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Arms of The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office

The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office

Under the Authority of

የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ ምክርቤት

The Crown Council of Ethiopia

Click here to contact The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office

 

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Symbols of authority have been an aspect of the Solomonic Civilisation since its foundation, and these were built on the symbols of authority of both the Davidic-Solomonic Crown of Israel and the symbology of the ancient Crown of Makeda and its relationship with the great stelæ of Axum. There have always been in the Solomonic Civilisation — as there were in the great houses of Cush which preceded it — marks which signified authority, prestige, and belonging.

Ethiopian monarchs, since their association with European (mainly Greek and Roman) and Asiatic (mostly Indian) traders on the Red Sea for more than 2,000 years, have found degrees of harmony between their own and foreign ranks of dignity. There was a particular link with European visitors during, in particular, the era of the Crusades, during which time various Ethiopian monarchs saw and adopted some foreign architectural design offerings. This process continued from mediæval times through the 20th century, as Ethiopia absorbed — and exported — cultural influences.

But, largely, Ethiopian Honours and symbols of office derived from local experience, as did the way in which Ethiopian kings and emperors conducted warfare with uniquely developed force and command structures, and approaches to the development of coalition operations engaging different societies within a multi-cultural empire.

In the years following the Zemene Mesafint[2] (The “Era of Princes or Judges,” 1769-1855 in the Western Gregorian calendar), Solomonic Kings and Emperors evolved and governed through the various traditional Ethiopian structures but also harmonised Ethiopian modes of Honours and recognition with international practice. Emperors and rulers going back to the European Middle Ages adopted or accepted Armorial recognitions which were comprehensible in European terms, for example, and, particularly beginning with Emperor Menelik II in the 19th century, a range of chivalric Orders were introduced which were structured in ranks and tiers identifiable in international terms.

Having said that, the oldest chivalric Order in the world remains Ethiopia’s Order of St. Anthony, founded as an Order of warrior monks around 370AD (in the Western calendar). That Order, still viewed as a martial and religious Order of warrior monks, remains within the gift of the Ethiopian Crown, and, although the Ethiopian Crown remains Sovereign of the Order of St. Anthony, the only measure undertaken by the Crown has been to appoint a Captain-General of the Order, which is the formal Order of the Crown’s Imperial Guard Regiment. The Crown has indicated that it would appoint an Abune as priest to the Order, but no Grants of ranks in the Order had ever, by 2025 (2017 in the Ethiopian calendar), been made.

By the time of the reign of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I (1930-1974), the practice of harmonising Ethiopian and international symbols of Honour, including Grants of Arms, had become formalised. The Emperor and the Duke of Harar each, for example, had recognisable Armorial Bearings. HIM Empress Menen and Crown Prince Asfa-Wossen, in the 20th century, also adopted seals and monograms in a style which is comprehensible in international circles.

Arms of The International Society for The Imperial Ethiopian Orders
The International Society for The Imperial Ethiopian Orders

The Crown Council of Ethiopia (የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ ምክርቤት) began in late 2020 (2013 in the Ethiopian Julian calendar) to consolidate its Registers and Rolls of Honours in order to add a definitive register and discipline in managing the symbols and rights of these Honours. To do this, it created the embracing Ethiopian Crown Honours Office (የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ የክብር እውቅና ቢሮ), directly under the President of the Crown Council and Sovereign of the Imperial Ethiopian Orders and Solomonic Family Orders. Thus, the function of maintaining the Rolls and Registers of Orders, Decorations, and Medals, and the function of maintaining the Rolls and Regulations of the Offices and Peerages — those promulgated by the Shumet (ሹመት) — of the Solomonic Crown have been united into a single office, directly under the Crown. The Office thus researches the historical precedence and records of the applications and protocols relating to various ranks, orders of precedence, and courtesies, including forms of address and insignia, regalia, and the like, of all relevant aspects of nobility, chivalric life, and Solomonic recognition. 

The Office functions, during the Interregnum and while the Crown is in the Diaspora, through The International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders [የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ የክብር ተሸላሚዎች አለምአቀፍ ድርጅት], a US legal, non-profit, tax-exempt entity for the purposes of operations, and for tax and charitable status. Its President and Officers are considered Members of the Solomonic Household. Their duties include the establishment and pursuance of research into Ethiopian cultural, genealogical, and other historical matters, both of the various Ethiopian Peoples, at home and in the Diaspora.

For the purposes of this document, the terms “Solomonic household,” “Royal household,” and “Imperial household” are essentially interchangeable. 

