nice to be able to spend some time again there, and to see the use of the provincial coat of arms in various places.

* I am reminded of the old saw:

   Q: What is the difference between grey and gray?

   A: Grey is a colour, while gray is a color.