 

ETHIOPIA’S SYSTEM OF HONOURS

Ethiopia’s Solomonic Honours system stems from the reality that the nation had gathered together its component societies under the strong leadership of the Neguse Negeste (ንጉሠ ነገሥት), the King of Kings, not just during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I, but during earlier iterations of Solomonic leadership. 

The degree of centralisation of power is evident in Ethiopian society, where what in the West is called empire is, in Amharic, called “the land of the King of Kings.” And yet the empire was always a collection of diverse peoples, cultures, and traditions, choreographed into the Ethiopian tapestry.

As a result, the Solomonic Crown is “embodied” in the person of HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, as President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. Thus, as the fons honorum,* HIH Prince Ermias has overseen the dispensation of ranks and Honours — strictly regulated — and yet, over the past several hundred years, these have begun to harmonise with international norms. 

* The College of Arms (UK), The Court of The Lord Lyon, and The Canadian Heraldic Authority, historically and currently, are authorised to Grant Armorial Bearings under the fons honorum of the reigning British Sovereign (HM King Charles III). The fons honorum (lit. Fount of Honour) is a person, who, by virtue of their official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and Orders of Chivalry upon other persons. The Crown Council of Ethiopia is the Constitutional Body which advises the reigning Emperors of Ethiopia and, during an interregnum (such as now), actually acts as the Crown. The Council’s members are initially appointed by an Emperor, and subsequently (during an interregnum) sustained in their posts or replaced under the direction of the President of the Council.

 

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WHAT THE ETHIOPIAN CROWN HONOURS OFFICE DOES*

Introduction to the Regulations

The following regulations were developed by the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office to provide Armigers with a set of standards for the use of traditional heraldry Granted by the Ethiopian Crown Council. The Crown Council claims authority to mandate heraldic practices in the name of the Solomonic Crown of Ethiopia.

 

1.1   The authority for Granting Arms pertaining to the Ethiopian Crown is the Sovereign’s prerogative alone, and to assert global copyright over the use of Solomonic symbols and the output of the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office. The Crown (or, during an interregnum, the President of the Crown Council) acts in matters pertaining to Honours through the Chief of Honour, who serves at the pleasure of the Crown, although the President of the Crown Council may also serve as the Chief of Honour, either during an interregnum or during a regnant era.

1.2  In the absence of a sovereign, the President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, as defined by the Constitution of 1955, acts as regent and is vested with decision making authority to act on behalf of the Sovereign with regards to decisions on Honours and awards.a) Until re-establishment of the Ethiopian Monarchy, the term “Sovereign” refers to the President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, who is also Sovereign and Grand Master of all Ethiopian Orders, and fons honorum of all Imperial, Royal, and traditional ranks and dignities.

1.3  The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office was established to bring together any issues pertaining to Honours, Awards, and Arms on behalf of the Sovereign, and incorporates the Chancellery (ቻንስለር) of all Ethiopian Imperial and Royal Orders, Decorations, and Medals, as well as of the Rolls of Honour.

a) The Chief of Honour (yekebir yebelay wana tebaki: የክብር የበላይ ዋና ጠባቂ) is the Great Officer of the Solomonic Household responsible for establishing rules regarding Honours in concurrence with and in the name of the Crown and serves as the primary judicial officer responsible for regulating its heraldic procedures.

b) The Chief of Honour (የክብር የበላይ ዋና ጠባቂ), by warrant from the Sovereign and acting on behalf of the Sovereign and at the pleasure of the Sovereign, functions as an administrative judge responsible for adjudicating all issues pertaining to the Granting and regulating of Arms. The Chief of Honour may issue Grants, or refuse to issue Grants of Arms, in full or part thereof, for any reason. Additionally, the Chief of Honour may attaint any previously issued Arms previously issued by Crown Honours Office for conduct detrimental to the Crown.

c) The Chief of Honour is assisted in his/her duties by Guardians and Officers of Honour, and by advisors and other officers who may from time to time be designated.

1.4  For the purposes of these regulations, Ethiopian Honours may be defined as an hereditary system of emblems which are:

a) Centred on a shield;

b) Used to identify and distinguish individuals, families, and collective bodies;

c) Composed primarily of certain conventional and traditional tinctures and figures;

d) Designed and employed in primarily accordance with rules that have evolved in Europe and European-influenced countries over the past eight centuries.

1.5  Some of the rules governing heraldry grew out of the customary law of Arms that prevailed across most of Europe beginning in the Middle Ages. With isolated exceptions, these rules tend to be common to all countries in which heraldry is used. Other rules were developed from time to time to meet the social, legal, and political needs of Ethiopia.

1.6  While the extent to which heraldic rules are officially enforced has varied from country to country and time to time, it is understood that Arms are governed by a set of norms which enjoy general acceptance within the given society. While there is nothing preventing the use of graphic emblems of other kinds, those that diverge excessively from the established norms will not be regarded as heraldic.

1.7  Both individual and collective heraldry have been used in what is now the Ethiopia since the time of the earliest European traders in the 15th century. However, the word “heraldry” does not translate into Amharic because heraldry — in its European form — is not a common practice in Ethiopia. As a result, a set of agreed norms to which Ethiopian Honours symbology ought to comply has not been previously created. The purpose of these regulations on Ethiopian heraldic customs and etiquette is to fill this void in a way that is consistent with Ethiopian cultural and legal values, and the common international heritage of heraldry going back to the Middle Ages and yet incorporating the symbols and etiquettes which have traditionally prevailed in Ethiopia.

1.8  The development of these regulations has been shaped by the following fundamental principles:

a)  The primary purpose of the display of Arms has always been identification. Armorial ensigns have also filled a variety of other functions at different times and places, such as providing a symbolic focus for family, group, or national or tribal loyalty, or serving as a means of distinguishing one social class from another. These regulations are designed to encourage the use of symbols of Honour for purposes that are consistent with those ideals characteristic of the Crown, and to discourage uses that are at odds with those ideals;

b)  The Crown may confer titles of nobility, without ever having the power to attach privileges to them;

c)  The regulations reflect an understanding of the ethnic and national diversity of the Ethiopian people and seek wherever possible to avoid the universal application of practices that are peculiar to any specific foreign country;

d)  The regulations are derived from two main sources: (1) the shared body of norms that are common to most areas in which display of Honours has historically been used; and (2) the customary usages of Ethiopian symbolic Honours as inferred from actual historic practice. Practices which are specific to foreign countries are adopted only if they seem to fill an unanswered need within Ethiopian displays of Honours, and if the underlying rationale for the practice is consistent with Ethiopian conditions and values;

e)  The regulations consider that certain traditional norms of Honours (such as direct inheritance in the male line, differencing for illegitimacy, and restrictions on the way women may use Arms) are not consistent with the Crown. In these cases, the traditional rules are modified to take account of contemporary laws and customs.

1.9  Four overarching principles bear emphasis above all the others.

a)  It has always been perfectly legal and legitimate for any person in Ethiopia to design, adopt, and use an original set of Armorial Bearings of his or her choice. While some countries have laws or traditions limiting this right to bear Arms without official approval, such laws have no force whatsoever in this context. Having said that, the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office accepts and registers, at its discretion, the assumed Arms of Ethiopians and Ethiopian institutions, such as the Crown itself, from historical record, thus retrospectively recognising and protecting Arms which were not hitherto protected or otherwise formalised due to the lack of earlier legislation or custom within the Solomonic House;

b)  It has never been appropriate for a person to take someone else’s Arms for his own. Since Arms are hereditary emblems of identity, the proven descendants of a person who bore Arms have a right to those Arms in accordance with the rules of heraldic succession (section 3.4) applicable to the place and time. However, the mere coincidence of bearing the same family name as another person is not proof of descent from that person;

c)  The Grant, certification, or registration of Arms by a foreign heraldic authority confers no special right to the use of the Arms outside the country of origin. With regards to the Crown Council, therefore, the status of such Arms is precisely the same as the status of Arms designed and adopted unilaterally;

d)  Crown Honours should never be used to imply a personal status that the person bearing the Arms does not actually have.

* Abridged from the Regulations for Grants of Arms in the Gift of the Ethiopian Solomonic Crown, The Crown Council of Ethiopia, V1.4*, 2025 / 2017, pp 14-16. [*Updated through 23 ታኅሣሥ 2017 / 1 January 2025]

The Crown Council acknowledges the gracious support and advice offered by a team from the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society (CUHAGS), led by HE Edward Hilary Davis, GCEM, RML, in the development of the Regulations for Grants of Arms in the Gift of the Ethiopian Solomonic Crown, the basis for this system.

 

STRUCTURE OF THE ETHIOPIAN CROWN HONOURS OFFICE

  (as of 1 January 2025 / 23 ታኅሣሥ 2017)

 

Fons Honorum and President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia – የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ ምክርቤት ፕሬዘዳንት

    • His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie – ልዑልነታቸው ልዑል ኤርሚያስ ሳህለ ሥላሴ ኃይለ ሥላሴ
 
Blaten Geta – ብላቴን ጌታ (Scholar/Advisor)
    • His Excellency Dr. Gizachew Tiruneh, GCSE – ክቡርነታቸው ብላቴን ጌታ ዶ/ር ግዛቸው ጥሩነህ

 

Chief of Honour – የክብር የበላይ ዋና ጠባቂ
    • His Excellency The Most Honourable Gregory Rolph Copley, Marquess of Tana (የጣና ማርቁየስ), AM, GCHT*, GCEL, RML, President of The International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders (የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ የክብር ተሸላሚዎች አለምአቀፍ ድርጅት ፕሬዘዳንት)
 
Officers of Honour in Ordinary
    • Jerusalem Officer of Honour – እየሩሳሌም የክብር መኮንን

His Excellency Mark Aaron Murawski, CSE

His Excellency David Robert Wooten, GCEL, GOSE

 
Advisor to The Crown Council of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office
    • Agafari – አጋፋሪ (Chief of Protocol)

Her Excellency The Most Honourable Pamela von Gruber, Marchioness of Tana (የጣና ማርቁየስ), GCSE*, GCEL

 

THE REGISTRY OF ARMORIAL BEARINGS AND BADGES OF THE ETHIOPIAN CROWN HONOURS OFFICE CONTAINS ARMORIAL BEARINGS AND/OR BADGES THAT HAVE BEEN GRANTED OR REGISTERED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE CROWN COUNCIL OF ETHIOPIA, HIH PRINCE ERMIAS SAHLE-SELASSIE HAILE-SELASSIE, PRESIDENT.*

Imperial Armorial Bearings
 
Badges of Office of The Crown Council of Ethiopia
 
Grants of Armorial Bearings to Individuals & Organizations

* This Registry is intended for research purposes only. The heraldic emblazonments found herein may not be reproduced in any form or in any media without the written consent of The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office and/or the Armiger.

 

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 
How legitimate are Grants issued by the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office?

There are only a handful of entities that still issue Grants of Armorial Bearings to individuals (though, of course, almost every government has some office devoted to national, state, and municipal heraldic matters*).

Currently, the only extant entities authorized by either a Sovereign or a national government to actually GRANT Armorial Bearings are:

    • The College of Arms (UK) – a private corporation operating under the jurisdiction/authority of the Crown of England and forming part of the Royal Household
    • The Court of The Lord Lyon – has direct control of the assignation of Arms in Scotland, again operating under the jurisdiction/authority of the Crown of Scotland
    • The Canadian Heraldic Authority – financed by the Canadian Government, operates under the direct supervision of the King of Canada via the Office of the King’s representative, the Governor General

As stated, the above 3 offices operate under the authority of the Crown of England, the fons honorum resting in the person of HM King Charles III. It may be noted that both New Zealand and Australia “technically” fall under the purview of The College of Arms, though organizations within those countries have contested this.

    • The Chief Herald of Ireland – Under the auspices of The National Library of Ireland, itself an office of the Government of Ireland (however, as of January 2025 the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland’s website states: “The Office of the Chief Herald is currently not accepting any new applications for grants or confirmations of arms. We are not in a position to answer general queries about heraldry.”
    • The Bureau of Heraldry (South Africa) – this heraldic authority is headed by a State Herald (known unofficially as the National Herald since 2004); together with the Heraldry Council, it forms part of the National Archives and Records Service, which is currently under the authority of the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture – it should be noted, however, that this office does not GRANT Armorial Bearings, but rather REGISTERS them – an important difference

The above 2 offices operate in a very similar manner to each other and are under the authority of their own national governments, rather than under the fons honorum of a Sovereign.

The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office operates in a similar fashion to the of England, Scotland, and Canada, and thus is a very real part of the aforementioned “handful of entities” authorized and internationally recognized to actual Grant Armorial Bearings to individuals. The Solomonic Crown is “embodied” in the person of HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, as President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. Thus, as the fons honorum, HIH Prince Ermias has overseen the dispensation of titles, ranks, and Honours — strictly regulated. Over the past several hundred years, these have begun to harmonise with international norms. 

The fons honorum (lit. Fount of Honour) is a person who, by virtue of their official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and Orders of Chivalry upon other persons. The Crown Council of Ethiopia is the Constitutional Body which advises the reigning Emperors of Ethiopia and, during an interregnum (such as now), actually acts as the Crown. The Council’s members are initially appointed by an Emperor, and subsequently (during an interregnum) sustained in their posts or replaced under the direction of the President of the Council.

May a Petitioner receive a Grant from the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office that have “been in the family for generations?”

The short answer to this is “No.” Such a request would have to be accompanied by proofs from the original Granting entity, wherever that may be, stating that the Petitioner has the SOLE “permission” from that entity to bear the Arms in question.

By way of explanation the late esteemed English actor Christopher Lee traced his ancestry directly to Charlemagne. In 2010 Lee released a symphonic metal album paying homage to the first Holy Roman emperor — but his enthusiasm may have been a tad excessive. After all, says geneticist Adam Rutherford, “literally everyone” with European ancestry is directly descended from Charlemagne…

Imagine counting all your ancestors as you trace your family tree back in time. In the “nth” generation before the present, your family tree has “2n” slots: two for parents, four for grandparents, eight for great-grandparents, and so on. The number of slots grows exponentially. By the 33rd generation — about 800 to 1,000 years ago — you have more than eight billion of them. That is more than the number of people alive today, and it is certainly a much larger figure than the world population a millennium ago.

And if you REALLY want to study up on DNA research for individuals calculated to have the MOST descendants, look at Genghis Khan (at least 16 million men), Qing Dynasty ruler Giocangga, and another belonging to the medieval Uí Néill dynasty in Ireland.

The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office is not a research organisation and thus cannot verify with any certainty a Petitioner’s claim to any given genealogical descent. While the Petitioner may be entitled to inherit Arms borne by an ancestor, this Office is not in a position to study same. Thus, the only “historical” Armorial Bearings this Office would “use” in the development of Ethiopian Arms would be those Granted to the Petitioner by a recognized heraldic authority (such as the College of Arms, Lord Lyon, etc.).

As you can imagine, there are tens of thousands (or millions/billions) of possible descendants from any given historical figure (famous or infamous), and there are just as many incorrect or falsified genealogies floating about for every one of them. The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office simply cannot “enter the fray” in this area.

How does the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office have such lower fees for Grants as compared with the other 3 Armorial Granting entities?

There are several reasons for this:

    • The Ethiopian Crown Honours Office does not operate out of a “brick and mortar” facility, and thus there are extremely limited overhead expenses that must be passed along as part of the cost of a Grant.
    • There are no annual salaries for any member of the Office (though, it should be noted that in one or more of the aforementioned Granting entities, salaries for Officers of Arms are often extremely low, and the only remuneration such individuals receive comes from fees associated with the generating of a Grant).
    • From beginning to end, all design work is generated digitally by an Officer of Honour, rather than the timely and more labor-oriented process of manually sketching the initial design concept to the production of the final graphic image(s).
    • Grant certificates are created digitally and printed via a color laser printer on quality cardstock, allowing for extreme sharpness of detail without the understandably expensive costs pf hand-painting of the Armorial Bearings, layout and professional calligraphing the text of the entire document, as well as the price and scarcity of vellum upon which most Grants are created.
 
What sort of timeline is there for receiving a Grant of Armorial Bearings from the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office?

This is dependent upon numerous factors. There is no set timeframe for receipt of a Grant from the Office, as the following factors come into play:

    • Whether or not the Petitioner has already received a Grant of Armorial Bearings from one of the 3 Offices mentioned, or whether they have assumed Arms that have already been Registered by one of the few “recognized” entities that do so.
    • If the Petitioner has assumed personal Armorial Bearings, they have not been Registered by any Registering body
    • If the Petitioner has no Armorial Bearings whatsoever and requires the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office to work with the former to design and complete a wholly new set of Arms “from scratch.”
    • While it is expected that a certain number of back-and-forth communications and design modifications will occur, how quickly the Petitioner responds to, and decides upon, such communiques can protract the process. This is not to say that creation and completion of new Armorial Bearings should be a rush project in any way – Armorial Bearings, once finalized and Granted by this Office, they are considered immutable and remain with the Armiger throughout their lifetime.

 

Why can’t any combination or shades of colors be used in the creation of Armorial Bearings?

One of the basic “tenets” of heraldry is – “no color on color, no metal on metal.” Fairly self-explanatory, it simply means that a metal charge cannot be placed on a metal field, nor a color/tincture charge placed atop a color/tincture field. This is standard practice in the extant Granting Offices.

Quoting from the internet newsgroup rec.heraldry FAQ:

The “colours” used on shields are strictly called tinctures; there is a limited range which varies somewhat from place to place and time to time. These tinctures are divided into two groups: gold and silver, which are called the metals, and all the others, which are called the colours [tinctures – which include Black, Blue, Green, Red, and Purple].

In Woodward’s words, it is a “primary heraldic canon” that colour is not placed on colour, nor metal on metal. This rule was used to ensure that coats of arms could be easily recognised at a distance or in the heat of battle.

A further query along these lines relates to alternate “shades” of the primary tinctures used In heraldry. Quite often a Petitioner might request that “the blue in my arms is exactly Pantone 293C” (or some specific description). Aside from the traditional metals and tinctures (and a few additional odd exceptions), there is no system for defining a particular shade of any given color when rendering arms.

The colors used in heraldry are never precisely defined as to specific hue of that color, just so long as that color is clearly identifiable at a single glance. J. P. Brooke-Little, in his book Boutelle’s Heraldry says: “While the colours of heraldry are usually rich, they may vary as to shade within reasonable limits. No exact meaning attaches to the words gules, azure, etc.”

And further, from the College of Arms’ FAQs page regarding the query “What are the Pantone numbers for the colours used in heraldry?”:

There are no fixed shades for heraldic colours. If the official description of a coat of arms gives its tinctures as Gules (red), Azure (blue) and Argent (white or silver) then, as long as the blue is not too light and the red not too orange, purple or pink, it is up to the artist to decide which particular shades they think are appropriate.

Thus, while the blazon may simply describe something as Azure, the Armiger may specify to the artist painting their arms a preference for a particular shade of blue – provided it is within reason – if they choose to independently commission an artist of their choice to render the Achievement. However, the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office maintains a “standardized” palette of these tinctures, employed in all its Grants.

What does the recipient of a Grant of Armorial Bearings actually receive from the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office?

Once the design process for a new Grant of Arms is complete – whether starting “from scratch” or receiving a Grant based on pre-existing Granted or Registered Armorial Bearings, the Armiger will receive an 11”x17” / 280mm x 432mm colour-laser-printed Letters Patent certificate on sturdy cardstock. This document is wafer-sealed and embossed with the Seal of The Crown Council of Ethiopia and signed by both a Great Officer of The Crown Council as well as an Officer of Honour of the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office.

The certificate is then mailed in a sturdy mailing tube via standard post to the recipient.

The Grantee may also request a digital image of the Armorial Bearings themselves via email from the Office, as well as a digital facsimile image of the entire Letters Patent if so desired.

Why can’t a pre-existing emblazonment of a Granted or Registered Achievement be employed in the Letters Patent of a Grant from the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office?

As noted in the Regulations for Grants of Arms in the Gift of the Ethiopian Solomonic Crown, The Crown Council of Ethiopia, V1.4, 2025 / 2017 [Updated through 23 ታኅሣሥ 2017 / 1 January 2025], 2.1(a)(iv):

Arms depicted on Letters Patent from the Crown Honours Office will either be depicted on a circular shield, which has been traditionally used as a battle shield in Ethiopia for hundreds of years, or an Iberian round bottom shield, which has been in use by Ethiopian dignitaries since the 15th century. It is the preference of the Crown that all arms granted by the Crown Honours Office be displayed on either a round or Iberian round bottom shield as a show of respect for Ethiopian culture.

Thus, pre-existing Armorial Bearings as issued by this Office would be designed in line with the above.

 
Can a Petitioner provide a specific visualization of their Armorial Bearings and expect the Office to render it exactly as requested?

The Petitioner must understand that the Ethiopian Crown Honours Office (or any other heraldic body for that matter) is registering a BLAZON, and not a drawing. An heraldic artist visually interprets a textual blazon, and there are an infinite number of ways to render the same blazon – all may be correct, but all may be different.

The Canadian Heraldic Authority speaks to this on their website, essentially noting that:

…interpretations of heraldic emblems… allow artists to demonstrate their talent and their expertise…. [The College] gives them the artistic license to create unique and personalized pieces of art, all while still respecting… international heraldic standards and practices… which is the heart of any heraldic project.

Once a Petitioner receives a Grant from this Office, they may certainly independently commission an artist, or artists, to render these Arms in a very specific manner, designating exacting colors, minutiae, etc., for their own display.

* As of this writing, those countries with government offices that allow for Registration of Armorial Bearings under a wide variety of circumstances and regulations, whether historical or modern, include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Kenya, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Zimbabwe.